Speak Spanish Quickly
For most students, their enthusiasm for learning Spanish has them asking "how can I learn to speak spanish quickly?" In this article, I'm going to reveal my five top tips for learning Spanish, including a few excellent resources so you can accelerate your learning curve. Ready? ¡Vamos!
1. Communication is more important than fluency. It takes years of investment to reach fluency. The core idea is to speak Spanish to a level where you can communicate effectively and having a large Spanish vocabulary will help enormously with this.
2. Cut yourself some slack. Learning a new language is not easy, it will take time to learn how the language is constructed along with the "music of the language". Give yourself plenty of time to learn Spanish and to tune-in your ear to how it sounds. Native speakers speak Spanish very quickly indeed, so don't be too harsh on yourself if you're finding it difficult to listen and understand. As the Spanish say: Poco a poco - little by little.
3. Enrol on a good Spanish course and resolve to stick with it. As a guide, a minimum of two classes a week for at least a year is required. Although this seems like a long time, it really isn't and attending regular classes in this way will bring on your Spanish in leaps and bounds.
4. To supplement your Spanish classes, buy a home study course. There are some excellent Spanish courses online and also in bookshops and here is a small selection of Spanish courses for you to consider:
Online:
Rocket Spanish - This is a very popular Spanish course, it is very easy to use and also has flashcards and audio.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy - Another excellent Spanish course, the focus of this course is mainly on Latin American Spanish, so especially suitable for students based in the United States.
Offline:
Rosetta Stone - Expensive but with an outstanding reputation.
Michel Thomas - Various Spanish courses with levels ranging from foundation to advanced, excellent materials and again with a first-class reputation.
Canny:
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offers free online language study courses. To learn Spanish, you'll find two superb courses:
Spanish Steps, which is mainly for beginners, and:
Sueños which is a little bit more advanced.
The index page is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/
Well worth checking out.
5. Further materials you may wish to consider that have helped me enormously to learn Spanish:
Spanish Verb Tenses By Dorothy Devney Richmond
First-class guide to conjugating Spanish verbs, all clearly explained with lots of exercises to help get the usages of the tenses firmly drilled in. Conjugating Spanish verbs is an essential but boring task and this book makes this task much more enjoyable.
I love reading short stories and two books that adorn my bookshelf and make easy bedtime reading are these two bilingual books:
Stories From Spain, By Genevieve Barlow and William N. Strivers and Stories From Latin America, By Genevieve Barlow.
It's such a nice, relaxed way to build your Spanish and the stories are good too, my very favorite is "The Lovers Of Tuerel", a real tear-jerker of a love story!
But my favorite tool to help learn Spanish is a cracking little book:
Demystifying Spanish Grammar By Brandon Simpson
As well as clearing up the confusion surrounding the Spanish verbs "Ser" and "Estar" - absolute nightmares for gringos and guiris new to the language - and how to use "Por" and "Para" - another nightmare! - Brandon also clearly explains how to use one of the most confusing aspects of the Spanish language, the eternally confusing Spanish subjuntive.
All of these books are still referred to regularly in my house, and I have no hestitation whatsoever in strongly recommending them to you, they'll really help you with your Spanish, without a doubt.
Great tips to help you speak Spanish quickly and if you'd like to speak Spanish with an authentic, vibrant flourish by learning the everyday Spanish not usually taught in formal Spanish courses, visit the streetwise Spanish website, where you'll find articles, an A-Z of Spanish phrases and free weekly Spanish tips.
1. Communication is more important than fluency. It takes years of investment to reach fluency. The core idea is to speak Spanish to a level where you can communicate effectively and having a large Spanish vocabulary will help enormously with this.
2. Cut yourself some slack. Learning a new language is not easy, it will take time to learn how the language is constructed along with the "music of the language". Give yourself plenty of time to learn Spanish and to tune-in your ear to how it sounds. Native speakers speak Spanish very quickly indeed, so don't be too harsh on yourself if you're finding it difficult to listen and understand. As the Spanish say: Poco a poco - little by little.
3. Enrol on a good Spanish course and resolve to stick with it. As a guide, a minimum of two classes a week for at least a year is required. Although this seems like a long time, it really isn't and attending regular classes in this way will bring on your Spanish in leaps and bounds.
4. To supplement your Spanish classes, buy a home study course. There are some excellent Spanish courses online and also in bookshops and here is a small selection of Spanish courses for you to consider:
Online:
Rocket Spanish - This is a very popular Spanish course, it is very easy to use and also has flashcards and audio.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy - Another excellent Spanish course, the focus of this course is mainly on Latin American Spanish, so especially suitable for students based in the United States.
Offline:
Rosetta Stone - Expensive but with an outstanding reputation.
Michel Thomas - Various Spanish courses with levels ranging from foundation to advanced, excellent materials and again with a first-class reputation.
Canny:
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offers free online language study courses. To learn Spanish, you'll find two superb courses:
Spanish Steps, which is mainly for beginners, and:
Sueños which is a little bit more advanced.
The index page is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/
Well worth checking out.
5. Further materials you may wish to consider that have helped me enormously to learn Spanish:
Spanish Verb Tenses By Dorothy Devney Richmond
First-class guide to conjugating Spanish verbs, all clearly explained with lots of exercises to help get the usages of the tenses firmly drilled in. Conjugating Spanish verbs is an essential but boring task and this book makes this task much more enjoyable.
I love reading short stories and two books that adorn my bookshelf and make easy bedtime reading are these two bilingual books:
Stories From Spain, By Genevieve Barlow and William N. Strivers and Stories From Latin America, By Genevieve Barlow.
It's such a nice, relaxed way to build your Spanish and the stories are good too, my very favorite is "The Lovers Of Tuerel", a real tear-jerker of a love story!
But my favorite tool to help learn Spanish is a cracking little book:
Demystifying Spanish Grammar By Brandon Simpson
As well as clearing up the confusion surrounding the Spanish verbs "Ser" and "Estar" - absolute nightmares for gringos and guiris new to the language - and how to use "Por" and "Para" - another nightmare! - Brandon also clearly explains how to use one of the most confusing aspects of the Spanish language, the eternally confusing Spanish subjuntive.
All of these books are still referred to regularly in my house, and I have no hestitation whatsoever in strongly recommending them to you, they'll really help you with your Spanish, without a doubt.
Great tips to help you speak Spanish quickly and if you'd like to speak Spanish with an authentic, vibrant flourish by learning the everyday Spanish not usually taught in formal Spanish courses, visit the streetwise Spanish website, where you'll find articles, an A-Z of Spanish phrases and free weekly Spanish tips.
