Spanish LANGUAGE LEARNING GUIDE

Now that you know about the amazing benefits of learning Spanish, you probably can’t wait to start learning. However, before you do, read the following recommendations so that you can avoid making some of the most common mistakes and learn Spanish more effectively.

If you want to learn the language as fast as possible, one of the first things you should do in your journey to fluency is to find a qualified native Spanish teacher who can guide you through your learning process. This will ensure you get access to high-quality, updated materials, and have someone to practise the language with every week. On top of this, a native trainer will teach you interesting facts about Spanish, as well as commonly used phrases that aren’t in textbooks, so if you want to expand your knowledge of the language, getting help from a professional is the way to go. This is also ideal for those wanting to get to know Hispanic cultures, as having the chance to talk to a native frequently will open up the possibility of asking about anything you want to know regarding the traditions and customs of people in Spain or Latin America.

Learning your first Spanish words and phrases can be challenging, especially if you’ve never learned a foreign language before. However, there are many tools you can use to make it easier for you, like flashcards. Flashcards are cards that have a word on one side and its meaning on the other, and if you use them regularly, they’ll help you memorize new vocabulary really quickly. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend any of your time making your own deck, as nowadays there are plenty of apps you can use to access flashcards made by other users, like Anki, Quizlet or Tinycards, so download any of these and start learning right now!

Although at the beginning you might find yourself trying to memorize long lists of words in Spanish, like greetings and commonly used verbs, doing this often can get repetitive and boring. Because of that, if you want to expand your vocabulary in a more effective and entertaining way, you should aim to learn words and phrases in context. This is done simply by immersing yourself in the language, so the more you listen to natives and read in Spanish, the more you’ll be exposed to new vocabulary. The main advantage of learning this way is that instead of studying words in isolation, you’ll be able to know how to use them in a sentence, which will help you remember them better. So, for example, instead of trying to learn a list of words related to cooking by heart, you could watch a cooking show in Spanish like Cocina Abierta de Karlos Arguiñano and write down all the new words and phrases you hear.

Because English has so many words that are derived from Latin, like fame, pirate or even the word language, there are many Spanish words that you’ll understand without having to look up what they mean. However, you should be mindful of false cognates, also called false friends, which are Spanish words that look like English words but have completely different meanings. To help you avoid making mistakes, here are some of the most common ones.

If you want to make the best use of your free time and improve your Spanish skills without even noticing it, you should start using language apps. In case you’re finding it hard to choose one, here are some of our top picks.

This is another useful tool you can use from day one, as it will not only allow you to assess your current skill level, which can be really helpful if you don’t know how good your Spanish skills are, but also help you check the progress you make throughout the year. On top of that, you can use these tests to determine exactly what Spanish proficiency level you should put in your CV, or to find appropriate materials to study the language, so as you can see, they have multiple uses.

Want to know how fluent you are in Spanish? Take our FREE Spanish Level Test now and in a few minutes, you’ll get a score that will help you determine whether you have a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level.