How to Speak Spanish

Learn to speak spanish in 9 easy steps

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• a brain
• a computer
• ipod is good

1. Find an educational resource. You want to learn something new, so you need something from which to learn it. Take a course, find a teacher, check out a book, or acquire an audio program.

2. Build your vocabulary and develop basic grammar skills. Memorize new words and their pronunciations. Say a sentence a couple times, then translate it into Spanish and repeat the translated version. You are internalizing the sound, structure, and meaning of Spanish phrases. Even if you forget a specific word or phrase later, you will retain its familiarity.

3. Think in Spanish. By expanding your mind to another language, you will accelerate the learning process. Whenever you encounter difficulty thinking in Spanish, you will elucidate for yourself your problem areas (vocabulary, grammar, etc.).

4. Expose yourself to Spanish. Listen to Spanish music (Reggaeton, Latin, and Salsa, for example) or watch Spanish TV. Try to understand what is being said. By listening to music in another language, it will become more fluid in your mind and also acquaint you with the accent and eloquent vocabulary of that language.

5. Learn about the Spanish cultures. Languages exist in a dialogue with culture, so certain expressions and mentalities are inextricably tied to cultural origins. The study of culture may also help prevent social misunderstandings.

6. Choose a specific Spanish variant for advanced study. Every Spanish-speaking country has a different accent, different slang, and sometimes even different vocabulary. For example, Chilean Spanish is extremely different from Mexican Spanish, from the Spanish of Spain, and even Argentinean Spanish (even though Chile and Argentina are geographically close, an Argentinean traveling to Chile probably would not understand many things that a Chilean would normally say). As you advance in your Spanish proficiency, you may find it helpful to choose one flavor to learn in particular. It could be confusing if your lessons continually shift among word meanings and pronunciations for each country. And if you don't know which one to use just use the neutralized Spanish, Standard Spanish

7. Talk in Spanish with others who know the language as often as possible. Practice makes perfect.

8. Go to a Spanish-speaking country for vacations or service trips. Being around people 24/7 who are speaking the language helps tremendously.

9. Go to www.coffeebreakspanish.com or subscribe to their podcast on iTunes. This can help you through Spanish step-by-step.

Tips & Warnings

• Develops, raise your self-expectations. For instance, take sentences from a normal conversation or a favorite song and attempt to translate them into Spanish.
• Though there are many words in the Spanish language, only about 500–1,500 words are used in active vocabulary, or conversational vocabulary. Thus, unless you seek to become a Spanish poet, you need not memorize all the words in the Spanish dictionary.
• Many words in one Latin-based language (English, Spanish, French, etc.) are quite similar to words in another language. Learn the rules of conversion between languages (e.g., English words ending in "-ible" like "possible" are the same in Spanish with only a change in pronunciation). Just from simple conversions, you already have a Spanish vocabulary of 2,000 words.
• Simple sentence fragments can string together to form complex sentences. For instance, "I want to eat" and "I am hungry" are very simple, but they may combine with little modification to say, "I want to eat something now because I am hungry."
• Carrying an instant electronic translator may be quite useful when trying to think in Spanish and verify your accuracy.
• Give great attention to pronouncing Spanish as it is meant to be pronounced, like the way 'b' and 'd' are pronounced differently in the beginning and middle of a word. If you have a good ear, you can consciously modify your accent to approximate a less butchered accent.
• If you have any Spanish-speaking friends, practice your skills with them regularly.
• Read, read, read! This is the best way to become proficient at a language because reading covers many aspects of a language—vocabulary, grammar, popular phrases, and expressions. Reading above your level may be more difficult yet more rewarding than reading at or below your level.
• By learning another language, you engage your brain in a manner that develops new neural connections, resulting in improved memory, creativity, and general mental function.
• When memorizing verbs with a visualization, use the endings of -ar, -er and -ir with mnemonics. For an -ar verb, incorporate an A shaped step ladder into the image. For -er include the crown of Elizabeth Regina. For -ir verbs, include a disembodied ear, as this is what the letters sound like. So the verb 'to take' is 'tomar'. Think of a friend called Tom climbing 'far up the A shaped ladder to take some apples. You now know how to remember the verb, and to know what ending it has.
• Different parts of the world vary in Spanish pronunciations, colloquialisms, expressions, and accents.
• Learning a language requires time and dedication. In other words, you get what you put into it. Rather than getting frustrated, have fun with it!
• Make sure that you know what you are saying. If you hear something on TV don't just say it. For all you know, it could be something offensive!