SpanishPod101.com Blog

Once you’ve reached the point where you’ve decided you want to learn Spanish, you need to decide what way of learning Spanish will work best for you. Some people need a classroom because they know they will not do it themselves unless they have an organized group of students committed to learning Spanish and a teacher there to show them how to learn Spanish. That’s the traditional way of beginning to learn a language, and it works very well for some people. That’s not the only way to learn a language, however. With the Internet, students don’t need to be enrolled in a class or in school to learn a language. You can learn Spanish from a variety of websites. There are explanations of how the language works, lesson plans, and sample... Show more

One of the ways to use long term memory to help you to learn Spanish is to learn words in ways that rhyme or have rhythm to them, such as learning a poem in Spanish or learning a song in Spanish. You can remember some poems easily because the rhyming helps you to remember what comes next. Songs are even better because they have a melody that gets repeated. Repetition is one of the tools to learning another language. You can increase your ability to learn, pronounce, and figure out the grammar of Spanish by learning songs in Spanish. The first step is to go online, perhaps to a site that has Spanish lessons, and find a song you like. If you find it from a website that teaches Spanish online, then the words or speed of the song won’t... Show more

Of all the sounds in Spanish, the “rr” sound is probably the most difficult for native English speakers to make. However, it is easier than many sounds in other languages. If you can learn to make this sound, you will sound more like native Spanish speakers. The “rr” sound is made when a Spanish word starts with an r or when there is an rr in a Spanish word. The “rr” sound is similar to a single r sound, but you put your tongue at the ridge behind your top teeth, and you push a lot more air past your tongue. Here’s the easy way to learn it. Say “pot of tea” over and over, going faster and faster. You’re saying the Spanish words “para ti” which means “for you.” As you say the words over and over, notice where your tongue is when you... Show more

Unlike English, Spanish follows pronunciation rules. Pronunciation in Spanish is one of the reasons why Spanish is a relatively easy language for English speakers to learn. First, pronounce each syllable with an even amount of stress or volume. Don’t vary the pitch like we do in English. The next step is that either the last syllable or the second to last syllable of each word will have a little more volume. For an example, think of the English word “coconut.” We’ve learned to say the first syllable, “co” a little louder than the other syllables. There aren’t any pronunciation rules in English to tell us how to say “coconut,” and there’s no logical reason why it shouldn’t be pronounced “co CO nut” or “co co NUT.” We just know that... Show more

Spanish pronunciation is relatively straightforward. There are 28-30 letters, depending on who you ask. There are definitely at least 28. The additional letters are w and rr. W is used in foreign words that have been added into Spanish, and some people don’t differentiate between r and rr as separate letters. Letters that are in the Spanish alphabet but not in the Roman alphabet (the alphabet that English uses) are ch, ll, n (with a tilde), and rr. Ch is pronounced the same as in English. Ll makes the same sound as Y. N with a tilde makes a “ny” sound as in the English word “canyon.” Rr makes a similar sound to r, but with more air behind it, and you flutter your tongue. There will be a separate lesson on tricks to learn how to... Show more

Not only has the Internet helped with language learning lessons and practice, but podcasts can help tremendously. You can find free online Spanish audio lessons and download them. That means that your lessons are on your computer, phone, or handheld device. They’re there whenever you want to access them, as many times as you want to access them. It’s like have your own team of language teachers who are ready to teach whenever you’re ready to learn, who let you choose which lessons you want to learn, and who have infinite patience because they’re able to teach you the same lesson as many times as you need in order to master it. This cutting edge method allows you the freedom to learn at your own pace. You listen and learn whenever it... Show more

Learning another language is so much easier now than it ever has been. Think back to Roman times when hearing another language meant enemies were nearby, and learning another language meant that you somehow had to cross those lines and make friends with people who may prefer to be your enemies. Then you had to have enough exposure to the language to be able to figure out the meanings of different words are and the patterns of how the language works. Lifespans were also much shorter, so you had to do all of that decoding and practicing rather quickly. Today, we have the Internet. So many online features allow us to learn a language easily, at our own pace, and in whatever location we choose. Today online lessons and podcasts allow... Show more

Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and its popularity is growing. It is the primary language of 21 countries, and it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Nearly 400 million people speak Spanish as their first language, and it’s the 4th most popular world language behind Chinese, Hindustani, and English. There are no indications that Spanish will do anything but become more popular either. As the Hispanic population grows, and as more people study Spanish as a second language, the number of speakers will continue to increase. This popularity is one of the reasons to learn Spanish. Free online Spanish lessons, Spanish audio lessons, and Spanish podcasts make the language even easier... Show more

Spanish is the most popular of the world’s Romance languages, which are languages that have their origins directly from Latin. The other Romance languages, by the way, are French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Spanish is one of the most popular languages to learn because it is spoken in so many parts of the world and it is the official language of areas like Spain, Mexico, Central America, and most of South America. If you consider the number of speakers of the language, it is the fourth most spoken language out of the hundreds of languages spoken today. It is by far the most popular language studied as a foreign language in American universities. If you want to learn Spanish, you’ll have many people to practice with, whether... Show more