9 Tips To Learn Spanish – The Ultimate Guide Book

Spanish is a Romance language and a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. It is the world’s second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese, and the world’s fourth-most spoken language overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages of the Indo-European language family, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin and has one of the smaller degrees of difference from it (about 20%) alongside Sardinian and Italian. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is derived from Latin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Its vocabulary has also been influenced by Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula, with around 8% of its vocabulary having Arabic lexical roots. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo, a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile, in the 13th century. Modern Spanish was then taken to the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire beginning in 1492, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa and the Philippines. It has also been influenced by Basque, Iberian, Celtiberian, Visigothic, and other neighbouring Ibero-Romance languages. Additionally, it has absorbed vocabulary from other languages, particularly other Romance languages such as French, Italian, Mozarabic, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Occitan, and Sardinian, as well as from Quechua, Nahuatl, and other indigenous languages of the Americas.

Sing along to the music playlists on Spotify

The Spanish language and culture are big on passion orpasión, as they call it. As a result, there are tons (and I mean tons!) of love ballads. And, if you haven’t noticed already, ballads are great since they’re slow and easy to sing along to. Start with Nicky Jam’s “Perdon”.

Watch Movies, Talkshows, Documentaries, Telenovelas

If you thought about learning phrases like, “The maid did it!” or “Your evil twin has come back from the dead” isn’t very practical, I’d have to tell you that you are sorely mistaken. Telenovelas – or Latin soap opera shows – are a great way to learn how to follow relatively simple (and yes, very dramatic!) conversations. If you don’t want to dive into full-Spanish telenovelas, then there are shows such as Ugly Betty and Jane the Virgin that only use Spanish sparingly (and with subtitles!).

Read a lot! All you can get your hands on!

There are tons of amazing Spanish writers out there, so delve in. But don’t forget to read magazines and cookbooks as well. This will help train your mind to read the words and really understand them. (Otherwise, your flan might end up giving everyone food poisoning and you will have no one to blame but yourself!)

Utilize your spare time effectively!

Whether you walk, drive or take the train, you can always download some Spanish-speaking podcasts to play on your way to school or work. Half an hour a day goes a long way when you’re using this sort of “free time” in a productive way.

Dwell consciously in the language and take it with you wherever you go

If you see something written or hear people talking, try translating it into Spanish. It’ll make you more attuned to your surroundings and you can then see which words you need to learn or work on. You can even write your Tweets in two languages.

Find a Spanish-speaking better half!

But really though! If your love interest happens to speak the language that you’re trying to master fluently, then they can help you learn it faster. You can also find a Spanish-speaking friend which works more or less the same way, but as Spanish culture is all about passion, a romantic context will only help you learn faster.

Try the Immersion method of learning

Go to a Spanish-speaking country and live there. And just speak. Buy a dictionary, chill on a Colombian beach, and have the locals who are interested in meeting this foreigner point to words, show you how to pronounce them and do hand gestures to figure out what they meant.

Make it a point to make Spanish a part of your day to day life (and then practice!)

Practice really does make perfect. And don’t feel ashamed! Making mistakes is bound to happen, even your mother tongue began with you making mistakes. So, talk to a taxi driver, the waiter – anyone – preferably in a country where Spanish is spoken natively so you get the right kind of practice every day. Stuck back home? Try teaching your dog some commands in Spanish; a cultured dog never hurt anyone!

Use flashcards

Don’t just write one word like “taco.” That won’t get you very far. Instead, write phrases. Such as: “This taco is delicious” or “This taco costs one dollar.” Phrases will take you much farther than single words and you can pick up even more words and grammar this way.

Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and it is also used as an official language by the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States, the African Union and many other international organizations. Alongside English and French, it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Despite its large number of speakers, Spanish does not feature prominently in scientific writing and technology, though it is better represented in the humanities and social sciences. Spanish is the third most used language on internet websites after English and Russian.

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