Now that you know what you will find in this post, it is time to get started.
Welcome to the ultimate guide to learning Spanish for beginners from scratch in nine super easy steps!
1. Get a Good Grammar Book
You might have heard that all you need to do when learning a new language is memorize a couple of words and phrases and use them whenever the opportunity arises. This might be good advice if you only want to know some basics for a brief exposure to the Spanish language, like travel.
But if you want to learn Spanish—I mean really learn it—you will need to learn the grammar.
You may not want to be the king of grammar, and I am certainly not going to try to convince you to become one, but the truth is that grammar is indeed important and necessary if you really want to learn a language.
2 Learn Basic Vocabulary
By building vocabulary before you begin studying tenses and other grammar concepts, you are ensuring that you will have enough words to work with when you are ready to begin building sentences. Besides, learning basic vocabulary always comes in handy because it allows you to understand more and more complex phrases as you build it up.
You do not need to learn words like the parts of a car (unless, of course, you aim to become a Spanish-speaking auto mechanic). Keep it simple, focusing initially on commonly used words, and work your way up to more complicated topics.
You can start by learning the numbers in Spanish, the days of the week and the months of the year. Learn how to tell the time, learn the right terms for colours and animal words.
3. Master the Main Tenses
Once you have a good pool of verbs, you should start learning the main tenses.
The concept of a “main tense” is a very broad one that will mean something different from teacher to teacher. However, we can all agree the following are a must in order to start communicating in Spanish:
The present simple: You will need this one to talk about your daily routines, primarily. Spanish also loves using this tense for different purposes (including the future!), so it is a good idea to start with it.
The future simple: One of the easiest, if not the easiest, tenses in Spanish, it will help you express all your thoughts about the future. Add to it the periphrasis ir a (going to) and you will have all you need for now.
4. Use YouTube
While you are learning your basic vocabulary and the main tenses, I recommend that you start visiting YouTube.
We all know we can go to YouTube and spend hours watching fail compilations and cute cats, but did you know that YouTube is one of the best resources out there for language learning?
There are hundreds of channels dedicated exclusively to teaching vocabulary and explaining grammar concepts. You can also find videos that will help you improve your pronunciation, songs with subtitles so you can sing along, Spanish vlogs and so much more.
There are literally hundreds of channels for any kind of learner!
