Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with at least 3 million calling Spanish their native language across 44 countries. The language shares many words with English, as both languages can historically trace features back to Latin and Arabic.
Spanish is also known to be one of the most phonetic languages – it mostly sounds the same way that it is spelled. This gives it its reputation as one of the easiest languages to learn. This does not mean there won’t be bumps in the road while you learn this language, but there are some key steps to follow that will help you on your journey.
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5 STEPS TO HELP YOU LEARN CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH
1 – Set Your Goals
Everyone will have their own reasons for learning Spanish. Note down and remember the reason you are starting on this journey. When you feel yourself struggling or losing motivation, look back to the reason you began learning and remind yourself of what your goals are. This will help to keep you on track and motivated.
2 – Personalise Your Learning Experience
Online resources and phrasebooks will contain hundreds of different words and phrases that will not always be relevant to you. You don’t want to limit yourself through only using standard resources for your learning. Personalize your experience learning conversational Spanish through doing things such as creating your own personalized phrasebooks and vocabulary lists.
Pick out certain topics that you are most likely to use when speaking Spanish (such as your experiences, family, interests, or job) and write these words down. If you encounter any phrases that you realize will be helpful to you, add them to your list.
3 – Don’t Confuse Written and Spoken Spanish
It is very rare for you to speak the same way as you write, and this is important to keep in mind while learning conversational Spanish. Spoken Spanish has informal phrases that allow you to connect different phrases or ideas and allow you to pause during a conversation.
For example phrases such as “to be more specific”, “as a matter of fact”, or “that’s a good question”. Pick a few of these phrases and learn them, or add them to your personal phrasebook.
4 – Expose Yourself to the Language
When you learn conversational Spanish, it is extremely beneficial to listen and speak the language every day, wherever you can. This helps you to start potentially thinking in Spanish – a key step to achieving fluency.
There are many ways to do this. You can listen to podcasts in Spanish, watch Spanish TV shows or Movies, or speak to people in Spanish face to face or online.
5 – Focus on the Easy Parts First
It is very important to make sure that you don’t get overwhelmed or demotivated while you learn conversational Spanish. It is not going to be an instant achievement, you have to remain determined to achieve your goals.
One of the best ways to make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself is to focus on the easy parts of learning the language first.
Look at words or phrases that are similar to Engish, and pick out commonly used phrases that you are most likely to hear in conversation. Give yourself a chance to get to know the easiest parts of the language before you move on to tasks that are more challenging.
If you follow these steps you will find that learning conversational Spanish becomes easier and more enjoyable.
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