Tips and Tricks for improving your Spanish. Things that have helped me along my journey.

This is all you need to begin with. Apps to try and useful advice.

I first started learning Spanish in high-school and the shared consensus was a lack of interest in learning this language. I had terrible teachers who spent hour long lessons, arms on hips, ready to argue with students about how they are bound to fail Spanish. This chaos lasted for five years but still, I fell in love with the language.

Although trials and tribulations shaped the essence of my journey, it motivated me all the much more leading me to my very first tip…

1. Join a small class of Spanish speakers if you can!

My first exposure to this language began in compulsory schooling however looking back this small community played a large role in my development from communication to vocab retention. Speaking with other people has enabled me to retain knowledge of Spanish vocab I would’ve easily forgotten.

Surrounding yourself with those who are able to motivate you is vital. Practicing and consistency is key and through joining online classes I'm able to reach my language goals much more effectively than if I didn’t have a support system. Classes can be expensive so an alternative is using ‘ Hello, Talk’ an app where you can communicate with several native speakers and organize sessions to talk.

2. Watching television shows

My growing interest for actively choosing to learn Spanish began purely from watching Spanish television shows such as Cable girls, elite, Queen of the South and many more such as Money Heist that are dominating Netflix. Although difficult at first to get a grasp of, changing subtitles and language audio (if available) has helped me get to the intermediate level I am at today.

Subtitles should be in your preferred language or the audio should be in the language you are trying to learn. This is can be regarded a passive way of learning. Every few moments or so you can note down unfamiliar vocab or practice saying a word to perfect your accent. Disney shows are a phenomenal example of learning Spanish and other European languages because characters exaggerate their mannerism which helps viewers understand better what is going on and what is potentially being said. Many have vouched for this method.

3. Textbook way?

Many people learn differently and I've had my fair share of experiences. One of the first methods I used to first start learning Spanish was taking vocab out of a revision guide and making paper flashcards out of them. This was very useful but pronunciation is a vital part of Spanish and through this I found listening to Spanish very hard to grasp.

Textbooks today incorporate both speaking, reading and listening elements that are reflective of real-life Spanish speaking natives.

One brand I personally use is Teach yourself. The notes are clear concise and explanations are as clear as day for someone like me who has dyslexia.

Do not fall into the trap of running through your textbook as fast as possible and instead take your time. 20–30 mins a day is a good amount of time recommended by many language experts. More important advice is revealed within the textbook that can help you get to the next level.

4. Apps you should try using

• Babbel is definitely a game changer. It’s interactive, fun and includes pictures for those who are visual learners. It can get a little overwhelming at times so I advise having a notebook in hand when lengthy explanations are coming.
• Anki is a flashcard application where you can test yourself. This will come in very handy for keeping up with memorising your Spanish vocab.
• SpanishDict is also very handy. It gives you a new Spanish term to learn everyday, ensuring you are consistent with your learning.
• wordreference and ReversoContext both are useful for explaining words and increasing your vocab.

Try this out and tell me how it goes!