Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world in terms of number of native speakers and is an official language in 20 countries. Spanish is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations and an official language of the European Union. Spanish is widely spoken in the Western hemisphere of the world and an increased trend of learning Spanish as a foreign language can be seen today, mostly due to the changes in the economic performance of Spanish speaking countries and growing popularity of tourism to Spanish speaking countries. Spanish is spoken so widely at present in many countries due to the Spanish invasions made during the 15th and 19th Century.
What are the techniques of learning Spanish? There certainly are many. This article will critically evaluate all these methods and help you realize the best method of learning Spanish fast.
One method that is being discussed a lot in recent times is the 'immersion technique'. The 'immersion technique' suggests that if you want to learn a language, you need to travel to a country that speaks that language and spend a few years in that country, thus forcing yourself to learn the language. So for example, if you wanted to learn Spanish, you would need to travel to Spain and live in Spain for a few months or even years! The immersion technique is not only rather extreme but also highly impractical. How many of you could actually move into a different country merely to learn a language? Is it actually feasible for you to give up on your job, relationships and commitments that you have in your native country to just learn a foreign language?
Isn't this the very reason that language courses even exist; to help you learn the language without having to move into Spain to learn Spanish? The immersion technique works on the principle that 'eventually' after exposing yourself to the language for a period of time, you will learn it. The problem however, is how long will it take for you to learn the language with this method? What level of proficiency can you expect to achieve with this method? You may learn enough Spanish to go to a grocery store and buy the groceries, but will this mean you really know the language? With the immersion technique you maybe clueless when reading a notice in Spanish or filling up a form in Spanish, simply because you never came across such words during the time you spent in 'immersion'. This is why it becomes vital to have a proper language course that sets a firm foundation to your Spanish knowledge.
While the immersion technique is impractical for obvious reasons, the concept behind it can actually be used in a more practical sense to learn Spanish better. This brings us to another method of learning Spanish; and that is to 'surround oneself with Spanish'. This means watching Spanish movies, TV shows, listening to Spanish radio stations. You certainly don't need to move into Spain to do any of these. Your local video rental could have Spanish movies that you could rent out. If it doesn't, you still could download plenty of Spanish movies on the internet. There are hours and hours of Spanish videos you could watch and learn from video sharing sites such as YouTube. You need to continuously use Spanish words that you have learned, for them to stick into your memory. Like any skill, if you don't use the skill of language, you will most definitely lose it.
You could even use flash cards to write certain Spanish words you've learned along with the English meaning on the other side of the card. You could slip these flash cards into your pocket, and flip through them whenever you have a few minutes to spare. Labeling the objects in your home with their Spanish meaning is another way of burning Spanish words into your memory. This would mean labeling the computer; 'el ordenador', the oven; 'el horno' etc.
If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of Spanish speaking people, then great! Listening to them speak will 'train your ear' to the native accent in which Spanish is spoken and speaking to them will improve your own pronunciation of words. If you don't live in a Spanish community don't be discouraged. There are plenty of websites that allow you to video chat with people from all over the world. Use this great opportunity to make new friends while improving your proficiency in Spanish!
When learning Spanish it is critical that you get in tune with the rhythm of the language. If not, the words you speak in Spanish will not make any sense to a native speaker and neither will his Spanish make any sense to you. This is why it's very important to choose a Spanish language course that is taught by a native speaker and focuses on your own pronunciation of Spanish. Audio based language courses go far beyond the traditional text-book course, since it teaches you the grammar and vocabulary and pronunciation all at the same time! The best of all, if it is taught by a native speaker then you certainly don't need to go to Spain to pick up the Spanish accent.
When learning any language you could easily lose enthusiasm especially when your learning reaches a plateau. This is true even for Spanish. So it is important that you choose a language course that is fun and interesting. A language course that is interactive and filled with games will certainly keep you inspired and motivated to learn. For a great Spanish language course that is fun and exciting, taught by a native speaker and tracks your progress in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation visit the link below. Best of luck in learning Spanish! Adios!
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