Fun ways to learn Spanish

There are plenty of ways to get started learning Spanish, we will list the most fun and fast ones:

1. Buy an online Spanish course with audio and money back guarantee

Advantage of online courses is that you can start learning right away. We recommend you buy Rocket Spanish ($99.95), as it comes with a 2 month money back guarantee. If after 2 months, the entire package, including flashcards, memory games and vocabulary software isn't helping you in speaking Spanish, then simply ask your money back, no questions asked.

However, the course is made for people that return home after a hard day of work and just want to get immersed in a fun way that takes the least amount of effort but gets you speaking Spanish from day 1. You can study at your own paste and you will get weekly emails to keep you motivated.

2. Buy Spanish music CD's

Go to your local music shop, ask for the Spanish music section, listen to a few CD's and buy one that you like and comes with the transcription of the song, if possible both in Spanish and with English translation.

Even without the translation, just listen to the CD as much as possible to get used to the language. It works similar to how kids learn a language: first they hear a lot of words, then they repeat (sing along with the music). With
music, you will improve your listening skills, your pronunciation and without knowing memorize Spanish phrases on the go.

3. Enroll in Spanish group classes

This is a great way to start when you have a great Spanish teacher. Any good language school will give you the opportunity to follow one class for free in order for you to decide whether learning Spanish in a group is the right choice for you. Things to find out in the first class are:

• how many other students are there in the group (the less students, the more you will be able to interact with your teacher)
• is your teacher fun, is it fun to be in class (anything boring is a waste of money when learning any language)
• is your teacher fluently in English (some schools will hire any Harry that speaks 5 words of Spanish, when suddenly their real Spanish teacher is on a break or went back to his native country for a long holiday).
• are they teaching you what you want:
• traditional classes follow a textbook and put lots of emphasis on getting everything right. It's as if they want you to sit for a Spanish exam in Spain. If that is what you want, then this type of course is ideal.
• conversational classes wants you to participate on speaking and getting yourself understood. Errors are secondary, as long as you get yourself understood in Spanish. Grammar is there to help you out when you really don't understand why the Spanish have their different way of doing things.

4. Private Spanish course at a language school

Similar to the above mentioned group classes but:

• more expensive as you are the only person paying the teacher
• more flexible as you can schedule according to your agenda
• more tailored to your Spanish needs.

5. Private Spanish classes for free

This is how I learned Spanish: got started with an online Spanish course and then found a native Spanish speaker. Look around in your neighborhood to find any Spanish person who is as much interested in learning your language as you are in learning Spanish.

Mostly they will be able to speak already a few words in your language, so it's up to the both of you to practice.

Ideal is one Spanish session for one English session (or whatever language you are speaking). Use any beginners textbook as a base, but also focus on every day conversation like how are you, what do you want to drink... This way you will know the basic Spanish phrases in no time.

6. Chat or Skype or Facebook in Spanish

Go to any chat in Spanish and start talking in Spanish. Make sure you announce you are a studying the language and see who is interested to help you out.

7. Spanish Penpals

The best way to get your writing skills up and running is finding yourself a penpal, online or offline. Like the private classes for free, you can meet up with people that are looking to learn your language and are willing to exchange helping you out learning Spanish.

7 ways to speak Spanish summarized

You need to know why you want to learn Spanish in the first place and adjust your study methods and materials accordingly. If you go on holiday, then make sure to focus on fun and conversational courses. If you need Spanish for your work or studies, then make sure to go for a more in depth course with grammar and written skills.

Make sure to buy Spanish music or an online Spanish course with audio, so you can listen and repeat anywhere you can pop in the audio.

Most importantly: find Spanish friends and practice anything your learned as much as you can. Hola, ¿qué tal? Hi, how are you? :-)