Tips on Studying Spanish as a Foreign Language

Learning a second language isn’t easy especially if you are an adult. You may certainly feel mental blocks, frustration, lack of aptitude, lack of memory for learning new words and structures... but, don’t worry it is normal to feel that way. Most can learn a second language, if they are willing to put in the necessary time and effort. Here you will find some practical suggestions. If you are living in a Spanish speaking country try to make the most of the great opportunity that is being able to have contact during all the day with the language you are learning.

STUDY EVERY DAY. Studying a foreign language is different from any other subject you study. Language learning is cumulative, and frequent practice is the only solution to remember and incorporate new structures and vocabulary. Try to have contact with the language every day, at least 20 minutes per day.

DISTRIBUTE YOUR STUDY TIME in 15- to 30-minute periods and focus on a different task each time: vocabulary now, grammar next, etc.

ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN CLASS WITHOUT FAIL — even if you are not well prepared. Class time is your primary opportunity for practice. Learn the grammar and vocabulary outside of class in order to make the most of class time.

LEARN HOW TO USE WHAT YOU KNOW. Grammar is the skeleton of a language, its basic structure: you must learn it. But, it isn’t just everything. Speaking a language is the combination of learning grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and the proper social use of the language.

DEVELOP A GOOD ATTITUDE. Have a clear personal reason for learning the language. Set personal goals for what you want to learn.

DON`T PRETEND TO SPEAK CORRECTLY ALL THE TIME. Leave perfectionism at the door; give yourself permission to make mistakes and learn from them. Students in foreign language classes often have difficulty hearing and speaking because they are anxious about making mistakes. Give yourself permission to be spontaneous and to take risks. Sometimes it is more important to be fluent when speaking than having everything grammatically correct. Argentines like to talk a lot and are impatience, they won’t wait for you to say everything correctly, they expect you to just talk, so do it. If you confuse they will help you and correct you.

SPEAK AND PRACTICE!!! Although many Argentines know English and will try to use you to practice their English, use them you instead for practicing your Spanish. Ask them to have the conversations in Spanish, and to correct you when you make mistakes.

READING and WRITING a foreign language are analytical skills. You may be good at these if you are a logical person who attends to detail. Train yourself through practice to notice and remember details such as accents and gender agreement.

AVOID WORD TO WORD TRANSLATION: try to understand the general meaning of what you read or hear.

MAKE THE MOST OF BEING IN A SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRY: talk to people, watch TV and DVDs in Spanish, read the newspapers, adds, books, any thing that comes to your hand; listen to the radio, and to Spanish speakers conversations.

USE A NOTEBOOK: use a little pad to write down any new word you learn, read or listen during your day, to look it on the dictionary or ask a friend the meaning. Write down any phrase native speakers use frequently and that may be useful to you.

EXCELENT INVENTION TO PRACTICE A LANGUAGE: MOVIES ON DVD!!! Watch DVDs of argentine movies, or any movie spoken in Spanish. If it is hard for you to understand the hole movie in Spanish put subtitles in Spanish too. After watching the movie, you can select scenes listen to them without subtitles to see what you can understand, then put Spanish or English subtitles. Pay attention to any new vocabulary, or grammar structure, and in pronunciation.

PRACTICE PRONUNCIATION, by studying out loud! Mimic the sounds of the language. Don't mumble. Although most people feel embarrassed making strange sounds, the language will soon feel more familiar to you.

READING SKILLS TIPS:

Isolate new grammatical forms and study them separately. Write the pattern on a flash card and memorize it. Write out and label a model sentence. When you encounter the form while reading, pause and recite the pattern to recognize the form.

WRITING SKILLS TIPS:

Pay attention to detail: notice accents, order of letters, etc. Compare letter-by-letter different forms (singular, plural, gender, etc.). Write out conjugations of verbs, declensions of pronouns, etc., and check your endings. Memorize irregular verbs.