5 Tips To Learn Spanish For Beginners 

Spanish is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin and has one of the smaller degrees of difference from it (about 20%) alongside Sardinian and Italian. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is derived from Latin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and it is also used as an official language by the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States, the African Union and many other international organizations. Today, it is a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. It is the world’s second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese, and the world’s fourth-most spoken language overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages of the Indo-European language family, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Alongside English and French, it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world.

Work on developing an “ear” for Spanish.

Remember that language is first and foremost oral communication. A written alphabet is merely a collection of symbols used to represent the sounds of the language, and cannot be expected to capture every nuance of sound and intonation. Try to develop a “good ear” for Spanish. An easy and fun way to do this is by listening to Spanish music, watching Spanish movies, or watching Spanish cable TV.

Practice SPEAKING!

The only way to learn to speak a language is by actually SPEAKING. You can study for years, and master all of the grammar rules, but unless you actually practise speaking, you will never speak well. When you are practising speaking, remember to do it out loud, at a normal conversational volume.

Be consistent.

To really learn a language takes time and commitment. Consistency is by far the most important factor. If you can devote a solid twenty minutes a day, nearly every day, you will be far more successful than if you “cram” for an hour or two, but only sporadically.

Use flashcards.

One of the best tips we can give you is to make and use flashcards. Make cards that are small enough to easily carry with you, and write the English on one side and Spanish on the other. Be sure to ALWAYS have some cards with you. This way, you can capture “wasted” time (standing in line, riding the bus, waiting for class to start, etc.) and turn it into productive study time. Even if you only have a couple of minutes, you can use it to study a few flashcards.

Label your surroundings to create an immersion experience.

Make labels for things all over your house. For example, la pared (wall), la puerta (door), el escritorio (desk) etc. Remove the labels only after you have mastered the vocabulary.

In Spain and in some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also Castellano (Castilian), the language from the kingdom of Castile, contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan, Aragonese and Occitan. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term Castellano to define the official language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. “the other Spanish languages”). Spanish as a romance language can prove to be relatively easy to master for native English speakers. 

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