8 Online Resources To Learn Spanish Language
Spanish is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. 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. 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. 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. Its vocabulary has also been influenced by Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula, with around 8% of its vocabulary having Arabic lexical roots. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo, a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile, in the 13th century. Modern Spanish was then taken to the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire beginning in 1492, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa and the Philippines. It has also been influenced by Basque, Iberian, Celtiberian, Visigothic, and other neighbouring Ibero-Romance languages. Additionally, it has absorbed vocabulary from other languages, particularly other Romance languages such as French, Italian, Mozarabic, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Occitan, and Sardinian, as well as from Quechua, Nahuatl, and other indigenous languages of the Americas.
The eight online sources to learn Spanish are:
1. Listen to Spanish Podcasts
Listening to podcasts on topics that interest you but in Spanish. This would help you expand your vocabulary and learn the different pronunciations of new words.
2. Playlists on Spotify to listen mimic and sing along
Another great way of expanding your vocabulary and learning new words is by listening to the music of that language. Spanish music is currently also one of the most popular genres of music,
3. Memrise and Anki.
These are SRS applications. Memrise is a British language platform that uses spaced repetition of flashcards to increase the rate of learning. Anki is a free and open-source flashcard program using spaced repetition, a technique from cognitive science for fast and long-lasting memorization. “Anki” is the Japanese word for “memorization”
4. Italki, Hello Talk, Tandem
Conversing is by far the best way of mastering any language. These sites help you find a conversation partner. Therefore, you can converse with another Spanish speaker. You can ask for feedback if necessary.
5. Qlango
It is a quiz game that provides you with Spanish audio, and you have to race to click the correct English translation. The interface is basic, but it’s nice to have on hand for quick practice when you have a minute.
6. Spanish Proficiency Exercises
They provide you with video recordings of native speakers from different countries, and are organized by proficiency tasks and levels (score!)
7. Read different literature
Reading is one of the most effective ways of acquiring language. Beelinguapp offers users the chance to read and listen to books and articles in multiple languages.
8. The Best Online Spanish Classes of 2021
Best Overall: Baselang
Best for Free: Coursera
Best for Private or Group Classes: Lingoda
Best for Professionals: Live Lingua
Best Immersion-Based: Rosetta Stone
Best Self-Paced With Instructor Support: Lengalia
Best Podcast-Based: CoffeeBreak Spanish
Best for On-the-Go: Rocket Spanish
Best Pocket Friendly: Multibhashi
Finally,
There are different means to learn every single language, it need not be learnt just through classes, or through constantly reading a book. In my opinion, the above-mentioned online sources should help you learn the language a little differently. While opting for classes, is the general way of learning any language, using an unconventional method doesn’t reduce your chances of mastering the language. If anything, it helps bring a different perspective to the same language.
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