How to Learn Spanish: My Top 6 Tips

Introduction- Learning a new language always adds a feather in our cap. To have knowledge of more than one international language, not only sounds trendy but also opens doors to immense opportunities in the global market. Spanish is one of the top official languages in the US. Thanks to the new phrase in our life ‘work from home’, where the boundaries of having a career abroad sitting right in the comfort zone of your home- is not a big deal anymore! Fluency in Spanish will make your career options broader starting from, translation, journalism, interpretation, International services, tourism and the list is endless.

I know all of you must be busy with your current profession and hence I present six simple tips to learn the basics of Spanish. Consistency is the key to success.

1.Enhancing Vocabulary- Once my son started learning Spanish, we both started labelling all the furniture with Spanish names. In fact, if you are a foodie like me and you can start writing the grocery-list with Spanish words. You may also start following a Spanish food channel. Once you start picking up then you can move to the next target in writing these names in Spanish alphabets. One word of caution would be, do not exceed more than 5 words per day, otherwise, you may feel overwhelmed. At the end of the week ‘revision’ is equally important.

2.Don’t sweat over Grammar- Every language caters to kid’s stories first. I would like to recommend buying a few children’s storybooks in Spanish and start reading them loudly. Please don’t put stress on yourself regarding grammar at this point because the main idea is to check how quickly and how diligently you are able to understand the gist of the story.

3. Watching videos- After understanding children’s stories, you may slowly venture into watching short videos on YouTube. It is imperative to suggest that you should choose videos related to your likings. If you don’t like current affairs, do not watch Spanish videos related to it, as you may get bored and the happiness-factor will evaporate. Like I mentioned before, I am a foodie so I ended up watching different recipes on Youtube in Spanish with English subtitles.

4. Be a part of an online community- Personally, I am not a fan of social media; however, I can’t deny the fact that learning has become so approachable and diverse because of it. Recently one of my friends suggested me to join a Facebook community, where I can not only get in touch with native speakers but a whole lot of info on the recent trends as well. I would like to suggest that if you are a working professional with a stressful job, join a community like this and it can broaden your horizon without spending a dime.

5.Invest in a trainer- Avid travellers like me generally learn the basics of foreign languages for commuting purposes. However, if you are learning Spanish for your career, the ideal process would be to start speaking with a native speaker. If that’s not possible, then hiring a trainer is not only rational but also it can add value to your career progression. Hence, I call it an ‘investment’. Multibhashi is one such platform that you may like to consider for accomplished trainers.

6.Change the language of all devices into Spanish- It’s a rather courageous choice to make but if you really want to immerse yourself into Spanish then this is a great path (though less taken). In our daily life, we spend a considerable amount of time on our computers be it work or leisure. So, if we can change the language of the device into Spanish then it will not only enhance our vocabulary but also stop us from thinking in English. Within a few days, you will find the brain organically processing data in Spanish.

Every language brings with it- an amalgamation of culture, people, tradition and needless to say, the beauty of its own and Spanish is no different. Through these 6 steps, I am sure that in no time you will have a kick start!