Introduction:
The Spanish language has its roots in Latin that the Romans brought to the Iberian peninsula around the 3rd century BC. For over 600 years, the people of the Iberian peninsula became speakers of Latin, and other languages in this area began to die out. Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world, with around 440 million native speakers, and 70 or so million people speaking it as a second language. There are 20 Spanish-speaking countries that use the language in an official capacity, as well as large populations of Spanish speakers in other countries where the language is not officially recognized. That was a quick introduction to the Spanish language. Now, the challenge comes when you get interested in the language and want to start learning it. Since you are a newbie you were curious and worried about how you can study the language with perfection.
This article is all for those who asked the same question. This article is going to help you out with some amazing tools where you can start learning Spanish.
Top resources for you
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Duolingo
Duolingo, which was launched in 2011, now has over 200 million users. That’s a lot of people! You can use Duolingo either as an online program or as a smartphone app. Plus, it’s free! Each of its lessons – what they call “classes” – is only 10 minutes long. This means that it’s super easy to fit into your day, making it something you’re more likely to do and stick with. And! Duolingo includes a bunch of fun extras like flirting and pick-up lines, idioms and proverbs, and even seasonal bonus lessons for things like Christmas and Easter.
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Memrise
Memrise is a Spanish learning tool focused on vocabulary instead of on fluency or conversational Spanish. Each lesson is designed to help you learn about 15 words. And if you use the app consistently – and practice! – then you can amass a pretty large vocabulary. And on top of that, each of the vocabulary words that you learn is accompanied by an example of the word being used in a complete sentence. This makes it far more useful and practical than your standard English-to-Spanish dictionary.
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BBC Mundo
The BBC Mundo app is part of the BBC’s foreign language offerings – just in Spanish. It’s an app (and there’s a website, too) that you can use to get the news in Spanish. You can use it to read news stories in Spanish or to watch Spanish news videos. This is a great option for
learning Spanish because it’s kind of like an immersion course. Watching the news is a great way to brush up on your Spanish skills.
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Rosetta Stone
Now, I know what you’re thinking – that Rosetta Stone is expensive. That’s true of the full-fledged courses, but it’s not true of the app. The app is free! And it’s designed specifically to help users learn the basics so they can at least get by. The app is designed specifically for travelers to help them be able to communicate at least a little bit while they’re traveling in foreign countries. And the app even offers phrasebooks that you can purchase to carry around with you right on your phone. Plus, the app uses pictures with the words and phrases, so you have visual aids to help you remember everything.
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FluentU
FluentU is super cool because it uses videos from the real world – ones you may have seen and interacted with before – and turns them into language classes. Everything from commercials to news videos to music videos is fair game. This is especially useful because it means that the Spanish you’re learning is much more natural and conversational than what you may be learning from other apps, tools, or websites. Each video also comes with a transcript so you can tap on any word to look it up instantly. And every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word was used and how it can be used.
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Busuu
Busuu has two things going for it. First off, it’s a free app. It does have the option of a paid upgrade to access more information and special features, but the basic app on its own is still very useful. Secondly, the app has a community of other users and native speakers that you can interact with. The community aspect of this app is unique and is not something offered by other apps, tools, or websites. It allows you to get real-life conversation experience both with people who are fluent and with others who are learning just like you.
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Babbel
First, the cons. Babbel is a service for which you have to pay. But! It’s also a great tool for learning Spanish and has a focus on making sure that you remember and retain what you learn. How? Well, the app will periodically reintroduce words and phrases from past lessons to make sure that you’re not just focused on the new stuff but are also remembering the old stuff. And as for paying for it? Well, it’ll make you feel more committed to the program and should ensure that you really stick with it.
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Lingorilla
Lingorilla is an interactive platform that uses videos and natural speakers to help you learn the language. And, the lessons and learning materials can be downloaded so that you can review and peruse them at your leisure. In addition, the app has an online dictionary and glossary as part of its offering, which makes looking up words and phrases so much easier. This way, you can find anything you learned about in one of the “classes”.
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Bengali
Bengali includes a wide variety of options to help you learn Spanish. It includes actual Spanish classes, live tutors, podcasts you can listen to, and a virtual teacher. This website is full-service. Plus, it offers a wide variety of topics you can study, so you can pick something you’re interested in to focus your language-learning efforts on. And one of the coolest features in the app version is a voice recorder so that you can record yourself speaking and compare your Spanish to that of native speakers. It helps with accents!
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Gritty Spanish
Of course, we have to include ourselves! Gritty Spanish uses stories to help teach you a new language. We want you to feel like you can participate in the culture – so we give you more than just routine, tourist phrases. We provide audios, transcripts, and even an app that you can use to review our stories and use to help you learn Spanish.
Multibhashi
It is an app and web-based learning platform which uses an approach that will help you grasp the language quickly and be able to use it in day-to-day situations in just a few days after taking the class sessions. At the end of the course, it provides a checklist from which you can evaluate yourself on all the parameters to see the progress. Also, it provides a course completion certificate. Do check on the website for more details click here.
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CONCLUSION
The above-discussed points were the most useful tools for learning the Spanish language. Now, you have got all the resources from which you can start learning. So, it’s time for you to make a goal and prepare for it. Without your hard work and effort, these useful tools will be of no use. It
is you, the only one who can make this happen? Do not give up on your dreams and happy learning. All the very best!