As a new year approaches, many of us design personal and professional goals for the next twelve months. Since teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language is our expertise, we have been thinking about how to learn a language quickly and easily. If becoming fluent is on your list, here are some practical tips and tricks for our Intensive Spanish courses student community in Madrid and throughout the vast world of the Internet. As you may know, some students who can’t attend in presence classes, choose online individual classes to do from their home countries.
To master a language from scratch: start with short and simple dialogues. In an average of three months, you should be able to pronounce full phrases, for day-to-day situations. Also, you will understand at least a limited array of vocabulary items that you can use as a basis, from which to add up.
Start to read and listen to stories, you can ask your local librarian for some recommendation of short story or poems, if you prefer that. While reading you should follow your own pace, or even a bit slower. Linked to this, there is another possibility: listening to an audiobook.
To improve your pronunciation: correcting a wrong pronunciation is difficult after some time passes by. So, it is very important that you learn it well from the beginning. We recommend you be open to have your one-to-one classes teacher correct it for you. You can read a short text, and they can stop you to teach you the correct pronunciation of that sound.
As part of this New Year resolution, learn the pronunciation first
Don't try to translate of find parallels to your own native language: some sounds simply do not exist in specific languages, like the Spanish “eñe” (“n”).
Use repetition systems: you can practice pronunciation by mirroring native speakers, repeating the same sounds over and over again. If you have Madrilean friends, you can ask for help!
To stay motivated: New Year’s goals are like going to the gym. The first month you are full of enthusiasm, you wake up early, you head to the gym and work hard. But after some weeks go by, it is normal for some newbies to feel demotivated. To avoid this situation, you can reflect upon your motives for learning, from an honest point of view. Are you looking for a promotion in your actual job, or a change of city? Are you
Even dating someone with Spanish origins is a reasonable (and very common case!) reason to sign up for an Intensive Course. Do you like how it sounds? Are you into Spanish literature or series? Taking all that into account, are you willing to put the necessary effort in order to learn it well? From our side, we have no doubts: learning a language is a magnificent opportunity, and it opens a world of possibilities.
Immerse yourself in the language!
