Pronunciation and memory – The two main pillars as you begin learning how to speak Spanish…!

There is no doubt that today speaking a second language is an asset professionally, socially and culturally. However with the crazy lives we all have (emails, blackberry, cell phones, ipod, TV, etc.) who has time to learn anything, you may ask yourself. That’s exactly the question I asked myself when I was facing the great opportunity of working in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico BUT I had to speak Spanish. I’ve told my story on the main page of my blog.

Anyhow, if you are not crazy with the thought of going back to school to attend Spanish lessons, why not doing it on the internet. Learning how to speak Spanish with an online program is a great, let me rephrase that, is a fantastic idea, doable and easily affordable. I did it myself and have no regrets, as a matter of fact, thanks to the online course I took i was able to get the job I wanted. It’s as easy as uno, dos, tres to learn how to speak Spanish online!

Now, here comes the tricky part and that is that there are tons of different learning Spanish online programs available, your head may start spinning around already. But if you are serious about it, here are certain things you may want to consider first before. Take pronunciation as an example. It’s common knowledge that the total immersion method is by no means the best way to learn any language. Who wouldn’t want to go an live in a Spanish speaking county whilst learning the language. I know I would, but in my case I had to learn how to speak Spanish in Vancouver while getting ready for my new job in Mexico.

Anyhow, besides the Spanish learning method you choose, you might want to consider to get some Spanish music CD’s to listen to during your commute or listening to pop Spanish music on your iPod when you are out jogging or exercising at the gym. Maybe you have a friend who speaks Spanish and is able to let you practice conversation. This method worked wonders for me thank you to several Spanish speaking friends I have back home in Vancouver. You may have the option of watching Spanish TV channels or renting Spanish movies (Almodovar is my favorite director), this is a great chance for you to understand different accents as well. To me watching TV with the close captioned feature on helped me a great deal on my endavor to learn Spanish.

Just make sure you use as many methods as you can and you will be speaking Spanish in not time, for me it took me a bit over 3 months to feel quite comfortable with the new language. Grammar is a big issue when learning any new language, so many of the online learning sites give you chunks of words or phrases for you to repeat and memorize and getting familiar with. This excercise may be a bit frustrating for some, but it works believe me. The good online programs know what they are doing, so trust them. By committing a few basic items to memory, you’re making sure that they’ll stay in there – and that’s exactly what makes conversation much easier in the long run, that way you won’t have an uphill battle trying to translate everything in head before you speak.

And remember that no matter what online method you choose, practice a lot and have lots of FUN

Yours truly,

Jonathan

P.S. The system I used and highly recommend is Rocket Spanish, take a look at it HERE

Learn How to Speak Spanish the Sure and Certain Way

Linguists suggest that the United States of America will be the largest Spanish speaking nation in the entire globe in just a matter of a few more years, which suggests the need to learn how to speak Spanish. Learning a  new language helps build bridges between different nations, cultures, and minds, and helps the creation of new friendships regardless of age, class, culture, and language.

Some of the best ways to get yourself on the fast track towards speaking Spanish fluently are:

Back to Basics

Don’t expect that you will be speaking Spanish in just a matter of a few days or weeks. Like any new skill, the key is to accept that beginnings are beginnings.

Know that you will need time, effort and patience to learn a new language the same way it took time for you to develop the skill you employ in speaking English or whatever your mother tongue may be. language. You may not have noticed the time it took for you to be fully acquainted with your present language.

The Measure of Progress

When you start to learn how to speak Spanish, remember that progress is not really measured in the smooth and perfect rise to mastery, but with all the mistakes you make in syntax, grammar, and even the conjugation of verbs. However if you put out the time and effort necessary you will be speaking Spanish is no time with fluency that will make you very proud of yourself.

Most Spanish speakers can distinguish with ease who speaks the language out of birth, and who is only beginning to learn it. The truth is that you will find that they understand your mistakes and appreciate the effort, don’t take the wrong way if the correct you. They surely appreciate that you are learning their language in order for you to be able to communicate with them in an effective manner.

All Good Things Come in Time

Keep in mind that anything worth achieving takes time and effort and please don’t get disappointed if you can’t express yourself properly after just a matter of a few classes or online sessions. Like good wine, it takes time to perfect it (but it won’t take you years to perfect it, unless you don’t practice). And do not get to hung up on the idea that you should be speaking Spanish without an accent.

As a matter of fact, speaking a second language with a bit of an accent ads charms to your personality. Just look around you, how many different accents you can identify when interacting with people speaking English. The same applies for Spanish, even within the Spanish native community, the Spanish spoken in Spain has a different tonality to the one spoken in Mexico or Argentina. It all ads charms to the language and culture you are learning and immersing yourself into.

The more you practice the more confident you will feel, and it doesn’t take too long to get to that level.

Just remember that all good things come in time, and that with a little patience, you will learn how to speak Spanish like it’s your second tongue.

Go for it. And remember my motto “practice, practice, practice and have lots of FUN”.

Yours truly,

Jonathan

How to Learn Spanish Online – A Simple Guideline

If your are interested in learning Spanish, but you still haven’t figured out the best way to do it, why not giving a Spanish Online learning program a try. This could be the best decision you could have made if you are serious about learning to speak Spanish.

The main benefit of any Spanish Online learning program is that you have  access to the program in its entirety right after you sign up, besides that you are always protected in case the system does not live up to its promises. You can always request a refund. To avoid the latter, do a bit of research before choosing one for you. One thing is for sure, a Spanish Online Teaching program will always be less expensive on money and time than attending a class 2 or 3 days a week.

Remember that learning everything should be started from the basic level. After you have been fluent in Spanish, you will be proud of your own attainment in understanding further about the new wonderful languageand its culture which is an added bonus.

Nowadays there is practically no excuse not to learn anything we set our minds to. I mean, with the advent of the internet and the information highway the sky is the limit. All the information is available at our finger tips literally.

That’s why, learning to speak Spanish is now so much easier than before because you have no need to leave home or your office to attend a class. There is no personal interaction, I give you that, but once you get the fundamentals from any Spanish learning program, all you need to do is practice with Spanish speakers friends, family, just watch TV or catch a Spanish movie, there are many and some of them are very good (I like Almodovar’s movies myself).

Through the use of internet, knowledge can be acquired anywhere in the globe even without the help of a professor.

If you want to learn Spanish Online, it is not only possible but affordable as well. There are tons of programs available nowadays, the one I learned with is Rocket Spanish.

One of the things I enjoyed the most when I was learning Spanish was that I was having so much when practicing new words and sentences. Being alone you have no fear of embarrassment if you make a mistake, you get to laugh at yourself though.

I sincerely recommend Rocket Spanish if you want to learn Spanish online.

Yours truly,

Jonahan Ovies