| Step 1: Determine Your Goal The first thing you should | | | | to grab a paper dictionary and a wonderful little book |
| do is ask yourself: what exactly do I want to | | | | called '501 Spanish Verbs' that has the most commonly |
| accomplish? Am I going for total native fluency | | | | used verbs and shows their conjugations, very helpful. |
| (requiring years of work) or do I just want to have a | | | | Step 5: Learn at Least ONE New Spanish Word Each |
| decent grasp of the language so I don't come off as | | | | Day--You MUST Commit! Commit to learning at least |
| completely ignorant when speaking to a native | | | | one new Spanish word per day--this will be HUGE for |
| speaker? Also, what is your time frame for learning | | | | adding to your vocabulary although it might not seem |
| this material? Do you have years to work on it or only | | | | like it at the time. I like to use a site called |
| a few days or weeks before you go on vacation or | | | | Spanish-Word-A-Day who will gladly send you a new |
| meet your significant other's relatives? Step 2: Get A | | | | word to your RSS feed or to your iGoogle |
| Home Study Course There's no getting around it: | | | | homepage--I know there's other sites that can also |
| you're going to have to spend some money on some | | | | email you a new one(s) each day as well. The |
| basic educational materials and this one is probably | | | | important thing is to commit to actually doing this, that |
| going to be the most expensive AND the most | | | | way if you don't get any other Spanish work done that |
| important. I've used Pimsleur, Rocket Spanish, Berlitz, | | | | day then at least you still did SOMETHING if you've |
| and Rosetta Stone amongst others, and personally I | | | | done this, and it really doesn't take but a few seconds. |
| liked Synergy Spanish (see my review at the end) | | | | Bonus Step: Watch Telenovelas! (Spanish language |
| better than any of the others, especially for someone | | | | soap operas) One of the best things you can do to |
| who just needs to get to a basic level of proficiency | | | | improve your Spanish is to sit down for 30-60 minutes |
| where they can handle simple day-to-day | | | | each day and watch a Spanish language soap opera, |
| conversations and transactions, and they only have a | | | | called a telenovela, which will almost always be |
| few days or weeks to get there: Synergy uses 68 | | | | available if you have cable or satellite. Personally, I find |
| lessons of 10 minutes each so you can complete the | | | | the best thing to do if you have Tivo or something |
| whole course in a few days or weeks depending on | | | | similar is to turn on subtitles (Spanish not English) and |
| how much time you can invest, it's only $49, and if | | | | then after a character says something pause it EACH |
| you're in a rush nothing will up your Spanish language | | | | time and figure out what they said, then repeat it a |
| skills faster. Step 4: Find a Native Spanish Speaker | | | | few times to yourself until you've got it and could |
| Who to Talk to It could be a friend, it could be | | | | understand it if you heard it again at full speed, then |
| someone you met through a site such as Friends | | | | unpause it and continue to do this. You might only get |
| Abroad, it doesn't matter just so long as you have a | | | | through 5 minutes worth of the show in 30 minutes, but |
| native speaker to converse with occasionally. You | | | | you will learn a LOT of Spanish. |
| don't need to do any type of formal lesson, in fact the | | | | What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? |
| more casual and colloquial it is, the better. Step 3: | | | | Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks 2 |
| Dictionaries, Thesauruses, and Translators Personally I | | | | languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who |
| like to use for my online Spanish-English dictionary, I | | | | speaks 1 language? ... American. That's a funny but |
| used Urban Dictionary to look up spanish slang and | | | | sadly accurate joke I heard recently. Do you want to |
| curse words (they're better than anybody for this), and | | | | be the ignorant gringo when you travel? |
| I use Babelfish for my translator. You might also want | | | | |