If you are very motivated to learn Spanish fast online, then there are several things to think about first. You can learn Spanish quickly if you follow these simple yet important tips. One important thing to remember when you start to learn Spanish online, is to realize what fast or quick actually means. People tackle language learning at different rates, and what might take years for one person to learn may only take an hour for another. Since life is not fair in this respect, it is easy for you to get discouraged and disappointed rather fast. Avoid setting yourself up for failure by making a goal before you start. Since setting up a goal is probably the most important part of learning Spanish, you must take this seriously. It would be very unrealistic to think that you could be holding long complicated conversations in a few weeks. It just will not happen. What you should do is to take a look at the situation that you will be in and see what parts of the language you will be needing to use. For example, it all you are doing is going on a nice relaxing vacation in a Spanish speaking country, then you should concentrate on vocabulary related to things having to do with hotels, restaurants, car rentals, bank machines, directions and tourist spots. If you are suddenly in a situation where you are moving on a long term basis to a foreign country such as Mexico with very little notice, then you will want to focus on all of the above, plus things having to do with grocery stores, opening up bank accounts, situations having to do with immigration and local customs. The reason for this is that it is impossible to learn everything in one shot. What works is to concentrate on a basis of things you will need right away, and then focus on building on that basis slowly. It is easier the longer you are in the Spanish speaking country as total immersion comes into play. Spanish phrase books can be a big help while you are there, so do not be afraid to use them. Remember that your goal is to make sure you are understood. It doesn’t have to be scholastically correct Spanish. One other language learning technique that you can use is to start reading and watching movies in Spanish. The best way to do it is to by a Spanish version of your favorite magazine and just start reading it. Do not make the mistake of having the dictionary next to it. This is the worst thing you could possibly do. Your goal with this is to try and recognize enough key words that you can figure out the basic idea of the story. You can keep note of vocabulary that is new but after you are done reading, then write them down on a list and every few days or so, look them up. The final word is that you can learn Spanish fast online by knowing ahead of time what you realistically can accomplish. Good luck!
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Set Your Goals and Learn Spanish Fast Online
December 19th, 2009How to Learn a Language – The Three Secrets of Foreign Language Learning
October 29th, 2009In my school days I never really learned how to learn a language. As a result, I spent years struggling and failing to learn various foreign languages. To help me finally become successful in my language learning, I had to research and learn about the techniques used by the seemingly “natural” language learners. I learned that successful language learners develop three very distinct areas of their minds.
Speak It To Learn It
The first pillar of language learning is to practice speaking. This is the primary skill to develop and also the most neglected aspect of language study. If you want to learn to converse in a second language, you have to speak it, often. It is that simple. The main purpose of learning a language is to communicate. However, if you spend all of your time making lists of words and learning about grammar, you will never progress past a simple conversation in the language.
Listening – Immerse Yourself In The Sounds Of The Language
The second pillar of language learning is to practice listening. In addition to being able to speak the language, you have to be able to understand the person who is speaking to you. You have to expose yourself to the sounds of the language. For this to be possible, you need to immerse yourself in the sounds of the language. Spend as much time as possible listening to podcasts, conversations around you, the radio, radio, etc., all in your target language. At first everything will be unintelligible. However, over time you will begin to recognize certain repeating patterns and phrases. In time, you will begin to comprehend individual words. Finally, one day, you will begin to start to understand meaning. However, all of this takes time. It is necessary to expose your ears to to the sounds of the language.
Reading Practice
The third and final pillar of how to learn a language is to practice reading. It is easy to disregard this step, but it a very effective method of learning a language. As with listening, reading is a method of immersing yourself in your target language. The key is to read, as often as possible, newspapers, popular magazines, and web pages in the foreign language. This helps you learn the language in context, as it is actually used. You will also develop a sense of correctness about the language. You will know when things just look right
To maximize your success with your language, a good starting point is to study how to learn a language. Successful language learners devote time to each of the three main pillars of language learning: speaking, listening, and reading.
By: Chris Chan
Stress-Free Foreign Language Learning: Eliminate Frustration when Listening
October 12th, 2009If you get frustrated listening to a language you’re trying to learn, you’re not alone. Difficulty understanding the spoken word is one of the common complaints language learners have. Fortunately, though, this problem is relatively easy to solve if you go about it the right way.
Forget Perfection
Most of the frustration with listening comes from trying to understand every word perfectly. Sometimes striving for perfection is a good idea. When you’re learning to pronounce a difficult sound or word correctly or when you’re doing focused work on grammar, you want to try to get it 100% right.
With most listening tasks, though, perfection just isn’t practical. Think about what you need to listen to in real life. It might be the TV news, the dialogue in a movie, or what someone’s telling you in person. In all these cases you, have other clues to help you get the gist of what’s being said. With TV and movies, you have visual cues. With live conversation, you have the person’s tone of voice and gestures to help you out.
The problem is listening tasks in most language classes have you listen to someone reading a script and then ask you specific question about what the person said. It’s not a very realistic situation and it’s much harder than most everyday “listening tasks” in real life.
In reality, most people who are conversational, but not yet fluent, in a language don’t understand every word they hear in that language. Yet they can still hold conversations with minimal problems. Not understanding every word doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. When you’ve just started to learn a foreign language, it’s perfectly normal not to understand everything. So then, if you’re not aiming for perfection, what are you aiming for?
Go for a General Understanding
Instead of trying to hear and understand every single word, just do your best to understand enough words to get the gist of what’s being said. Take the words you did understand and try to guess based on those. Yes, sometimes you’ll “guess” wrong, especially in the beginning. With practice, though, your listening skills will improve.
After you’ve listened to something, ask yourself if you could explain the general idea to someone else. If you can, then you’ve really accomplished something. Then ask yourself somewhat more focused questions. For instance, if it’s a radio talk show, see if you can summarize the speaker’s overall opinion on the topic. As you learn more vocabulary and do more listening, you’ll be able to fill in more and more details.
Listen to Music
The great thing about music is that you can enjoya it even when you haven’t got the faintest idea what the singer’s going on about. When you do understand, it’s a bonus. Music has another plus, too: repetition. Listening to your favorite songs over and over again helps you remember not only words, but also whole phrases.
Eventually, you’ll have a few phrases you remember well that you can use those phrases as examples of grammar. For instance, students of English sometimes remember how to form the second conditional based on the famous line, “If I were a rich man” from Fiddler on the Roof.
You can still go for global understanding when listening to songs. Just try to understand enough to decide whether the song about love, politics, a social problem or something else? Then see if you can understand the “story” behind the song.
By: Amelia Green
