The Best Way to Learn Spanish
Most experts will agree that the best way to learn Spanish is total immersion, which enables you to learn Spanish in the same way as you learned your native language.
You grew up surrounded by English (or whatever you native language is) and so quickly became used to the sounds.
In fact, babies make all the sounds which are contained in every language in the world, but reject the ones they don't hear on a regular basis.
However, adults do learn languages in different ways from babies.
Babies aren't translating from one language to another and they aren't trying to figure out how a sentence should be put together - they simply repeat what they hear, getting it wrong frequently and if corrected enough, they eventually get it right.
Being immersed in a foreign language can be quite a frightening prospect for an adult.
It's as if everything you know has suddenly vanished and you are having to learn how to understand the world all over again.
You can't understand a thing and no-one understands you either.
So it's very much a case of having to learn in order to survive.
However, most of us won't find ourselves in a situation of total immersion, as it simply isn't a practical option for most adults to take a year out of their lives and head to an area where they will only encounter Spanish and no-one speaks English.
So what are the alternatives? Short bursts of immersion in Spanish are available to quite a few people.
If you can take a week or two off work and go to a language school in Spain or one of the countries in Latin America where Spanish is spoken, you can give yourself a short intensive immersion course.
If possible, stay with a family or at least one native speaker so that you are constantly exposed to the language.
Most language schools will have a list of local people who enjoy having a foreign visitor in their homes for a few weeks and welcome the additional income.
It's also a great way to learn about the local culture, pastimes and food.
The best way to learn Spanish involves listening and speaking as much as possible.
If you can't take the time or afford to travel, look out for interactive language courses, which provide audio and visual learning resources as well as traditional book-based learning.
Achieving fluency in a language is a complex task and so you should use a variety of learning methods, especially online Spanish courses, such as Rocket Spanish, which are becoming cheaper as the internet cuts delivery costs.
You grew up surrounded by English (or whatever you native language is) and so quickly became used to the sounds.
In fact, babies make all the sounds which are contained in every language in the world, but reject the ones they don't hear on a regular basis.
However, adults do learn languages in different ways from babies.
Babies aren't translating from one language to another and they aren't trying to figure out how a sentence should be put together - they simply repeat what they hear, getting it wrong frequently and if corrected enough, they eventually get it right.
Being immersed in a foreign language can be quite a frightening prospect for an adult.
It's as if everything you know has suddenly vanished and you are having to learn how to understand the world all over again.
You can't understand a thing and no-one understands you either.
So it's very much a case of having to learn in order to survive.
However, most of us won't find ourselves in a situation of total immersion, as it simply isn't a practical option for most adults to take a year out of their lives and head to an area where they will only encounter Spanish and no-one speaks English.
So what are the alternatives? Short bursts of immersion in Spanish are available to quite a few people.
If you can take a week or two off work and go to a language school in Spain or one of the countries in Latin America where Spanish is spoken, you can give yourself a short intensive immersion course.
If possible, stay with a family or at least one native speaker so that you are constantly exposed to the language.
Most language schools will have a list of local people who enjoy having a foreign visitor in their homes for a few weeks and welcome the additional income.
It's also a great way to learn about the local culture, pastimes and food.
The best way to learn Spanish involves listening and speaking as much as possible.
If you can't take the time or afford to travel, look out for interactive language courses, which provide audio and visual learning resources as well as traditional book-based learning.
Achieving fluency in a language is a complex task and so you should use a variety of learning methods, especially online Spanish courses, such as Rocket Spanish, which are becoming cheaper as the internet cuts delivery costs.
