Thinking of buying a second home in Spain? That’s wonderful! But if you speak (at least a little) Spanish, it’s even better!
Even if you don’t have much time to devote to it, you can perfectly well learn Spanish on your own! There are various methods you can put in place, on a daily basis. What’s more, the advantage of Spanish is that it’s a Romance language, like French and Italian. They therefore share similarities and some words are almost identical, so they’re easy to recognise! So that you feel like a fish in water once you’re there, we’re going to explain how to learn Spanish by yourself in this new article.
The internet
These days, everything goes through the internet, even learning a foreign language! Indeed, there are various websites and apps that can help you in your endeavour.
YouTube
On this site, you’ll find a multitude of videos dedicated to learning Spanish. Whether for children, teenagers or adults, there’s something for everyone. To discover them, try different searches. You can type “learn Spanish”, “Spanish lessons” or even “Spanish for beginners”, for example. The more you vary the phrases, the more results you’ll get! The advantage with YouTube is the presence of visual as well as audio aids. This allows you to progress in the different skills all at once.
As a reminder, we speak of four skills to acquire when learning a foreign language : reading comprehension, listening comprehension, written production and oral production. It’s always advisable to work on all four equally, in order to progress in every area.
Learning the language also involves learning the culture of the target country. Once again, YouTube is a real treasure trove that will introduce you to the latest fashionable singers and bands in Spain. On top of that, you have the option to display the subtitles in English, to get an idea of what the song is saying. A good exercise can also be to look up the lyrics of the song on Google and translate them into English. We don’t advise using Google Translate, but rather doing it with the help of a dictionary. It’s important to note that a translation isn’t done word for word but according to the overall context. Indeed, there’s no need to translate every word of the song to understand its meaning.
However, keeping a little notebook to use as a glossary is a good method. Note down all the new words you come across and their translation. Take a few minutes now and then to re-read and memorise these word lists. You’ll see that in time you’ll no longer have to look them up!
Finally, there are several fairly rich and easy-to-use online dictionaries, but for us the best remains wordreference. Not only does it let you obtain the translation of an isolated word, but it also offers lists of expressions associated with that word. Plus, it has a built-in conjugator that even lets you find the meaning of conjugated verbs, something a standard dictionary doesn’t provide.
Free websites
If you do a Google search for sites to learn Spanish, you’ll see that here too, there are plenty.
The advantage of these sites is that they’re generally made up of a “lesson” part that explains the rule and its exceptions to you, because yes, just as in English, there have to be exceptions to grammar rules! Once the lesson has sunk in, you can practise with exercises and their answers. You often get assessments that let you gauge where you are in your learning and repeat the exercises where you made the most mistakes.
Among these sites we can mention Espagnol Facile, which is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive. It’s divided into several parts in which you can assess your level, access lessons and exercises, but also chat on forums with other learners. You can even choose your learning topics and it contains plenty of audio tracks so that you don’t only work on the written skills of the language.
Netflix
If you already have Netflix at home, that will also help you in your learning. No more films in English, say hello to the original version with English subtitles ! You’ll see that while it may be a little difficult at first, the more you watch, the more your ear will get used to the sounds of Spanish and the more words, then complete sentences, you’ll understand!
If you don’t have Netflix yet, it’s surely time to get on board. It’s indeed the largest network of films and series known to date. There’s nothing better for immersing yourself in Spanish film culture!
Reading
Reading is also a good way to take in the language of Cervantes.
Don’t panic, we’re not asking you to read a whole book by Gabriel García Márquez, start gently!
There are bilingual works that stop you getting stuck on a passage if you don’t understand it. What’s more, books accompanied by a CD or an MP3 format let you work on pronunciation at the same time as reading comprehension.
Fiction uses vocabulary that is closer to what one might use day to day. It’s therefore a good tool for not confining yourself solely to the vocabulary seen in the more formal lessons.
Newspapers are also a good learning aid. They cover various everyday topics such as sport, culture and news stories and greatly enrich your vocabulary.
Likewise, recipe books or celebrity magazines, for example, will expose you to another type of vocabulary. In short, all reading is worth doing, but adapt it to your level so as not to feel overwhelmed.
Finally, a language course at your level can be a good aid for starting to communicate in Spanish.
The Spanish-speaking pen pal
In order to work on oral production, you’ll have to communicate with native speakers of the language. For this, there are various exchange groups that you can find on social media. You can then opt for an exchange only in Spanish, or you speak in Spanish and the person replies to you in English, it’s up to you. The important thing is that you practise!
Of course, the ideal would be to go to the country and make friends with Spaniards, but we’re well aware that this isn’t always easy.
Whatever the case, as soon as you have the chance to go to Spain or to another Spanish-speaking country, don’t be shy and speak up ! Like any foreigner, you have the right to make mistakes and not to know all the words you need to communicate. The important thing is to try and you’ll see that the locals will appreciate your effort!
Are you finally ready to take the plunge and want to invest in Spain? We can help you find your future home. Fill in our contact form and let us support you on this adventure!