| Learning Spanish need not involve the drudgery of | | | | " Put audio tapes on to an Ipod or similar so you |
| learning endless verbs and grammar, though that | | | | can listen to them at your convenience -while you |
| has its place if you desire to become really fluent | | | | are on a bus or train traveling to or from work. |
| in the Spanish language. What is required though is | | | | " Work through the course systematically. This is |
| your real commitment to a goal of being able to | | | | better than picking out parts of it. Courses are |
| converse confidently in Spanish. | | | | designed to build your understanding and |
| You must have a real desire to learn the Spanish | | | | confidence in an organized way. |
| language in order to become motivated and to | | | | " Use flash cards. |
| stay motivated. You should have in mind a | | | | " Some courses include games you can play which |
| particular reason for learning Spanish. Is it to | | | | make it fun to learn new words. |
| further your business or work prospects? Are | | | | " Make a practice of spending time each day |
| you going on holiday to a Spanish speaking | | | | learning the language, even if it is only 10 or 15 |
| country? Do you want to communicate with | | | | minutes it will keep your mind focused on your |
| Spanish speaking friends or neighbours? Perhaps | | | | goal of learning Spanish. |
| you would like to watch Spanish Movies or read | | | | " Listen to podcasts about learning the Spanish |
| Spanish books. Whatever the reason, keeping | | | | language. Again a search on Google will provide |
| your goal firmly in front of you will help maintain | | | | you with choices. |
| your motivation. | | | | " Practice reading out loud. Find an area or room |
| It is also a good idea to break your main goal of | | | | where you will not be disturbed and read sections |
| learning Spanish into a series of smaller steps and | | | | of the language aloud. It will build your confidence |
| set a time frame in which to reach each of those | | | | and fluency in speaking Spanish. |
| steps. There will be times when the going gets | | | | To get a well structured course, flexible enough |
| tough, but keeping your goals in mind will help you | | | | to cater to your individual needs and which |
| to stay focused. Also as you master each of the | | | | includes enthusiastic support, it is better to invest |
| steps your feeling of achievement will continue to | | | | in a paid course. While some can be quite costly |
| grow. | | | | there are also excellent courses which won't cost |
| The Spanish language being phonetically excellent | | | | you the earth. Courses which you can download |
| means you will find little difficulty with | | | | from the internet will, in general, cost less than |
| pronunciation. Also because many words have | | | | formal courses offered by a school or private |
| been borrowed from the Spanish language, English | | | | tutor and provide excellent value for your money. |
| speaking students will find they already | | | | If you wish just to be able to carry on a casual |
| understand the meaning of many of them. | | | | conversation, there are programs available which |
| As a student of the Spanish language you will find | | | | offer an interesting and fun approach to the job |
| you don't just learn words, you learn how to put | | | | of learning to speak Spanish. You can quickly learn |
| them into context. You will focus on sentence | | | | sufficient every-day language to enable you to |
| structure (not just vocabulary) along with | | | | enjoy your travels to Spain or to Latin American |
| complimentary words to form phrases and | | | | countries. |
| sentences. | | | | For your job, to talk to friends and neighbours, |
| You can find lots of free help by doing a search | | | | communicate with pen pals; learning Spanish can |
| on Google, but unless you are extremely | | | | bring you much pleasure and satisfaction. |
| motivated these will only take you part way | | | | Norm Pavelka. |
| towards your goal. | | | | Spanish is a popular language to study as a |
| Some useful tips for studying the Spanish | | | | second language because it is relatively easy to |
| language, (or any language): | | | | learn and it opens up exciting new vistas to those |
| " Make a realistic lesson plan-any good course will | | | | who make the effort to learn it. Learning Spanish |
| include plans which you can if necessary modify | | | | should easy and fun. |
| to suit your needs. | | | | |