To learn a language, it is important to begin thinking in that language. To learn Spanish is no different. It is no good translating from English to Spanish all the time. The process is too slow and it is impossible to become natural and fluent that way. The best way to learn Spanish quickly is to become fully immersed in the culture.
Learn Spanish Quickly by Moving Abroad
Move to a country that speaks Spanish. Living in a Spanish-speaking country means being surrounded by the language at all times. It is in the advertisements, on the street signs, in the shops and in the literature. People are talking in Spanish all the time in all the public places, including at work.
Some people visit a country and spend three months in that country studying Spanish. This is still not enough to learn Spanish really quickly because coping with everyday difficulties like getting to work and filling in tax forms or paying the gas bill over the phone do not exist. The classroom environment is still too safe; too manufactured.
Move to a country that speaks Spanish and live there, really live there for at least a year. Avoid places where people speak English, like Barcelona for example, (Mérida in Venezuela is a good place to learn Spanish) and avoid capital cities. Without the language, life in the capital can be scary and it is difficult to make friends. Without friends and a social life, learning Spanish becomes very difficult, which leads onto step number two.
Make Friends With the Natives to Improve Spanish Learning
Make friends with natives and go out; get a social life. The more listening practice done in Spanish to easier it is to learn Spanish and eventually speak Spanish well. Making native friends is the only way to learn Spanish used by real speakers on the streets. Books can teach grammar but they cannot teach language and how language is really used.
Learning Spanish is Made East Through Reading Novels
Read in Spanish. Buy a Spanish novel (Paolo Coelho being a simple writer to begin with) and read. Notice how the sentences are constructed. Notice when a completely different verb is used to convey something. For example, "La ventana daba por la calle." This means, "The window gives for the street." However, in English the literal translation is, "The window looks out onto the street." Translation here is impossible and these differences can be seen through reading.
To Learn Spanish Quickly, Watch TV and Films in Spanish
Watch TV and films in Spanish. Go to the cinema. Once one is able to follow a movie, at speed, without having to understand every single word used, learning Spanish becomes a lot easier. Fluent understanding must and will come before fluent production. Watch the news in Spanish every morning before work. Dive in completely to the language and it will be easier to learn Spanish in a shorter period of time.
The Final and Most Effective Step to Learn Spanish is to Find a Spanish Lover
Find a Spanish boyfriend or girlfriend. This is the best way to learn Spanish quickly and probably the only way to learn and practice certain Spanish verbs, words, phrases at all! If possible (although it is clearly not always so straightforward), try to find a boyfriend or girlfriend who only speaks Spanish, then there's never any room for cheating.
Follow these steps and learning Spanish will not only be easier, but a lot less grueling. These steps, when executed to the full, can mean that it is possible to learn Spanish and be fully capable of understanding and expressing at all times within the space of a year.
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