Best Ways to Learn Spanish Fast: 20 hacks!

Best Ways to Learn Spanish Fast: 20 hacks!

 

What are the best ways to learn Spanish fast and quickly? Here you can find some great hacks to learn Spanish! Most of them are free and available online.

Especially now that traveling to a Spanish-speaking country is not an option for most of us, it is vital to gain maximum exposure to the Spanish language through multisensory activities.

This way you will improve Spanish quickly! We give you the best Ways to learn Spanish: 20 hacks!

With these Hacks for Learning Spanish Fast, you will hear, speak, and listen to as much Spanish as possible, boosting your skills!

[Free Download]  You can download the complete list of 20 best ways to learn Spanish Fast as well as other E-books about the Spanish Language and the Latin American culture here!

 

1. Spanish Learning App

 

Start with some basic vocabulary on a (free) Spanish learning app such as Duolingo. It’s fun and straightforward, and it gives good vibes as Duolingo will absolutely encourage you and even ‘rave’ you for small efforts. It’s easy to download the app, and you can start any moment “to learn Spanish in five minutes per day” with Duolingo.

2. Listen to Songs in Spanish

There are many different Latin music styles (tango, salsa, flamenco, etc.) and songs to choose from. You can easily pick a couple of Spanish songs you like by checking a radio station online, Spotify, YouTube, or iTunes. You can listen to Spanish songs while walking or jogging, commuting, biking, or cleaning the house!

If you want to take “learning with Spanish songs’ to the next level, search the lyrics and sing along! The next step would be to sing ‘alone’ (versus ‘sing along’) with karaoke videos on YouTube. As music sticks in your memory with ease, you´ll be surprised to see how you can relatively easily remember the Spanish lyrics!
Bonus tip: try the app Lyricstraining to learn languages through music

3. Watch Movies in Spanish

Start watching movies in your own language with Spanish subtitles. Watching movies in your native language with Spanish subtitles is a great way to relax while learning a bit of Spanish. You´d be surprised at how much this will improve your listening skills. It will also enable you to make connections between Spanish and your native language.

Would you like to take Spanish lessons in Cusco? Contact us or learn more here.

After that, you can watch movies in Spanish with Spanish subtitles (listen and read at the same time). The next step would be only to hear (watch without subtitles), to see how much you can understand. Remember that it doesn’t matter if you do not understand every word. You don’t have to. Often, especially if you already know the movie, you can infer the meaning of the words from context. And this is a great practice too, as you will use this skill in real life when talking to people in Spanish.

Bonus tip: check out the best Spanish Movies to practice your Spanish.

 

4. Learn Spanish Vocabulary of the Field(s) You Are Interested in

Once you’ve built up a basic vocabulary and some Spanish phrases, a good tip is to start learning Spanish words on topics you like to talk about; this will help you expand your Spanish vocabulary quickly.

If you enjoy cooking, start with ‘kitchen tools’ and the names of Spanish products (fruits, vegetables, names of meat, dishes). And if you are fond of sailing, hiking, biking, sports, art, painting, or gardening, start from there!

Using flashcards is always an easy way to get exposed to new words.

5. Learn some Basic Grammar

Even if grammar isn’t your favorite, understanding basic Spanish grammar – including verb conjugations – will help you boost your speaking skills. You don’t have to master all the verbs and all the tenses at once. Start with present-tense regular verbs, add a few irregular ones, and from there pick one past-tense and one future-tense verb. This will give you enough ‘tools’ to express yourself at a beginner/low-intermediate level. Later, if you want to take your Spanish to a higher level and sound like a native, you’ll have to drill some more verb tenses!

Would you like to take Spanish lessons in Cusco? Contact us or learn more here.

6. Watch TV in Spanish

Watching TV in Spanish is one of the best ways to learn Spanish quickly and learn about the country’s culture. Univision is a big Spanish-language television network in the U.S. where you can watch various shows, News, Sports, weather, etc.

If you are looking for Spanish TV in Spain, TVE is the best. It has lots of free content like Cooking shows, News, technology, Music, Sports, Movies, etc., and there is also a radio station you can access from their website.

If you’re looking for series (or movies) only, Netflix is a great option, of course!

 

7. Write in Spanish

It doesn’t matter what you write, but write! Make your shopping list in Spanish, or your daily notes or ‘to–do list ’. Or you can write a letter to a family member, to yourself, or an imaginary friend. Or maybe you like to start keeping a diary in Spanish, or you start a blog!

Writing allows you to think your words over, and if you write a letter to a friend with conversational Spanish, you will most likely remember at least part of that later, when you can use it in a real-life conversation.

Do you need some ideas? Here you can get inspiration for what to write about.

More hacks?  Keep on reading: Best Ways to Learn Spanish Fast: 20 hacks! 

8. More apps

Once you are done with Duolingo, the next step could be Clozemaster. Clozemaster helps you learn Spanish in context; it is a gamified language-learning platform that provides mass exposure to vocabulary in context.

You’ll use the Cloze method to fill in the missing words in thousands of Spanish sentences. The phrases you’ll learn are much more relevant to the real world than on Duolingo. In the beginning, it may be weird to say the same things over and over, but as you learn more Spanish words and phrases, you will be able to tailor your sentences to each situation.

It’s free to use the basic version, but there is also a Pro. What’s so good about Clozemaster is that you see Spanish grammar in a natural setting, where you can see how it functions, rather than having to memorize a set of Spanish grammar rules.

Another sensational app is LingQ. LingQ offers many features, including the ability to track how many Spanish words you’ve learned, a playlist to shuffle content and targets, so you know what you’re working towards.

9. Put labels in Spanish on household items

It’s fun to stick labels everywhere in the house. At first, you can label your household items. Later, once you know all of them, you can use the labels to write irregular verbs or other vocabulary groups. This is a simple tip that requires no time or money, and it really works!

 

10. Read websites or magazines of Your Interest in Spanish

Read daily news, or read websites or magazines (online) of the topics that interest you.

If you love art, you can read art books in Spanish, and if you like yoga, you can read websites and books about yoga and learn related vocabulary about body parts and more.

See more about boosting your speaking skills by talking about topics of interest at #20.

11. Prepare a Spanish / Latin American Meal

If you love cooking, watch a cooking video, read a recipe, and prepare a (Spanish or Latin American ) meal! Making a meal using a recipe in Spanish will help you to expand your cooking vocabulary as well as your knowledge about ingredients. And if you use a recipe of a dish you´ve never prepared before, you´ll be forced to learn the new words, and it will be a fun challenge!

12. Practice with News in Slow Spanish

News in Slow Spanish is a great language-learning resource on our list, “Best Ways to Learn Spanish Fast: 20 hacks!”  And it is so much more than “news narrated at a slower pace. “News in Slow Spanish” is an engaging and fun way to practice your Spanish, thanks to native speakers who report current events at a slower-than-natural pace. This makes it much easier for you to understand.

There are materials for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners, as well as Spanish and Latino versions. You also have the option to hear the same person reciting the news at an average speed. There is a new 30-minute episode published every week; each episode consists of four news stories. In addition to being an excellent tool for improving your listening skills, you can also practice Spanish grammar and Spanish Expressions.

The bad news? “News in Slow Spanish” offers is a free trial but after that you have to buy the paid version to access all the material.

13. Play games in Spanish

Digital Dialects is a go-to place for Spanish learning games. Here you can pick many different games; each game covers different topics for beginners in Spanish like numbers, colors, basic phrases, food and so on. Each game offers a second level (option: ‘more games’) where you can continue with more challenging games at an intermediate level of Spanish.

14. Study Abroad

An immersion course in a country where Spanish is spoken is probably the most fun and fast way to learn Spanish.

Here you can read why Peru is considered one of the best places to learn Spanish.

But there are many Spanish schools in Latin America, and in Spain you can choose from.

Would you like to take Spanish lessons in Cusco? Contact us or learn more here.

Travel and live in another country is, of course, not a ‘free resource’.

But after so much learning (and no traveling), how great will it be to practice your Spanish in a country where the language is actually spoken and to feel and breathe the culture in real life?

 

 

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