Sunday, November 4, 2007

How to learn Spanish...

A How To: How to learn Spanish

Welcome and thanks so much for your visit! This week I chose to run my blog a little differently and have created a "How to" guide that explores some of the ways that you can best learn the language of Spanish-- for you.

In a discussion I held with UA assistant professor of Translation and Interpretation Jaime Fatas, he shared with me what a challenge it was to have taught himself English as a second language when he first moved to the U.S.

In our discussion many interesting points were discussed having to do with the best ways to learn Spanish, or any language.

Here is what Fatas had to say.

“Education is something we take for granted [and] access to education will accelerate the process,” he said.

In his opinion, Fatas thinks that the most beneficial way of learning Spanish is learning by influence. This includes submersing yourself in the language—hearing it, seeing it, speaking it, and living it.

“You have to piece the whole chart together and that’s very complex,” he said.

“That’s almost like reinventing the language,” he said.

Fatas’ overall message is simple: You learn by doing.

“If you learn by immersing yourself culturally only by books and cultural materials- you are missing a big part of the picture,” he said.

Immersion is much more interactive than learning from a book, he said.

The threshold is so high with books, that people who are not very proficient at reading will have a really hard time learning such a language if learned by a book, he said.

Fatas thinks that the ideal situation would be to be able to learn the language with a book in hand, and at the same time, and are able to exist in a rich cultural context, as well.

“That’s the best of both worlds,” he said.

With that said, below I have provided you with, I hope, some helpful ways to learn the language.

If you are the type of person that enjoys sitting in a classroom and prefers learning in a visual type of way, there are some great books out there to begin delving into your quest to learn the language. One book, in particular is called "Platiquemos FSI Basic Spanish Course."


If you are more of a visual learner, there is an excellent online workbook called Quia. In this workbook, you are able to learn a language while practicing it by writing, speaking, hearing and seeing through its various exercises.

Click here to visit Quia.

And of course, the best way to really learn a language is to surround yourself not only around it, but in it. So, talk to people, keep your ears and eyes open, visit places, dine with people, and embrace the culture-- first-hand!

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