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My Self-Study Guide for Learning Spanish

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Mindanao Advice

¡Hola, amigos!  I am now self-studying to broaden my knowledge about the Spanish language, particularly conversational Spanish.  I am taking a pause from my formal classes to test myself and to save some money.

What I did first was to memorize the three important prayers for Catholics— The Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father.  I recite these prayers every day but in English, so I had to research the Spanish version on the Internet and found it easily. It took me some days before it became a part of my system. What I mean by that is to pray firm in Spanish with fewer ‘uhm’ or pauses.

To discover more words, I read the dictionary or stories in Spanish. Then I mentally translate each sentence. If I am not sure, I check out online translators. If I feel playful, I do vocabulary games. I use both Duolingo and Memrise for this purpose. I have ended up using Memrise most because I can observe that the prompters are pronouncing the words well.

The internet is also a rich source of Telecourses. From Youtube videos to bloggers’ websites; many telecourses can be downloaded for free. I have to check them well because I want to get credible ones. It may be a small matter but I also check the dates of the courses because I want updated resources.

When my eyes are sensitive, I turn to podcasts. There are many online and it’s very relaxing for me. My brain seems less distracted and it makes me attentive to the audio lessons. Afterward, I chat with Spanish people and observe how they respond. I often ask for tips and corrections from them. From time to time, I check my grammar notes which I have summarized for guidance before I practice with them.

For relaxation, I listen to Spanish songs and I am taking note of the pronunciation. My favorite is Color Esperanza by Diego Torres. I found it on Youtube with lyrics that I can sing along. As a member of many language forums as well as social networking sites, I easily find Spanish newsfeeds and I read them. When I have a lot of time, I watch movies with English subtitles and sometimes I remove the subtitles trying to understand as much as I can.

I also have a tendency to talk to myself in Spanish, only when I am alone 🙂 Anyway, I vary my activities based on whatever I feel like doing in a day. I spend a minimum of two hours on these.  The two levels of Spanish I took at the university helped me a lot to swim alone in deeper waters. It may appear very difficult, but I will continue trying the best I can to find what works for me.

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2 replies on “My Self-Study Guide for Learning Spanish”

Yo estoy aprendiendo Inglés y me gusta ver como todos, independiente del idioma que estemos aprendiendo, hagamos lo mismo. Justo buscaba cosas para leer en inglés y encontré tu blog. Creo que seguiré leyendo 🙂
Chao!

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