35. Always look for interesting opportunities to practice Spanish.
Yesterday the butcher, wrapping my pork shoulder, remarked that his wife’s best recipe was for pork shoulder. “How does she cook it?” I...
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Do you know a little Spanish? How did you learn it? Maybe you took a class, or traveled in a Spanish-speaking country. Maybe you’ve worked through a beginner textbook, or you’re interested in people who speak Spanish.
Have you ever wanted to go beyond these first steps and learn to enjoy the Spanish you know? You can decide to use and enjoy the Spanish you have right now. It will be a great adventure. You will meet new people. It will make you feel young and exhilarated. It will exercise your brain. You will travel intelligently. You will enjoy life more.
I’ve been speaking Spanish, more or less well, for a long time. Here’s what happens: A friend greets me with, “Hola. ¿Qué tal?” I reply,”Bién, muy bién.” Then the conversation abruptly changes to English as my friend apologizes that he or she once knew some Spanish and liked it but has forgotten it all.
What a wasted opportunity. How many entertaining conversations, how many laughs could I have had by now with friends who gathered their courage and plunged into bad Spanish with me?
So come along and have fun with your bad Spanish with me. You may notice I like to have fun with my bad drawings as well!
Scroll down to enjoy more than 50 quick tips and stories to energize your love of Spanish!
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34. Hire a private tutor.
This seems obvious and is easy to do. However, in my experience, it is wise to specify a particular goal and a specific time in which you...
33. Form a Spanish conversation group.
Five or six people is ideal. Think of a focus for your conversation. In my conversation group, we all read the same book in Spanish and...
32. Host a person from a Spanish-speaking country.
In my city, as in nearly 100 others in the U.S., a non-profit organization called National Council for International Visitors (nciv.org)...
31- parte 2. What would you write in Spanish?
Maybe you have native- speaker friends and want to show them the courtesy of a note of sympathy or congratulations in Spanish. Maybe you...
31. Write something in Spanish.
Writing well in Spanish is not as common as you might think. When I began graduate studies in Spanish, I was so nervous that I arrived...
30. Read a short story in Spanish.
Below is a charming, well-known short story, “Una carta a Dios.” It’s neither easy nor very difficult. Practice your reading with this....
29. Follow my procedure to read a novel in the original Spanish.
Most of the Spanish I know I have learned through reading. Nothing else will improve your vocabulary as well. After you’ve read John...
28. Read a book in Spanish.
Make it easy on yourself at first. Most popular American writers, fiction and non-fiction, have been translated into Spanish. Choose...
27. Talk out loud to yourself in Spanish. Read out loud to yourself in Spanish.
You’ll be surprised how helpful this is.
26. Make a point of listening to conversations you overhear in public.
Try to get the general idea. That woman on her cell phone: Is she talking to a friend or a family member? Is she trying to get...
25. Go to a church service in Spanish.
The music is upbeat, and you already know what it’s about. If you go to a Catholic church, no one will even notice you.
24. Take defensive driving in Spanish.
If you have to take a defensive driving class, take it in Spanish. You’re only doing it to work off a traffic fine or reduce your car...
23. Find a special-interest friend.
Find a topic you care about, learn the specialty vocabulary in Spanish, and keep your eyes open for a fellow enthusiast. Our grandson...
22. Join or form a bilingual Toastmasters club.
Toastmasters International has chapters in many countries and has been helping people learn public speaking for years. The structure of a...
21. Learn how to get the information you really need.
Dividing speech into good/bad isn’t going to help when you have to understand a name, address, price, involved situation, or anything...
20. Try my shameful, low-down conversation trick.
If it seems impossible to understand what someone is saying, try my good/bad trick. In my early days of listening to Spanish speakers, I...
19. Volunteer where you can use your Spanish. Start now.
Of course you must constantly learn more words, more names of things. But don’t wait to use your Spanish until your vocabulary is good. I...
18. Collect jokes, ads, and sayings.
I collect jokes and sayings that help me remember not only words but also grammar. A former teacher would say, “¡No me digas!” when she...
17. Stock up on useful phrases.
Learn the most common useful phrases. Any tourist book has many to choose from. First, learn polite phrases: Por favor and gracias. Muy...
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