If you want to know how to learn Spanish fast, you’re in the right place. With the right strategies, motivation, and focused effort, you could be speaking Spanish in a matter of weeks.
Speaking a new language with fluency takes time, but there’s a lot you can do to speed up the process and gain basic conversational Spanish skills quickly.
This article will walk you through the quickest way to learn Spanish, from choosing a program to finding the best Spanish tutors online.
Keep reading for the best resources and learning tools to speed up your studies and learn Spanish in a month.
Learning a new language takes a lot of hard work and dedication. If you want to learn Spanish fast, be prepared to live and breathe the language for the next few weeks.
When you identify your “why”—the reasons you want to speak Spanish—you’ll have an easier time staying motivated and putting in the time to learn and practice.
Be honest about your motivation. Sometimes it’s not a lack of willpower but a lack of clarity. Why is this so important? How is your life going to change once you learn Spanish?
Stop for a minute and reflect on what learning Spanish really means to you. For example:
As you embark on your journey of learning a new language, don’t forget to celebrate milestones along the way. When it gets tough, remind yourself WHY you decided to make this commitment.
Research from The US Foreign Service Language Institute found that it can take 24-30 weeks to learn Spanish at a professional working proficiency level. That’s about 6 to 8 months with 600-750 class hours. But, you can speak Spanish at a conversational level much faster than that.
With the right instructor, you can learn basic conversational Spanish in 3 months or less! If you want to know how to speak Spanish faster, try an accelerated study with one-on-one Spanish lessons or an immersion program.
Experts say that you can make meaningful progress in learning a new language by practicing for just an hour a day. Of course, how quickly you learn basic Spanish will depend on you. Everyone learns differently, and at their own pace.
From full immersion programs to weekly courses, you can find all kinds of approaches to learning Spanish. So what is the best method for learning Spanish fast?
A personalized plan that leverages your strengths and provides plenty of practice using Spanish from day one is the fastest way to learn.
Don’t just sign up for a class — that’s where many language learners get stuck spending months or years without gaining the confidence to use their Spanish. Combine a few of these tips on learning Spanish faster and create your own super-effective crash course.
The more you can use your individual learning style, the faster you’ll learn Spanish.
Each of us needs different activities to reinforce the knowledge we learn on a daily basis. To find out how you learn best, take this 5-minute quiz.
Some people learn best with visual stimulation, while others need auditory cues or engagement with other people. Choose some of these tips to leverage your strengths and speed up your Spanish learning:
Finding your learning style will allow you to be more efficient, focusing on methods that work for you and not wasting time on the ones that don’t.
Not sure of your language learning style? Take the quiz here.
The quickest way to learn Spanish is one-on-one, with an experienced teacher who speaks like a native. Group classes might be fun, but they are definitely a slower, less effective way to learn.
You need to start conversing in Spanish as quickly as possible, which doesn’t happen in a classroom full of English speakers. In a typical class, you won’t get the personalized teaching you need, especially if you’re in a hurry to start using the language.
At Live Lingua, we focus on individual lessons, matching learners with the best online Spanish tutor for their goals and learning style.
Work with an instructor who can tailor your learning program to your specific needs—the best methods to learn Spanish fast.
Where are you planning to travel and use your Spanish? Find an instructor who specializes in the right dialect and has the right accent. Better yet, learn online from someone who actually lives in the place you’re planning to use your Spanish.
According to Britannica, Spanish is spoken in at least 18 countries, each with its own local dialect. If you plan to visit a specific country, the best method to learn Spanish is to focus your studies on that dialect.
With the right instructor, you’ll develop an ear for the accent before you go. Otherwise, you’ll find it hard to understand what you hear when you arrive, slowing down your progress considerably.
Verbs are the basic building blocks of any sentence. Learning just a few common verbs can go a long way when learning to form sentences in Spanish.
This is one of the best methods to learn Spanish quickly, because it helps you form sentences early on so you can practice speaking.
You’ll want to focus on verbs used in everyday Spanish, like “to be” (ser, estar), “to eat” (comer), and “to go” (ir). Start with the most common verbs (check out this list from Applied Psycholinguistics).
Learn to conjugate, meaning how to form the verbs properly in a sentence. You’ll need to learn the 3 verb styles in Spanish (“-ar”, “-er”, and “-ir”). Begin with the present tense, as this will help you get by at first. Later, you can advance to other tenses, like future or past tense.
Once you learn the most common verbs in Spanish, you should be able to form basic sentences. Practice using these verbs whenever you can, and before you know it, you’ll be comfortable having simple conversations.
When you recognize “why” you want to learn Spanish, your instructor can help design a course tailored to your needs. That way, you can focus on the vocabulary you expect to use, and skip past the stuff you won’t need right away.
Ask yourself these questions to prioritize your studies around the most important skills and vocabulary:
To reproduce an immersive experience at home, expose yourself to as much Spanish as you can. You need plenty of exposure if you want to learn fast.
Consume as much Spanish language material as you can, in between conversing with native Spanish speakers at every opportunity.
Enjoy Spanish music, videos, food, and everything you can get a hold of. If you are feeling bold, you may want to configure your phone, tablet, and computer to Spanish (you can do this by changing the settings).
One of the best tips to learn Spanish: practice with children. Children, like you, are also at a beginner’s language level, and they tend to use more basic vocabulary. Kids love to play, so practicing Spanish together is educational and fun!
Here are a few ways to tap into kids’ enthusiasm to speed up your Spanish learning:
Often when people learn a new language, they feel too shy to start speaking right away. But one of the best Spanish tips for beginners is to go out there and speak it!
Start speaking and having conversations right from the beginning. You’ll practice forming sentences. You’ll learn from your mistakes. Plus, you’ll have a chance to hear how other people speak, a great way to train your ear.
Let go of perfection. Sure, you might make mistakes, pronounce things the wrong way, or speak broken Spanish. That’s how you learn!
When practicing Spanish, chances are you’ll forget a word (or not know it at all). When you don’t know or forget a specific word, think of other ways to explain what you mean.
Let’s say you forget how to say “I’m hungry” (Tengo hambre). Think of alternate ways of saying the same thing, with the vocabulary that you do know. For example, “I want to eat” (Quiero comer) or “I want food” (Quiero comida).
You’ll get your meaning across, even when you can’t recall the exact words. This will help speak Spanish faster, even with a limited vocabulary.
Design your life in a way that sets you up for success. If you’re trying to learn in a short period of time, you need to maximize productivity.
Here are a few tips to make sure you have enough time and space in your life for learning Spanish:
You’ll find more about how to learn Spanish fast on our Live Lingua Spanish Podcast:
Learning a new language is a big commitment, especially if you’ve given yourself a short-term deadline. If you neglect your health while you’re focusing on this goal, your ability to learn will suffer.
Plus, you’ll improve your cognitive function if you combine your Spanish studies with activities to sharpen your mind. Keep up these healthy habits while you learn:
A lot of people start with basic online Spanish courses, or practice with an app, and think it will be enough. No single program or app will get you speaking conversational Spanish as quickly as a personalized plan with plenty of practice.
So, get motivated by reminding yourself of all the amazing benefits you will enjoy when you can finally speak Spanish with confidence. Then, use the tips in this article to accelerate your learning and reach your goal faster!
Take your first step to finally feeling comfortable speaking Spanish.
Take our free 5-minute quiz to help you understand how you learn best, and get connected with the resources to make the most of your language learning style.
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