how do i begin to learn spanish
I am a beginner... and would love to be a pro in Spanish.
8 Answers
Can you add on your profile your language level? In particular your English level- your question suggests you are starting your Spanish learning. I don't know if you have any experience of language learning [apart fromthe language you learned as a baby] I suggest you learn the alphabet then concentrate on how to pronounce Spanish. Spanish, unlike the nightmare of English is very logical on pronunciation eg there is only one way to say an 's' wherever it is in a word. Listen to Spanish - music radio TV. What you are learning is the rhythm of the language. When you speak unless you are very young or very gifted you will always sound like an American speaking Spanish or whatever your first language is but you can still be fluent and understood. To begin with concentrate your learning on the Spanish you will use - for example if you live in the USA Mexican or Colombian. If you live in the UK Spain. This is because there is a different way dealing with z and c whichever you choose people from other countries will understand you,but it is easier to learn one way. Some things you just have to learn eg verb endings Note new words down on paper or electronically and try and include the phrase where you heard them Go back to check the words regularly and magically you will realise you have learned it. Do not make an effort to learn unusual or complicated vocabulary. When you were a child your vocabulary was simple and met your needs as you get older you learned how to put sentences together and describe things. Filler words are very useful and you will need some - by the way, however, but etc The internet is fantastic. I can recommend La vida loca from the BBC and the podcasts from NIS both of which start from absolute beginner Check this site as similar questions have been answered. You need to use Spanish every day and as soon as you feel able to speak.Read things you see out loud even if noone is listening. Spend 15 to 30 minutes a day on Spanish. Try and find a teacher or if not someone who speaks Spanish and wants to talk.
That's great to hear! Seriously though, becoming proficient in Spanish takes time, effort, and no small degree of dedication.
If you are really serious about wanting to learn Spanish, I would suggest taking a Spanish class. Websites like this one are useful to be sure, but they cannot offer the same level of accountability and training.
If you don't want to take an entire class, I would recommend studying vocabulary for now. Using flashcards, write the English translation on one side and the Spanish on the other. This is the best method I've ever found for memorizing vocab.
There are plenty of fluent Spanish speakers here, are there any questions you might want to ask them?
This website can offer you many useful tools to learn Spanish, including: Paralees's excellent, mini teaching videos, a grammar section, a question and answer forum, and much more besides, but above all else: a friendly learning community committed to helping each other learn and master the Spanish and English languages!
However dedicated a student you may be, you will not continue to make progress alone....without the help of native teachers or speakers with whom you can practise!
You will need to practise , practise, practise and keep on practising your newly acquired language and applying what (all) you have just learnt!
We would strongly encourage you to either:
1.Take up Spanish classes with a native Spanish-speaking teacher The cost varies considerably between online Spanish language schools and often between tutors, too! If you are interested please let me know and I can recommend you some from personal experience! 
and / or ...
2.Start a language partnership/ exchange with a Spanish-speaking native. You offer them free help to learn your native language (or mother tongue) in exchange for them helping you to learn their native language: which is Spanish! You can do this here at Spanish Dict by posting a request on the Spanish question and answer forum, requesting a native Spanish speaker with whom you can chat!
No money needs to be exchanged but you do need to make sure that you can speak your own native language with a reasonable level of proficiency (ideally advanced or fluent) so that they are equally benefited from the exchange!
I hope this helps
Here is a link to our free Spanish lessons. That will get you started in the right direction.
Just a quickie to sum up what everybody else has said here, but in Readers' Digest form.
Take a class. If you have an adult high school or community college nearby that's the way to go. I teach college level Spanish and have a great class, IMHO
This costs a few sheckels but some of the folks here use the Pimsleur Approach, course.
There are some great auto-didactic (self-teaching) instructional books out there with accompanying tapes, CDs' etc.
Along with the above suggestions following Rac1's advice using the SpanishDict course is an excellent supplement to the above. It will reinforce what you learn, if nothing else.
Buena Suerte en tu aventura.
Make Spanish speaking friends.
Why do you want to learn Spanish? Are you doing it for fun? Do you want to move to or work in a Spanish speaking country? Do you just want to travel and be able to get by? The purpose for which you want to learn will determine the best path.
Also, do you need to do it very cheaply, or are you able to fork out some money?
I've got lots of ideas, but I need to know more about what you want.
learn another language is very interesting and it could be good for you future, well you can start with basic things( grammar,vocabulary and reading) on internet there are a lot of videos and pages where you can learn some words in Spanish but start with the things easier and then you will can learn the most difficult,the grammar in Spanish you need to have a good attention with the verbs and adjectives, because in Spanish the verbs have conjugations and the conjugations depends of the subjects but these thing you will find and you will learn at the time when you start and you need to learn how to say the vocals and consonants in Spanish but is easy because when you learn this you will can write many words because in Spanish the pronunciation and the writing are equal in the most of cases my suggestions are that start with simple and basic things and if you know someone that speak Spanish or know how to speak it you can talk with that person if you do that you will learn a lot of vocabulary and listen to music in Spanish this will help you to learn and know new words but it will help you to learn to say perfectly many words in Spanish
