How to learn Spanish. All the resources you need.
Learning some Spanish will make your trip to Mexico a lot more enjoyable, and a lot easier. Because once you head off the tourist streets, you’re going to need it.
To be able to have conversations, get to where you’re going and even just ordering your food.
The more I learn, the more I want to know. It’s addictive. Learning Spanish has made my time in Mexico a lot of fun and I now have Mexican friends who speak no English at all (Although I’m trying to teach them).
So if you’re interested in learning some Spanish before your trip (which I highly recommend) or while you’re already here, here are all the resources you’ll need. Both free and paid.
- Apps
- Learn with music
- Online courses
- YouTube
- Yabla
- Reading
- Taking classes
- Free online language exchange.
Apps
The only App I’d recommend is DuoLingo. Hands down the best. And free. If you haven’t got it, download it and get started. Starts off from the basic and gets more challenging the more levels you pass. Covers all the topics and tenses. And it’s addictive. A must!!
Learn with music
Lyricstraining.com is an awesome tool for learning Spanish with music. And it’s FREE. It’s a fill in the blanks style of learning while listening to music. Re-listen to the line of the song until you get it the missing word correct, then move onto the next part. I love this website. Select your language, and the type of music you like, then your level of Spanish and away you go.
Online courses
If you’re wanting to invest a little in yourself, these two online courses are my standout picks for Mexican Spanish.
* Be careful when searching for online courses that they are for Latin America and not Spanish for Spain. There is a lot of differences between the two. Both in pronunciation and grammar.
Synergy Spanish
Synergy Spanish. If you’re looking for quick, easy to understand conversation Spanish, Synergy Spanish by Marcus Sanataria is the best one out there. And it’s directly taught for Mexican Spanish with videos. No grammar, just straight out conversation with all the most common used words. This course is for the beginner to intermediate.
Rocket Languages
Rocket Languages – Spanish, is the complete language course. From the basic words up to advanced level. It teaches you interactively with audio lessons, written texts, games, tests and various other tools. Think of Rosetta Stone style, but better. This course is for every level of Spanish. Sign up for a 1 week free trial and see if it’s something you’d be interested in.
YouTube
YouTube is a great source for learning Spanish. It just takes some time to sift though and find the right channels to subscribe to. You can find it all, conversation, grammar, beginner to advanced.
Watching videos is a fantastic way to listen and will help you with your pronunciation.
Here are a few of my favourite channels I subscribe to and watch regularly.
Professor Jason – Great thorough and easy to follow classes from an actual Spanish teacher.
Easy languages – Interviews on the streets around Latin America about random topics. Subtitles in English and Spanish. It’s really good for listening to real people speaking Spanish.
Complete Spanish – One professor is teaching a student from the beginning up to advanced with 90 short videos. Skip to the level of Spanish you are at. They’re listening videos that simply explain step by step all verbs, tenses and situations in Spanish.
Butterfly Spanish – A very happy Mexican girl with perfect English teaches on a whiteboard. Talks a lot though.
Spanish pod 101 – Has lessons from absolute beginner to Advanced. Vocabulary and listening practice.
Spanishdict – Lots and lots of lessons from beginner to advanced.
123dialogues – Good slow conversations with English and Spanish subtitles.
Yabla
Yabla is the perfect way to practice your listening skills. There are 1300+ videos and you can choose from loads of topics to watch videos you are interested in. Play the videos in slow motion to listen and understand them better with subtitles in Spanish and English. Pause to read, click on a word and will give you the definition. It costs $9.95 a month.
They have 6 videos to watch free to see if you like the style. Videos are beginner to advanced-intermediate.
Reading books
Reading to learn Spanish can be a bit slow. But at the same time, for me, it sinks in more.
Just after I started learning, I bought myself a few kids books and comics at the basic level and found them enjoyable to read. Especially Pepito jokes books for kids. While having google translate on my phone to translate all the words I didn’t understand.
Grammar text books
Similar to reading books, text books also require a bit of motivation. If you have the motivation to read through and do the exercises, it’s a great tool to learn Spanish. With a bit of hard work, your grammar and understanding of the language will improve very quickly.
Easy Spanish Step by Step is a great textbook out there for beginners.
I travel with The Berlitz self-teacher. This book is old, but has it all. It’s full of sentences, phrases and conversations with quizzes at the end of each chapter.
If you’re looking for a travel phrase book, Lonely Planet has one just for Mexico.
Taking classes
When I first arrived to Mexico, I took 6 weeks of classes, 2 hours a day, and my Spanish improved out of sight!!
For me, this is the best way to learn Spanish by far. But also the most expensive. You can take small group classes or private classes that will cost a little bit more.
Should you take Spanish classes in your country or while you are travelling? Well that depends on your time frame. I would definitely say while travelling is more effective. You start practising what you have just leant as soon as you leave the classroom. When taking a class at home, it’s most likely you won’t say a word of Spanish until your next lesson. And it will be more expensive.
Prices of classes in Mexico average about $10 – $12 per hour group class and $14-$17 for private lessons. If you study for more than a week you will most likely get a discount.
Free online language exchange
The most popular and the best website for this is italki.
Italki is a great way to connect with native speaking people. You can add journal entries in your learning language, and it will be corrected by a native speaker. And you can correct people learning English too.
You start make to friends and have private message chats. Then you exchange Skype details and start chatting face to face. There are lots of people who want to learn English, so it’s easy to find language partners. And once you start talking and listening to native speakers, thats when you really start to excel.
How many hours of Spanish does it take to become fluent?
Starting as a beginner and dedicating an average of 1 hour per day to learning Spanish, you can expect to achieve conversational fluency within 8 to 12 months. This journey would require approximately 250 to 350 hours of dedicated learning time.
So choose one of the above or a combination and get cracking!! It’s very rewarding speaking another language.
Hasta luego.
JOIN US! WSE Travel Packages
This sounds like quite the adventure, right? We thought so too! Though we realize it can be pretty intimidating to get out there into the world on your own, especially when travelling to some of these off the beaten path locations. We love it when our readers give it a shot and try it for themselves! In fact, please leave us feedback if you do!! If trying something ‘this’ adventurous on your own is just a bit outside of your comfort zone, WSE Travel is here to help!
Follow this link for our ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Tours – packages that are highly personalized and tailored at your request.
Spain Travel Resources
These are my favorite companies to use when I travel. They consistently have the best deals, offer world-class customer service and great value, and overall, are better than their competitors. They are the companies I use the most and are always the starting point in my search for travel deals.
- Best Flight Deals: Trip.com – Trip is my favorite flight search engine. It is a flight aggregator that provides travelers with the best rates on airline tickets. Its innovative search finds the best option for specific travel dates by comparing airfares offered by all major airlines and agencies. The aggregator displays final prices, without any hidden fees. They are hands down the number one place to start.
- Best Hotel Deals: Booking.com – Booking is the best all-around hotel booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates because it compares all the other major hotel booking sites. They have the widest selection of comfortable accommodations. In all my tests, they’ve always had the cheapest rates out of all the booking websites.
- Best Tour Deals: Where Sidewalks End (of course) – WSE Travel is a boutique tour operator with specially curated tours, events, and workshops. We have many tour options available in cities in Mexico and worldwide, including cooking classes, walking tours, art workshops, and more!
- Best Car Rental Deals: Discover Cars – If you want to have mobility freedom, renting a car is an incredible option, but finding the best deal can be a nightmare! Discover Cars scans all the major car rental sites and includes all mandatory fees, taxes, and extras in the quoted price so there won’t be any unpleasant surprises when you arrive at the rental desk.
- Best Travel Insurance Deals: SafetyWing – SafetyWing offers convenient and affordable plans tailored to all your travel needs. They have cheap plans, great customer service, and an easy-to-use claims process that makes it perfect for those on the road. They even have subscriptions if you are planning long-term, without having to re-apply for each segment of your trip.
- Best E-Sim Provider: Airalo – Airalo is one of the most versatile e-sim providers I’ve ever found, offering e-sim in almost every country on earth! No need to take your home phone provider’s sim card out and risk losing it on your trip! As long as your phone has e-sim capabilities, Airalo has you covered at really good rates too, meaning you can be connected at all times on your trip!
- Best 100% Pick-pocket Proof Clothing Deals: Clever Companion – They make clothing specifically for travel, with hidden pockets to hide your valuables. From hoodies to briefs, they cover all your clothing needs – each with hidden pockets to hide your money, wallet, and anything else you want to keep safe!
- Best Eco-Safe Travel Products: TreeTribe – This company is just awesome! From water bottles to yoga pants, wallets to bikinis, and everything in between – all their products are great quality, and eco-friendly AND they plant a tree for every purchase!
- Best Outdoor Travel Product: LifeStraw – My go-to company for reusable water bottles with built-in filters so you can ensure your drinking water is always clean and safe.
Happy Spanish and Happy Travels!!
Ahorita, the Spanish words that could have you waiting a lifetime…
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