Relax…It’s just Spanish

Many people freak out about learning Spanish. I understand that undertaking a foreign language is not an easy task to do, but first you have to ask yourself: do I really would like to learn Spanish? Is that something that I would really enjoy learning? Do I like the Spanish/Latino culture? do I identify myself with the culture? do I enjoy being around Spanish/Latino people? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself before learning Spanish.  If you answer is “yes” to all of them, then I am sure you will learn the language with ease, and more importantly you will enjoy it.

One thing you don’t want to do when beginning to learn is to become obsessed with translation. By this I mean DO NOT try to translate every single word you learn, instead try to listen and repeat several times. Do not read the word and try to repeat it just like it would sound in English, just try to listen and try to repeat the word or sentence out loud exactly how you heard it. Remember that we first learn how to speak before we learn how to read. It’s just the natural way you learn a native language.

Another rule of thumb is trying to listen native Spanish speakers, so you can get used to the correct pronunciation. Lean the basics first, just like a baby when trying to talk. Watch cartoons in Spanish, movies, listen to music, etc…

Stay focus on what you want to achieve, and forget about how fast you want to be speaking. You’ll see that it will be easier than what you think.

So relax, and start learning.