You took the plunge and bought a computer assisted Spanish course. Maybe you enrolled in a Spanish class at your local community college.  You are feeling great about starting on a new journey of learning Spanish.  Since you are going to be putting a good deal of time and effort into your studies, you may want to consider some activities to compliment your academic studies so that you can get the most out of your course.  Most likely, your goal for learning Spanish has to do with being able to communicate with a native Spanish speaker, either for business, travel, or just for fun.  Simply earning a passing grade or listening to your entire Rocket Spanish course is not going to cut it when it comes to using Spanish in the real world.  By working hard and applying yourself in a class or CD course is a great start to improving your Spanish abilities.  In order to realize your goal of being able to converse with a native speaker, you will have to take your studies outside the classroom and away from the computer.  Here are some suggestions to how you can integrate Spanish into your everyday life to compound the effects of a class.

l        Speak Spanish every chance you get.  This one can be tough because at first you might think that you don’t have opportunities in everyday life to speak Spanish.  However, if you are constantly on the lookout for situations where you can practice your Spanish, you might be surprised at how often they present themselves.  For example, if you enjoy authentic Mexican food, most of the servers at Mexican restaurants speak Spanish.  You can tell them that you would like to practice Spanish and place your food order in Spanish.  Many Spanish speakers enjoy helping people with the language and you may find yourself getting some extra attention from your waiter and help with your Spanish.  Try to visit the restaurant at a slightly off-peak hour so that if you find a kind, chatty server they won’t be too busy to talk to you for a while.

l        Watch Spanish films and TV programs for entertainment.  Everyone likes to relax at the end of the day or on the weekend and watch some TV or movies for entertainment.  Why not try a Spanish movie?  Mexico, Spain and various countries in Central and South America have thriving film industries that produce some high quality films.  Don’t feel bad about turning on the English subtitles to be sure that you can follow what is happening in the story.  Try to listen to the Spanish that is being spoken as you read along.  Even if you don’t consciously understand what is being said in Spanish, your ear will get more used to the sounds of Spanish words and you will keep developing your vocabulary.  By watching Spanish films and TV programs you will be able to relax, be entertained and learn something new at the same time.

l        Write yourself notes, grocery lists, etc. in Spanish.  After you have learned some basic Spanish vocabulary, try to use it as much as you can.  If other members of your family speak or understand Spanish you can write notes to them in Spanish.  You could also write some posts in Spanish at the members? forum for Rocket Spanish users. Even if you don’t have anyone to write to in Spanish, you can write to yourself.  Make grocery lists in Spanish, write a journal entry in Spanish or write your to-do list in Spanish.

Attend Spanish meetup groups.  Meetup.com is a very popular website that lists clubs and group activities for almost any interest that you might have.  Most cities have an active Spanish meetup community where you can go to a restaurant, library or private home and practice speaking Spanish.  People of all abilities and levels of Spanish come to Spanish meetup groups.  Conversations are always interesting because most people have learned Spanish by traveling so you can learn a lot about other countries and cultures just by attending a meetup like this.  Even if your speaking ability is pretty basic, you will find some friendly, patient people at a meetup group who will listen and give you feedback on your pronunciation and vocabulary.

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Filed under: Spanish Tutorials

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