Here is an article from another woman who writes on learning languages. I was drawn to it because of the emphasis on fun. This begins a monthly series of guest articles by other writers on learning languages.– Rosana

5 Ideas to Instantly Boost Your Linguistic Knowledge While Having Tons of Fun

By Martina Srblin

Having fun is the ultimate cherry on the pie – it makes everything, including language learning, an entirely different experience. You get the impression the materials are simpler, there’s less effort involved, the productivity skyrockets, and time flies by at an otherworldly speed. So why not enjoy the magic process of gaining linguistic knowledge, starting today?

Here are 5 ideas to introduce fun to your language learning: Click to read more >>>

Want to have more fun while learning Spanish? A lot of Americans and Canadians in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico, where I lived for several years, would buy DVDs of Spanish movies at the local street markets.

My husband and I did this a few times, but sometimes the programs were too violent for me (not hard), quite steamy (not usually a problem!), or the Spanish was so rapid fire that we missed some of the essential twists and turns of the plot (frustrating).

Enter Lights, Camera, Spanish (Book + DVD): Learn Conversational Spanish by Watching a Romantic Adventure! It’s a movie made for learning Spanish, shot in Santiago, Chile.

Here is the blurb from the producers:

Get swept up in the romance, danger, and intrigue when an American businessman goes to Chile to take over a family winery and instead falls in love. As he learns his life lessons, you start your own Spanish adventure with:

• The 90-minute film Sol y viento that was designed especially for language learners with both English and Spanish subtitle options so you can follow along
• A workbook with key vocabulary and dialog from the film
• Exercises that keep you engaged in the story and reinforce your new skills

Save yourself an aisle seat for the best Spanish class ever!

Just click on the image to find out more at Amazon:

The idea of working on your Spanish by speaking it at work won’t apply to everyone, of course, but if it doesn’t apply to you maybe you can modify the concept so it does provide you with an opportunity, through other community groups, for example.

Today I’m suggesting that if you have a job where some of the employees are Hispanic, get up your nerve and try speaking a little Spanish with them. Even if you just try to say something very basic, chances are that — once they realize you are trying to speak Spanish — that they will be  very pleased.

I’ve noticed this delighted reaction when traveling as well. A couple of years ago, my husband and I were vacationing in the Ozarks and we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant in a small town in Arkansas. There was a gray-haired Hispanic man running the place and when he walked by our table and said hello, I said “Vivimos en Jaliso.” (We live in the state of Jalisco.) His jaw dropped, and we had quite a long conversation.

The convenient thing about practicing your Spanish with co-workers is that you see them regularly. Once they realize you are serious about improving their Spanish, they are likely to help you. They may tease you about your pronunciation or other errors you make, but it will be in a light-hearted and friendly way. You will be able to ask them how to say something you want to learn.

This will give you a chance to pick up vocabulary that relates to work, or at least to the things around you. You can point to something, and they can tell you what it means. You can say a phrase that has to do with your work, and they can translate it for you. If you do this quite a bit, you will pick up useful words and phrases.

If you are doing this with people for whom English is a second language, you may be able to help them a bit with their English. At the very least, they will understand what you are feeling.

This practice is a great way to use words you may be learning in one of the programs I review here.

This blog is meant to help you learn how to speak Spanish…. or I could even say to help you learn how to learn. You may be saying “well duh” if you are a regular reader, but I was just thinking about what I am trying to do here. Unlike the other websites on learning Spanish that I go to myself, this one doesn’t teach you any Spanish… well just a word here and there thrown in for illustrating a point!

I am not qualified to teach Spanish myself, as anyone who has chatted with me in Spanish for five minutes could tell you. But where I do  have something to offer is in addressing the question of how you can can learn. What are the steps that a person has to go through in learning Spanish or in learning any language?  ( I almost said in learning anything but decided to stay focused on language learning beyond one’s native tongue.) Click to read more >>>