The Best Spanish Learning Resources

With all the resources available online to learn Spanish, it can be difficult to make an informed choice regarding the one you should choose. How can you tell whether a website or learning method is legitimate, particularly if you are a beginner? There are some things to watch out for when you are trying to decide.

Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world. Being so widespread means that it is very regionally divided when it comes to pronunciations and accents, however, Spanish rules are decided by Real Academia Española (The Royal Spanish Academy), an entity created in the 18th century that all Spanish speaking countries adhere to.

The best resources to learn Spanish online are surprisingly easy to find once you know what you are looking for. There are different types of websites available depending on the type of Spanish you want to learn. Do you just want to learn something basic because you are traveling to Spain for a few weeks or do you want to fully dominate the language? Are you not sure how much you want to learn?

Some resources for basic ways to learn Spanish online are:

  • The BBC's Spanish Guide: ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/ ) The BBC offers visitors the choice to learn many languages. The Spanish that can be learned on this page is European and is catered towards British tourists visiting Spain. There is a more advanced course for those Britons that might want to settle in Spain. This is a very comprehensive resource with a video series and worksheets and exams available.
  • About.com ( http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishfortravelers/a/greetings.htm ) This website has some very simple and straightforward basic Spanish that anyone can learn. It is completely free and also has many interesting tidbits of information about The Spanish Language, including forums with selected answers. The forums can seem somewhat inaccessible to a complete beginner.

Many people want to learn Spanish online not just because they are traveling somewhere foreign but to expand their horizons, become more employable, have more success at their jobs, be able to work or study abroad and simply expand their knowledge. These goals can sometimes be difficult to attain because it is not always easy to find a trustworthy website that provides you with the tools to learn Spanish quickly. Self-guided study can only take a student so far, particularly when he is not given guidelines. How long are you meant to study for? What are the next lessons that should be done? How do you optimize your learning? There are only a few online Spanish learning programs that take these necessities into account. Paying for a face-to-face tutor can be expensive and very time-consuming. The advantages of online learning when it comes to cost effectiveness and fitting into the learner's schedule cannot be overstated. There are a few resources that take all of these needs into account and try to optimize the learner's experience to make it as quick and painless as possible.



  • Rocket Spanish: (Review: http://www.languagelearningsoftware.com/rocket-spanish-review/ ) This is easily the quickest way to learn to speak, understand and read Spanish. These downloadable lessons are great because you do not have to be at your computer to be able to do them and they help with pronunciation. It might look a bit weird to speak back to your radio but you will see how it pays off when you go abroad or engage a Spanish speaker. The audio recordings all come with a Spanish transcript that allows you to follow the recordings as they go. There is a community in which the student can always ask any questions that might arise from the lessons. Rocket Spanish has a handy tool available for storing vocabulary. Rocket Spanish is engaging and promises to speed up your Spanish learning by 50% compared to other courses. Compared to hiring a face-to-face tutor, it is also extremely affordable. This is the right choice if you want to learn Spanish quickly and need guidance. It is also quite fun.
  • 123teachme.com ( http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/business_spanish ) This is a great resource if you already have the foundations of Spanish but need to learn some business Spanish and do not have access to a business Spanish course. There are some great resources related to specific professions like construction and banking. These are mostly snippets of vocabulary and dialog without much information regarding why they are constructed a certain way so it is a good idea to have a good Spanish foundation before starting to learn from this resource.

As you can see, there are plenty of resources available to learn Spanish online. You can pick and choose whatever fits your needs. Whether you are going on holiday to a Spanish speaking country and want to mingle with the locals or are planning to do business abroad you can get your basic foundations from online courses designed specifically for your needs.

There are also Spanish courses available if you already speak some Spanish and just need to hone a certain skill, like business speaking. If you need to learn the language very quickly but need strong guidance because you are not sure how to do it by yourself, that is also available for you.

These resources will help you out with choosing the right course you need to learn Spanish online. You can mix and match as needed and soon enough you will find yourself speaking Spanish like a native. It is always a good idea to persevere even if you feel like you are not getting much done - unless you are doing Rocket Spanish because they let you know (At least they say that in this review here: http://www.languagesoftware.net/rocket-spanish-review.html ) - to see that you are just about to get there. Remember to keep practicing and soon enough you will not just learn Spanish online, but speaking it in your everyday life.