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How to start learning Spanish



I knew and tried to learn Spanish since the late last year. But I didn’t learn seriously, I just tried to memorize common basic Spanish phrases and the numbers. However, I started to learn Spanish intensively since three or four mounts ago. Since then, I attempted to learn intensively everyday by my self through many resources in internet.

In term of pronunciation, for Indonesian, Spanish is not really difficult compare to English and other language. The way Spanish pronounce their word is quite similar to Indonesian pronunciation. They pronounce the word as it is written. It’s really different compare to English and other language, the way they pronounce is quite different how the word is written. There are only several letters that pronounce differently to Indonesian, which are H, J, and G. Other letters are mostly similar.


However, in term of grammatical, for me, Spanish is more difficult or complicated than English. Since in Spanish, it has masculine and feminine words that will change the adjective that attached to them. Moreover, it has many alterations in verbs when we conjugate the verbs. In English the verb only alter depend on the tenses (present,past and future). But in Spanish, the verb will not only change for different tenses, but also It will change depend on the subject. So, to say : “I eat” will be different with “you eat”.

In spite of that fact, I love to learn Spanish. I like to listen to people who speaking Spanish. The intonation and the accent lure me. In addition, Spanish is the largest spoken language in the world after Mandarin. So I think it will be additional value for me if I can communicate in Spanish.

I learn Spanish by my self. It means that I don’t attend any private class. I collected the resources from the internet. The benefit of learning by yourself is you can decide which part you should learn first and you know whether you already fully understand one topic before you jump to another part.

Here are some useful resources to start learning Spanish:
1. Youtube channel: Butterfly Spanish
2. Youtube channel: Professor Jason
3. Youtube channel: Ms. D’Andrea
Those youtube channel really help me so much, especially in pronunciation. By watching the video you can directly listen the way they pronounce the word. The other sources are: 
4. Spanishdict.com
5. Fluentu.com
6. Studyspanish.com
7. Rocketlanguages.com
8. 123teachme.com
Those are some beneficial source to learn Spanish efficiently and comprehensive sites online for Spanish self-education. They have a good coursework to learn Spanish from zero.

The other fun way to learn Spanish is through songs and music. Songs get stuck in our heads because of our brains. Music activates the auditory cortex part of our brains, and when we do not know the entire song our brains fill in the missing gaps in the rhythm and repeat it over and over. Scientists call this phenomenon a cognitive itch or a brain itch, and by repeating a tune in your head you are scratching the itch. By learning Spanish through songs your brain makes the connection between the music you are listening to and the words and language concepts you are trying to learn.

Music allows you an insight into the Spanish culture that cannot be learned from a book. You get to learn what people are singing about and therefore learn more about the culture, opinions, and activities of Spanish speakers. In addition, listening to music is fun! Singing along to Spanish music not only increases your vocabulary and knowledge of popular Spanish culture, but will allow you to even out your accent and grow acquainted with local slang.

Here are 7 Tips for learning Spanish through songs and music:
• If you listen to something long enough you will begin to recognize the beat, beginning notes and lyrics of the song. With repetition you will soon find yourself singing along almost without trying! However, in order to learn Spanish effectively, there are some tips and tricks to utilizing songs and music to your language-learning benefit.
• Choose songs with clear pronunciation: If you find a song has lyrics that blend together or are hard to understand, consider picking a different song or reading the lyrics while you listen. For beginners, choosing simple songs with clear lyrics, choruses and verses will assist you in learning Spanish much better than more complicated songs.
• Catchy beat: If the beat and rhythm does not catch your fancy when you listen to it, you probably will not want it stuck in your head. Songs that make you tap your foot and bob your head are the best!
• Repeating chorus/verses: The best songs to learn Spanish are ones that have repeating phrases in the chorus or verses that contain the same lyrics. If you can recognize and remember the lyrics you will be able to sing it in your head with more accuracy!
• A familiar song dubbed in Spanish: Learning completely new songs in Spanish can be difficult, so sometimes it is more than acceptable to take a familiar English song and find a Spanish version of it. You can do this for theme songs, your favorite songs, or listen to familiar artists who also sing in Spanish (like Shakira or Enrique Iglesias).
• Regional Spanish music: Pick songs sung by artists from the Spanish region of the world whose dialect you are learning. Dialects across the Spanish-speaking world differ and can use different slang, so make it easy on yourself at least at the beginning!

Look up unknown words: It’s also helpful to look up words that you’re not familiar with, and to write them down and periodically review them
Here are some spanish songs that I like the most to help me in learning:
1. Corazon espinado by Santana
2. Maria maria by Santana
3. No me ames by Jennifer Lopez
4. Te amo by Chayanne
5. Amor inmortal by Chayanne
6. Besame mucho by Julio Iglesias
7. Donde estan Corazon by Enrique Iglesias
8. La tortura by Shakira
9. Que sera de ti by Roberto Carlos
10. Agua by Jarabe de Palo

Those are some fresh ways to learn Spanish. I hope you enjoy your learning and master it soon. For common basic Spanish phrases you may use in daily conversation read this.


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