Learning a foreign language requires the acquisition of multiple skills in various domains. The capacity to speak with a good accent, to be able to understand, read and write. The syntax and the grammatical structures must be mastered, the vocabulary and orthography must be memorised, the Hispanic culture must be apprehended.



As a student you may need some resource to promote your learning language process and achieve a sufficient level of knowledge. Here are a few of them that you may enjoy.

Learning Spanish watching a DVD movie:

At my opinion, this is one of the most proficient method to consolidate and improve your language skills. Pay a visit to your local movie rental store and look after movie in the original Spanish language with English subtitles.

Follow the story,listen to the dialogue and focus at the same time on the English translation, trying to fit in what you hear with what you read. This is a very powerful system that work by associating the voice with the written words. By the end of the movie you will be amazed by the numbers of new words you learned while enjoying the story.

It is a great way to attune your ear to the Spanish pronunciation, or to get used to different accents, slang and dialects.

If you are a more advanced student you can also choose the Spanish subtitles option, this way you read exactly what you hear. This is quite handy because the actors can speak sometimes very fast and it is usually difficult to understand much of the language in the movie.

A third way to practice your Spanish while watching a DVD, is to rent your favorite English speaking film, the one you saw a hundred times and know by heart. The trick is then to play it in the dubbed Spanish version. In fact you listen to the Spanish language but in your head you make a virtual translation of the lines you know by memory. Once again the underneath working principle is association, consciously and unconsciously.

Learning Spanish while eating Mexican Specialties:

By visiting a Mexican restaurant you will not only enjoy great food, but you will be connected to native Spanish speakers with no need to travel thousands of miles. You can try to read and order your menu in Spanish while starting a conversation with the waiter.

You will learn new words in the process and generally the people will greatly appreciate your efforts to speak their language and will grant you a special care!

Of course, the Mexican restaurant is only an example, you can visit any Hispanic or Spanish place for the same purpose, according to your taste.

Learning Spanish with a pen pal:

Literally a pen pal is a friend made and kept through correspondences. Originally pen pals communicated by regular mail. However today, thanks to internet, all the process goes online, by e-mail, text or voice chat and video conferencing.

It is a genuine cultural exchange where both partners benefit of each other knowledge. The possibilities of learning opportunities are countless. There are a lot of free online services that will allow you to find a suitable pen pal, according to your age, your interests, your tastes and your language needs.

In conclusion, the key is to maximize your language exposure by increasing in all possible ways the amount of connections you have with the Spanish language. By applying those three methods, you will not only enjoy good movie, tasty food, social and cultural contacts but also experience an immersion in the Spanish language that will boost and rocket your Spanish learning.