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As you begin to learn Spanish, understanding sentences and knowing how to read is crucial. This can be a difficult process and many students complain about how long it takes to be able to piece together sentences and paragraphs. It is crucial you stay patient and stick with it in order to succeed. However, there are not many steps to take in order to learn Spanish reading.

The first thing you want to do is read the entire story, chapter, paragraph or whatever it is all the way through without using a dictionary. This can be difficult to do at first if you do not understand everything, or even anything, that is being said. After all, who wants to go through a book and only know every other word that is being said?

However, it is important you go through the entire reading once without a dictionary. This allows you to look at the words and potentially connect some together based on what you believe is most suitable for the story.

After you have completed the reading assignment once, the next step is to read it over again while using the dictionary this time. What you do not want to do is look up every single word that you do not understand. As an alternative, look up key words that will help you make meaning of the sentence. Keep in mind that verbs are most commonly the key words in the sentence.

Some people struggle with this as they do not necessarily know what the key words are; especially if you understand very little. If this is the case, look up two or three words per sentence to give you an idea of what the rest of the words mean. It is a process that can be frustrating, but the rewards will be great.

Now that you have read over the entire piece again using the dictionary sparingly, the next step to learn Spanish reading is to try reading it one more time without the dictionary. Try your best to piece together the entire story while remembering what you looked up in the last readying.

The last step is to go through and look up any words you still may not know or understand. This should be your last resort as you want to do your best to learn without the dictionary. However, you are worse off guessing wrong than taking the second to look up the word.

If you like to learn Spanish through reading, you have to know it is a timely process. It can be frustrating and a bit disappointing if you do not succeed right away. Just know it is worth all of the troubles in the end.

There is no question it is easier to learn things early in life rather than waiting for adulthood. The reason for this is because the brain is growing and continuing to take in information. The same holds true for learning a foreign language like Spanish. For this reason, here are four ways for you to help children learn spanish early in their life.

1. Read to them

Everyone knows the benefit of reading to children before they go to bed. It helps them learn new words and associate them with pictures in the book. The same can be done with Spanish simply by reading books to them before bedtime. What you can do is designate a few nights every week to English books and a few nights to Spanish books so they can learn two languages at once.

2. Passive listening

The more you surround your child with Spanish the easier it will be for them to pick up the language. For this reason, you can help children learn Spanish by having the radio on a Spanish station or putting a CD in the CD player. What people do not understand is that you do not have to actually concentrate or listen to what is being said to learn. The mere fact that it is on in the background can help your child understand the language.

3. Interactive games

No kid is going to want to sit in a chair and go through flashcards of Spanish words. This is boring, tedious, and monotonous to your child. Because of this, it is up to you to find quality games that can help them enjoy learning. There are a plethora of different software and programs you can purchase to help your child have fun while learning on the computer. Make it an enjoyable process rather than forcing them to learn the language.

4. Encouragement

The last thing you can do to help children learn to speak spanish is give them encouragement. Learning a new language is both frustrating and overwhelming. It can be easy for your child to get down on themselves or want to quit. For this reason, it is up to you to constantly encourage them and tell them they are doing a good job. Make it as fun and lighthearted as possible. The more positive you are the more likely they will be to stick with it.

Learning another language like Spanish can be extremely beneficial in life. To better your child and prepare them for the real world, encourage them and help them to speak Spanish early in life.

There are numerous motivators to learn a second language. Spanish, in particular, is a popular second language and many people want to learn to speak Spanish. And it is possible to teach yourself Spanish quite easily with the right help.

School requirements may force you to learn to speak Spanish, or another language. For example, I grew up in Ireland, and all children were required to study Irish. Ireland has two official languages. English is the language everybody uses.  But there is an Irish language also, and they are trying to keep it alive. One of the ways they used to do that was to require you to pass an Irish exam in order to graduate, and in order to attend university. Sadly, Spanish wasn’t the second language – that would have served me well now. Instead, I have had to seek out “teach yourself Spanish” resources.

Learning to speak Spanish can have business or work advantages also. Many businesses conduct business internationally now, whether by selling their products outside of the home country, or by sourcing supplies in other countries, or outsourcing labor to other countries. Accordingly, if you teach yourself Spanish, it can be an advantage to be able to communicate with vendors, contract employees, and customers, some of whom may only speak very rudimentary English, if any at all. The Latin American markets are opening up now, and many large companies see the advantages of having bilingual employees, so it can be good for career advancement. So if you teach yourself Spanish……

Vacations take on a whole new level when you can converse in the local language, and this is another reason why many people learn to speak Spanish. Knowing the local language adds depth to the experience. Simply being able to ask for directions, or hold basic conversations can open up the vacation to a whole new level. So again, demand for “teach yourself Spanish” resources is increasing as people strive to learn to speak Spanish.

Some people learn to speak Spanish just because they want to. Others do it to discover their roots – perhaps their ancestors emigrated from another country a generation ago, or many generations ago. You, or your ancestors, came from somewhere else if you are now living in the United States. As you discover your roots, sometimes the desire to visit the old country is strong, and many people learn to speak Spanish in preparation for the eventual trip to discover their roots.

Whatever the reason, you can learn to speak Spanish more easily than ever. Traditionally, many people turned to classes that offered programs in “teach yourself Spanish”. These have been the way that people have learned a new language for many years. There are limitations to only spending an hour a week, especially with others who don’t speak the language either. But who wants to have others set the pace. Many local schools and colleges offer language classes in the evenings. Sure, this is one approach, however it is hardly the best approach.

Of course, you can engage a private tutor, but that gets expensive. But, your schedule is limited. If you see the tutor once a week, or twice a week, you still need to practice and study in between, and you rarely have the tools to help you, so your level of self-motivation comes into play to a huge extent. Yes, you want to learn to speak Spanish, but you have work, family, social commitments….

Now, more effective options exist, such as teach yourself Spanish software, especially if linked to great on-line resources. These have come a long way over the past few years. Originally comprised of largely audio courses, on CD or DVD, they have evolved into interactive programs which attempt to simulate immersion in the language. And immersion is the only way you are going to successfully teach yourself Spanish. For test purposes, you can get by with just learning vocabulary, tenses, and some verbs. It will not get you very far in terms of being able to hold conversations. So if you can’t move to Spain or Latin America for a month to immerse yourself to learn to speak Spanish, then you really should look at the many on-line programs available.

A word of caution – many of the established language software companies have old products at this point. Some of them have been diligent in updating their products and incorporating great interactive tools and features. Others have treated their product as a cash cow, milking an out of date product as much as they can. These companies typically prefer to spend their money on marketing and advertising to get as many customers as possible instead of spending on product development. In other words, they prefer to reel in more customers instead of developing the best product possible.

So you need to carefully evaluate the components of any program you are considering. Let the buyer beware, as they say!!

The author operates Language-Fast.com and you are welcome to review his learn to speak Spanish recommendations.