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Why should you consider learning conversational Spanish? English-speaking North Americans point out that they can go from Florida to Alaska (about 4000 miles) and get by just fine with only English.

That is true. But you can go from Tijuanna in northern Mexico to Punta Arenas in southern Chile, and you will only need Spanish. And that is more than 6,000 miles!

What’s more, Spanish is arguably the third most-spoken language in the world (after Chinese and English). And the country with the 5th largest population of native Spanish speakers in the world is the U.S.A.! So you see, people in the U.S. and Canada need to learn conversational Spanish just to be able to communicate with their neighbors.

Also, Spanish is widely spoken in Western Europe. You can get along fine in Europe if you speak Spanish and English.

O.K., O.K. So maybe it could be useful. Is it hard to learn?

No, not if you are a native English speaker. There are many Latin roots and influences in English. Spanish is directly decended from Latin. Thus there are many common words, like actor and tranquil for example. Exactly the same spelling, same meaning. Only the pronunciation is different. In Spanish: ac-TOR, tran-KEEL.

Moreover there are hundreds of words that quickly become understandable because of their similarities. English tranquility is the same as Spanish tranquilidad. Posibility = posibilidad. Activity = actividad and so on.

But who’s got time to learn another language?

There is less problem with the time needed than you might think. Forget the old ways to learn languages. Forget the old-style conjugation and memorization drudgery. That’s in the past, not the way it’s done now.

The fastest way to learn Spanish today is by first learning conversational Spanish (just as you learned conversational English first). You once learned See Spot. See Spot run! Now learn Vea Espot, Vea Espot corre!

When you learn conversational Spanish, you start with a few basic words, you learn by using them. You gradually increase your vocabulary, adding more and more words. You progress, dealing with more complicated ideas. From there you just keep on expanding your knowledge and your ability to communicate.

And you don’t need a classroom. You can easily learn conversational Spanish just by downloading and taking a learning course, in interactive audio. Good ones are available for less than $100.

Download the mp3 files to your hard disk, then offload to your iPod or burn your lessons to CD’s. With that, your learn Spanish download becomes portable and mobile. And you will be learning proper pronunciation, from native Spanish speakers!

You can learn anytime, anywhere, and you teach yourself Spanish! You can learn while exercising, while driving long distances. You can learn in the morning, at night, on weekends. You learn whenever and wherever you want to. And you will be learning proper pronunciation, from native Spanish speakers!

So download yourself a good Spanish-learning course and teach yourself Spanish. You can even be learning it on the plane next time you go to Cancun!

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.

Teaching your self anything is pretty hard work. However, if you have the right motivation and determination to learn and teach yourself Spanish it can be an easy goal to reach. Most people agree that Spanish can be a difficult language to pick up.

Using tapes or compact discs with Spanish lessons may be beneficial to those learners who prefer to learn by listening. Using audio to learn a language is practical and effective. Audio files can be uploaded to the internet with personal web storage or on your computer’s audio playback software. You’ll then be able to access the files elsewhere. If you decide to store online, then you can have access to your Spanish lessons with any computer.  To teach yourself Spanish can be simplified if you can then download into your mp3 music player and take it along with you.

Focus is improved when you are exercising so listening to audio files while exercising can be a great way to teach yourself Spanish. Having your lessons transportable means that you have access to them during any leisure activities you’re doing. Whether you’re gardening, hiking, running errands or travelling to work you can be teaching yourself Spanish along the way.

Normally audio learning tapes or compact discs come with practical workbooks that follow the lesson plan. If you have taken the time to listen to the lessons during your free time or your busy time it would really aid in teaching yourself Spanish to really give the workbooks a try.

One of the greatest advantages over taking a traditional class is that you can repeat the lessons again and again. In a classroom setting you can always review your notes but this won’t really teach you the proper pronunciation. Ultimately it will save you time, money and hassles if you can learn Spanish in your own time rather than by taking a class. Managing to fit a language class into an already busy schedule of work, life and hobbies is not an easy thing. By teaching yourself Spanish it will give you a lot more flexibility with your time.

Using audio files and workbooks to teach yourself Spanish is a simple method as they are portable and you can always repeat any lessons you have not grasped yet. Another great feature that can be added to this is a CD-ROM. You can buy language lessons as a CD-ROM from most places.

Lessons like these can be used to teach yourself Spanish with the help of your own computer. Interactive software combines both audio files and workbooks to make learning Spanish easier for you. This method though requires a bit more free time as you will have to sit and complete the workbook. This form of learning can be practical when travelling or for using in a library along with headphones. Some CD-ROM software for teaching yourself Spanish come with special audio recording features that let you pronounce and be graded on your pronunciation of the language.

Using a combination of workbooks, audio files and CD-ROM together is a great, easy way to teach yourelf Spanish without breaking the budget, all at your own pace and comfort.