Teach Yourself Spanish: Audio Materials

What are the best ways to use audio material (cd’s, mp3’s) when you want to learn Spanish?  There are several principles which will help insure the effectiveness of your studies.

• Use good materials
• Create a viable schedule
• Learn to study effectively
• Practice and review efficiently

Using good materials
They need to be good in two ways.  They must first seem inviting to you and be enjoyable to use.  Decide for yourself, regardless of outside opinions.  A good program is first of all one that you like.  Secondly, they must be well-organized and deliver the information you need: good audio, good written materials.

Create a viable schedule.
You need to make time for a daily session (at least 5 days a week).  Anything upward of 30 minutes can work.  60 would of course be better.  Do listen to one of your recordings every day.  This keeps the language alive in your mind.  If you are doing something that does not require much mental attention (straightening out a room or making dinner) you can always turn on one of your recordings as supplementary study.  But real study time is focused.

Study effectively
While using your audio materials, be sure to repeat outloud or to answer outloud when prompted to.  Track and concentrate, but at the same time, stay relaxed.  Push yourself but without self-criticism.  A well-designed program will judiciously repeat information so that it is easily absorbed.  Take advantage of this by staying present.  It is better to do a 20 minute session where you really concentrate than a 60 minute where you don’t.

Practice and review efficiently
The two go hand in hand.  The best way to practice is to test your knowledge of the material you just learned.  Take a short break and then translate the words and sentences you just learned: from English to Spanish.  This will reinforce memorization and let you see what you actually learned.  The second type of practice is to use the info you’ve just learned conversationally.  The best way to reviewe , once againn, is to test your recall from English to Spanish and vice-versa.  Self-testing is by far the most effective way to review.

These 4 simple approaches will greatly develop your ability to learn fast.   Good “Learn Spanish Audio” materials are the cornerstone of this study.  After all you learn a language with your ears first.   Enjoy learning!

Visit Focus Language, Intensive French and Spanish Page  for more language learning tips.

Technorati Tags: interactive spanish, learn spanish cd, learn spanish software, teach yourself languages, teach yourself spanish