Thank you for this. I’m just about to begin learning French and confident your pointers will come in handy. I never watched much Friends and so now I’ll finally get the opportunity to do that.
I bought a copy of the first Harry Potter book last week with this in mind - I figured I can remember the English version so well that hopefully some of the Spanish should click in my mind - but the subtitles and dubbing of TV shows idea is even better! Thanks for the tips 🙂
Ah so exciting! Exactly my thoughts when I bought it. I hope you enjoy, let me know how it goes. It's fun too, learning a bunch of "wizard vocab". 😂 I'll never forget reading "varita" a few times and then finally it clicked, wand!
Spanish wizarding vocab sounds like just the kind of practical stuff that will stick in my mind. We've been renovating a house since we moved to Valencia and I only ever remember random building vocab, never the useful Spanish from my lessons. Talk about skirting boards? No problem. Ask someone for directions? Not a chance 😆
It really depends on what type of music you like, Spain Top 50 is a good one for current music. I also love 60s/70s Spanish music, if you search that on Spotify there are a few good curated public playlists. If you like more alternative/indie music then try "Interestelar", it's a popular annual music festival here in Sevilla and each year they create a playlist featuring the artists playing at the festival. I'm also going to write a post in the coming months with a list of about 30 Spanish songs that tend to get played at weddings and events here that everyone knows! :)
So many great tips, thank you! I am feeling overwhelmed about the daunting task of learning Spanish at my age (64). I learned Swedish fluently but that was at age 29-30 when I lived there. I'm starting with a Babble self-guided course until I make my move to Barcelona in March. Am bookmarking this article to return to!
Great advice. I completely agree about using children's literature to boost language acquisition. When I was tiny, I moved to the states and my parents made me watch Mr. Rogers every single day after school. I learned English in a few months, as most little kids do. Now, as an adult living in Paris, I try to improve my French by watching cartoons: it's so helpful, although it's taking soooo much longer to perfect a new language than when I was five. 🌸🌸
Thank you for these reminders! When I took my Spanish exam, the oral conversation really highlighted the deficit of not having had many intercambios. I'll seek one out next year when i return. Not yet certain if I have passed or not.
I love listening to latin music while I run. I also listen to podcasts in Spanish - "News in Slow Spanish" is great and there's a Latinoamerican as well as European edition, so I get snippets of relevant news worldwide.
Reading has been a great frustration for me, precisely because of the lack of understanding. It's been hard to get through any book because i feel stalled, and children's books with an interesting plot remain too advanced for me so even Harry Potter has not worked well to keep my attention. I hired a tutor after realizing the likelihood of failing my Spanish class was probable, and he keeps telling me I am expecting too much of myself. I need to apply my stubbornness to getting through the books! And it is time to switch to dubbing for my rewatched shows as well. Thank you for that reminder!
Thank you for this. I’m just about to begin learning French and confident your pointers will come in handy. I never watched much Friends and so now I’ll finally get the opportunity to do that.
So exciting, French is next on my list, I'd love to learn the basics at least. Bonne chance! :)
Merci
I bought a copy of the first Harry Potter book last week with this in mind - I figured I can remember the English version so well that hopefully some of the Spanish should click in my mind - but the subtitles and dubbing of TV shows idea is even better! Thanks for the tips 🙂
Ah so exciting! Exactly my thoughts when I bought it. I hope you enjoy, let me know how it goes. It's fun too, learning a bunch of "wizard vocab". 😂 I'll never forget reading "varita" a few times and then finally it clicked, wand!
Spanish wizarding vocab sounds like just the kind of practical stuff that will stick in my mind. We've been renovating a house since we moved to Valencia and I only ever remember random building vocab, never the useful Spanish from my lessons. Talk about skirting boards? No problem. Ask someone for directions? Not a chance 😆
What a great idea to watch TV series you know dubbed and subtitled in Spanish!
These are such good tips! Do you have a Spanish YouTube or Spotify station that you would recommend for music?
It really depends on what type of music you like, Spain Top 50 is a good one for current music. I also love 60s/70s Spanish music, if you search that on Spotify there are a few good curated public playlists. If you like more alternative/indie music then try "Interestelar", it's a popular annual music festival here in Sevilla and each year they create a playlist featuring the artists playing at the festival. I'm also going to write a post in the coming months with a list of about 30 Spanish songs that tend to get played at weddings and events here that everyone knows! :)
Awesome thanks! I'll check those out. Is Spotify best?
Damn it, I was also writing about the same topic and now I have nothing new to say!😂
Really nice article and you covered everything!
Great points. Very helpful.
So many great tips, thank you! I am feeling overwhelmed about the daunting task of learning Spanish at my age (64). I learned Swedish fluently but that was at age 29-30 when I lived there. I'm starting with a Babble self-guided course until I make my move to Barcelona in March. Am bookmarking this article to return to!
Great advice. I completely agree about using children's literature to boost language acquisition. When I was tiny, I moved to the states and my parents made me watch Mr. Rogers every single day after school. I learned English in a few months, as most little kids do. Now, as an adult living in Paris, I try to improve my French by watching cartoons: it's so helpful, although it's taking soooo much longer to perfect a new language than when I was five. 🌸🌸
Thank you for these reminders! When I took my Spanish exam, the oral conversation really highlighted the deficit of not having had many intercambios. I'll seek one out next year when i return. Not yet certain if I have passed or not.
I love listening to latin music while I run. I also listen to podcasts in Spanish - "News in Slow Spanish" is great and there's a Latinoamerican as well as European edition, so I get snippets of relevant news worldwide.
Reading has been a great frustration for me, precisely because of the lack of understanding. It's been hard to get through any book because i feel stalled, and children's books with an interesting plot remain too advanced for me so even Harry Potter has not worked well to keep my attention. I hired a tutor after realizing the likelihood of failing my Spanish class was probable, and he keeps telling me I am expecting too much of myself. I need to apply my stubbornness to getting through the books! And it is time to switch to dubbing for my rewatched shows as well. Thank you for that reminder!