{"id":142748,"date":"2023-12-27T10:07:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T15:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/learn-spanish\/"},"modified":"2025-03-04T17:21:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T22:21:26","slug":"learn-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/learn-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"Our 20 Favorite Tips for Learning Spanish Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know there are 572 million Spanish speakers worldwide?<\/a> And this number is expected to grow to over 750 million by the year 2060. There are 21 countries around the world where Spanish is an official language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What I am trying to say here is that learning Spanish is pretty important<\/a>, and a really good idea.<\/p>\n

If you’ve been on the fence about learning Spanish, don’t hesitate\u2014you will be tapping into a tremendously influential and beautiful language.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this post, we’ll show you the 20 most essential tips for learning Spanish fast.<\/p>\n

The tips below are listed in the suggested order you should tackle each task. While you can follow the sections in any order you like, remember that the list has been carefully planned for maximum efficiency so that you progress faster!<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Master the Spanish Alphabet<\/h2>\n

It may seem obvious, but the first thing you have to do when starting to learn a new language is to study its alphabet<\/a>, plus learn the letters’ different sounds<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You will realize that there are letters in Spanish that English does not have (like \u00f1<\/em><\/a> or ll). <\/em>Likewise, there are letters that English uses like there is no tomorrow but Spanish tends to avoid (k <\/em>and w <\/em>are the best examples).<\/p>\n

You can use this first step as a starting point to learn the correct pronunciation<\/a> of single words, which will certainly help you later in your journey.<\/p>\n

Here’s a simple video that goes over each letter and sound:<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

2. Learn High-frequency Spanish Vocabulary and Phrases<\/h2>\n

By building vocabulary before you begin studying tenses and learning grammar concepts<\/a>, you are ensuring that you will have enough words to work with when you are ready to begin building sentences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you use an app to learn new daily words or you learn them in chunks, it is a good idea to learn new words by themes. You can even try children’s dictionaries<\/a> or Spanish apps for kids<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Keep it simple, focusing initially on commonly used words<\/a> and simple phrases, and work your way up to more complicated topics.<\/p>\n

Here are a few vocabulary lists to get you started, which include more in-depth vocabulary for later on in your Spanish learning journey:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Basic greetings<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Numbers<\/a> and telling the time<\/a><\/li>\n
  • The days of the week<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0months of the year<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Daily routines<\/a><\/li>\n
  • The weather<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Adjectives<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Colors<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Food<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Fruits<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Animals<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Travel<\/a> and transportation<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Saying thank you<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Asking how are you<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Body parts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Every learner has to go through a beginning phase where there are quite a lot of topics that need to be learned in order to start taking their first steps by themselves.<\/p>\n

    The words you learn should be useful to\u00a0you.<\/em> There is no point in learning Spanish words if you would never use them in your life!<\/p>\n

    Check out this great video to learn some excellent beginner phrases:<\/p>\n

    <\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

    3. Get Down the Spanish Cognates\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    A cognate is a word that sounds and means the same in two languages. And there are a lot of cognates in Spanish and English.<\/a><\/p>\n

    You already know much more Spanish vocabulary than you could have ever imagined! Once you know what cognates are, you will start seeing them everywhere!\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Here’s a few of the most common Spanish\/English cognates to get you started:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Actor<\/em> \u2014 Actor<\/li>\n
    • Animal<\/em> \u2014 Animal<\/li>\n
    • Caf\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 Coffee<\/li>\n
    • Capital<\/em> \u2014 Capital<\/li>\n
    • Doctor<\/em> \u2014 Doctor<\/li>\n
    • Elefante<\/em> \u2014 Elephant<\/li>\n
    • Familia<\/em> \u2014 Family<\/li>\n
    • Hotel<\/em> \u2014 Hotel<\/li>\n
    • Idea<\/em> \u2014 Idea<\/li>\n
    • Informaci\u00f3n<\/em> \u2014 Information<\/li>\n
    • M\u00fasica<\/em> \u2014 Music<\/li>\n
    • Nacional<\/em> \u2014 National<\/li>\n
    • Opci\u00f3n<\/em> \u2014 Option<\/li>\n
    • Problema<\/em> \u2014 Problem<\/li>\n
    • Televisi\u00f3n<\/em> \u2014 Television<\/li>\n
    • Universidad<\/em> \u2014 University<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      After seeing all the words you already know, it starts to seem less scary, right? Check out this video if you want to learn even more cognates:<\/p>\n

      <\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

      4. Learn Key Spanish Verbs<\/h2>\n

      You can now start learning the most important Spanish verbs<\/a>. This is the point at which you are no longer learning isolated words\u2014with the help of a few verbs, you will be able to start forming sentences.<\/p>\n

      Ser<\/em>, <\/em>estar<\/em><\/a> (both meaning “to be”) are the best way to break the ice. By learning these three grammar monsters, you will be able to talk about yourself and what surrounds you.<\/p>\n

      Here’s an informative video on\u00a0ser\u00a0<\/em>versus\u00a0estar<\/em>:<\/p>\n

      <\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

      4. Figure Out Spanish Articles, Gender Rules and Plurals<\/h2>\n

      English has three articles (“a,” “an,” “the”), but Spanish has eight!<\/p>\n

      Every new noun you study should have a corresponding article<\/a>.\u00a0They tend to give learners a headache in later phases if they have not studied them at the beginning. So learn them now! For example, learn it as el coche <\/em>(the car), not just\u00a0coche.<\/em><\/p>\n

      Spanish articles go hand-in-hand with gender and number (whether something is singular or plural<\/a>), two of the easiest but also most important topics you need to cover while warming up.<\/p>\n

      By learning these two concepts, you will understand that each Spanish noun and adjective has a specific gender and number and you will begin to get a sense of how important these are to constructing sentences.<\/p>\n

      Dive deeper into Spanish gender rules here:<\/p>\n

      Gender Rules in Spanish (Plus Examples)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n