Learn to Speak Excellent Spanish with 6 Entertaining Methods
Spoken in over 25 countries globally, there are more than 100+ ways to speak Spanish if you take into account regional accents, slang, pronunciation and intonation.
When it comes to who speaks the proper language, there is really no such thing as authentic or fake, as all variations of Spanish are equally valid.
With that said, in the context of this great variety, it’s a good idea to learn to recognize a variety of ways of speaking and accents in order to master spoken Spanish!
Contents
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Pick Your Spoken Spanish
Castilian and Latin American Spoken Spanish
Castilian Spanish (CS): CS is the general version Spanish spoken in Spain. General because from South to North there is as much linguistic variety as there are Spaniards in Spain. Many comment that spoken CS has a higher velocity (speed) and more difficult pronunciation than other Spanish varieties, but this all depends on context and speaker.
Latin American Spanish (LAS): LAS is the general version of Spanish spoken in Latin America, this is also very general because there are intonation and accent differences between Mexican, Chilean and Bolivian Spanish. Remember, this is a big continent! All in all, many learners comment that spoken LAS has a more comfortable speed and pronunciation, but remember that the context and the speaker matter here too.
For our purposes, be sure to keep in mind these 2 important elements in spoken CS and LAS:
1. Mind Your Cs and Zs: In spoken CS the letters c and z are pronounced with a bit of a lisp, similar to the sound we make when pronouncing “th” in the word “the.” In spoken LAS, the letters z, c and s are pronounced exactly the same.
2. Use of Vosotros vs Ustedes: For plural informal you form remember that vosotros is exclusively used in CS whereas ustedes is exclusively used in LAS. It’s very rare to hear either or in the opposite region, unless a speaker is adapting their speech to a Latin American or Spanish visitor. The only exception is in the Spanish Canary Islands, where ustedes is used instead of vosotros by Canarians.
Get a more in-depth look at the major differences and similarities here.
To get quick a sense of the spoken differences, check out this short clip that explores Spanish movie dubs in LAS and CS. Write down your impressions and thoughts in your Spanish journal on the spoken differences according to how you hear them. If you’re a beginner, they might sound exactly the same. If you’re intermediate to advanced, you’ll likely notice the two elements mentioned above.
Generally, U.S. learners opt for LAS because it’s the standard taught in high school, college and also the most widely spoken form of Spanish in the Spanish-speaking world in sheer numbers.
Despite CS being spoken by 44 million compared to LAS by 400 million, it’s still widely used as voice-overs in documentaries, dubbing in movies and also International Spanish News stations. So make sure to listen to audio in both spoken varieties as this is excellent training for your ears.
Spoken Spanish, the Real Challenge
For spoken Spanish, your real challenge is to match written word with sound, until it becomes intuitive and reproducible in speech. You literally need to train your ears! Sounds easy but this takes a lot of practice, dedication and training.
Remember, matching written word to sound is the trick to master spoken Spanish in any and all of its linguistic varieties. Once you become an advanced learner, you’ll easily tell the difference between spoken Spanish varieties and will be able to communicate in a nice and neutral Spanish.
Through extensive listening combined with travels you may even get to the point where you pinpoint the country or exact city the speaker is from, and olé to you if you do (cheers to you)!
In the meantime, let’s look at some ways you can train your ears and improve your spoken Spanish starting today!
Train Your Ears, Your Guide to Learn Spoken Spanish
1. Listen to News in Slow Spanish
Listening to the news in Spanish can be overwhelming—it’s fast-paced, packed with information and your brain gets overloaded quickly. Lucky for you, there’s an alternative: listening to the news a little bit slower. This is a wonderful method to train your ears and get you informed on world events in a relaxed and slower-paced environment. But where to find slowed-down news for learners?
The platform News in Slow Spanish provides news podcasts and corresponding transcripts for news stories from Latin America. The podcasts are intentionally slow to get your ears used to sounds and the accompanying transcripts provide excellent vocabulary and word-to-sound recognition for your learning. You can download the app on your cell phone at iTunes to take it with you anywhere you go!
2. Listen to Spanish Recordings at Various Speeds
Finding songs, podcasts, news broadcasts and audio recordings a bit too fast? Remember how your mom said not to play with your food? Well, there’s no reason for you not to play with your language learning!
Compile your favorite Spanish songs and challenging audios into one big playlist. Start listening to them at different speeds using both Audacity and VideoLan to do so.
It’s simple, download the audio in mp3 and adjust recordings as you wish. Experiment from slow, medium to fast speeds, pitches and intonations, increasing and decreasing as you see fit in order to adjust to your level and listening comfort zones.
3. Specialized Podcasts with Written Transcripts
Use websites that offer quality podcasts with written transcripts.
Start off by first printing out the transcripts then listen to the podcast audio a few times, making sure to follow along on your transcript with a pen or highlighter to catch those tricky words and pronunciation. Check out SpanishPod101 by Innovative Language for free quality podcasts on a variety of subjects with transcripts, flashcards, videos and a handy app!
4. Watch Movies with Spanish Subtitles, Consistently
This tip makes it on lists over and over again for a reason—because it really, truly works. But the trick here is consistency—not just watching randomly or sporadically. Aim to watch a new movie in Spanish once a week, or try watching your favorite movies in English dubbed into Spanish with subtitles every now and then.
Consistency really is the key to make sure the word and sound connection is activated in your head at least once a week, if not more!
Want some recommendations from yours truly? Watch “También la lluvia” (Even the Rain) on Netflix with subtitles. If you’re a beginner, stick to watching the same movie a couple times within the same month!
5. Pair Audiobooks with Physical Books
By this, I mean that you should listen to audiobooks while you read them in Spanish.
It’s easier than it sounds! Audible has a wide variety of Spanish audiobooks, from both Latin America and Spain. If your pockets allow you, you can also search on Amazon.es for the physical book so you can read along while you listen to the audiobook recording. Having physical pages in front of you keeps you focused, on-task and also reinforces sound-word recognition.
6. Watch and Listen to a Variety of Authentic Content
Even though I’ve already mentioned a few examples of native content above, I have to emphasize that you really should be listening to different varieties of spoken Spanish. After all, the Spanish in music videos is going to be completely different from the formal language used in the news.
So subscribe to native podcasts on Spotify, check out Spanish titles on Netflix and watch Spanish music videos on YouTube. For a little bit of everything, the online learning program FluentU has an extensive collection of media clips to help you learn Spanish in context.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
There you have it, now pull those tangled earbuds out of your desk and stick to the 6 methods above to master spoken Spanish. Whatever your level, you’ll surely get quick results—not to mention compliments—on your improved Spanish from teachers and friends!
¡Hasta la próxima, amigos! (Until next time, friends!)
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
