If you are studying Spanish outside of normal channels, that is by yourself and not in a classroom, I have 3 recommendations for you. One thing to realize is that as a second language, Spanish is the second most studied language in the world, just behind French and Mandarin. As such there is a whole industry, cottage and corporate, available for aiding you in your language journey. The chore is sifting through all of it.
My 1st Recommendation: Check out iTalki.com
This is a platform for connecting students and teachers from around the globe. There are many other sites that do this, but when I was first looking iTalki was getting the best reviews and comments. And deservedly so. There are basically 2 types of teachers on the platform, professional teachers and community tutors. I mainly use community tutors for conversational practice and professional teachers for more structured learning. The prices are all over the board, but compared to a face to face tutor here in St. Louis they are cheap, cheap, cheap. The less expensive teachers are in the Central American countries and Venezuela . The trick is to find a teacher that you gel with at a price point that is acceptable to you. Besides Spanish there are a multitude of other languages available on the platform.
My 2nd Recommendation: Check out YouTube
There are an abundance of channels on YouTube that want to teach you Spanish. Frequently the channels will also point to a paid website for language learning associated with the YouTube channel. I’ve not done that, but I subscribe to several YouTube channels for language learning. I use them mainly to improve my listening skills. They are also good for learning grammar and culture. One of my favorites is Español con Juan
The “celebrity” of the channel is Juan Fernández, a middle-aged gentleman from the Andalucia region of Spain. He teaches Spanish at a university in London. That he is from Spain matters a bit as his Spanish is that of the continent and not Latin American Spanish, however do not let that scare you away. I personally am concentrating on Latin American Spanish as being more useful in the USA, but I can deal with Juan’s vosotros.
What I like about Juan is that first, he is very entertaining, sometimes to the point of silliness. Also in his videos, he tends to be very repetitive, which is very reinforcing for learning. The videos are varied. Some are about grammar, some are about culture, some are about travel, some are advice, they are almost without fail, entertaining. They are 99% in Spanish. His attitude is that you do not learn Spanish listening to English!
Other YouTube channels that I like:
- Español con Juan — from above
- Easy Spanish
- Why Not Spanish
The following are not necessarily aimed at Spanish learners, but are useful and entertaining
- DW Documental These are longer documentaries on various topics…in Spanish
- Luisito Comunica This Mexican gentleman travels around the world eating street food and getting into strange situations. Occasionally, he talks too fast for me and tends to use slang, but hey that is why you are here
- BBC News Mundo BBC News in Spanish
- GENIAL Short entertaining videos in Spanish
- CuriosaMente Short entertaining videos in Spanish
For many of the videos it is possible to turn on subtitles, sometimes English is available. The Spanish subtitles are frequently generated by software so they can get a little strange.
There are thousands of channels in Spanish on YouTube. I am sure you can find one that works for you.
My 3rd recommendation: Lecturas graduadas or Readers aimed at your level of Spanish
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages uses a scale of A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 to describe your mastery of a language. A1, obviously, is beginners. At C2 you have mastery of the language. I’ve been stuck at B2 for a while now in my reading, and perhaps B1 orally. My dream is to creep into the C1 category, but who knows.
Back to the readers… I wish I had discovered them earlier in my language journey. Before I had, I had actually read several novels in Spanish. However, they were really over my level, and hence a lot of work. By using a reader at a proper level or maybe just out of your range, you gain confidence as well as improve your vocabulary and comprehension. They do this by limiting the vocabulary which at times makes the stories a little juvenile, but many are still entertaining. Remember, we reach the goal by first taking baby steps until we gain our stride. I am going to recommend two series that I have found useful. The first is from our friend Juan, here is a link to his page on Amazon.com: Juan Fernández Lecturas Graduadas
I would also recommend:
My Bonus Recommendation: Enjoy yourself.
Learning a new language can be entertaining, and can open up a whole series of new doors. And when I am a little intimidated or frustrated by the process I go back to a quote from Ray Bradbury ~~
“If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we are cynical. You’ve got to jump off the cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”
The sound you hear is me screaming, “¡Ayúdeme!, ¡Ayúdeme!”, as I go rushing by the face of the cliff.