Learn Spanish My Way: Summer Series: ¡Número Cinco!

Keith's Ten Ways to Spanish Fluency

# 5: Enjoy this little video clip introducing my fifth way to Spanish fluency:

According to a 2011 U.S. Census report, over 121 million people commute to work between 1-59 minutes. Close to 11 million have commutes of over 1 hour in the car (source URL: http://www.census.gov/hhes/commuting/files/2012/ACS-20.pdf). That's a lot of time in the vehicle over the course of 1 year if you double it (going to and from work each day). There is not much you can do in the car. What can you do? Turn on the radio and talk to passengers. That's about it. And if you do more, I highly suggest you don't for your safety as well as other people's security! Why not turn that time into practice and study time by learning Spanish?

If you live in a large populous area, there very well may be a few stations dedicated to Spanish-speaking groups. Check them out to see if you can understand what they are saying. Better yet, check out a CD on learning Spanish from your local library and practice with that on your commute. I download MP3 content off the Internet onto a jump drive and plug that into my car's USB port and listen to podcasts in Spanish. Our vehicles have made great strides over the past 10 years in terms of technology and comfort. Put them to good use.

This is not isolated to the morning and evening commute. If you work out at a gym, go running, walk in the park, take the dog out for a walk and gardening, spend that time listening to Spanish on an MP3 player or portable headset. You can start and stop it at any time, but take advantage of your valuable time. When I'm at work in front of the computer, I have Spanish/Latino music playing. At any given moment, I can stop what I am doing and concentrate on what they are singing. My point is there are multitude of ways to listen to the spoken Spanish word and fit that into your busy schedule. Take a moment right now and jot down your daily activities during the word week and then again on weekends. Ask yourself if you can turn on a radio, bring along an MP3 player during any of those activities. I think you'll be surprised at the amount of time you can find to hearing Spanish on a daily basis.

Listening to Spanish will help your comprehension of the language. If you can listen to Internet radio through a portable device (like a smart phone or the like), try listening to different regions of the Spanish-speaking world. You will find different accents within Spanish. Spend several days or weeks to trying to figure out that dialect of Spanish. You can switch it up by going to another region.

Emulate what you hear. This is the best way to improve your speech. Repeat what you hear and understand. Talk radio stations are best for this type of exercise. Tailor this activity to when you are alone (like in a car drive to work or gardening). Train your brain to speak like a Spaniard or a Guatemalan or an Argentine person. It can be fun!

Learn more ways to improve your Spanish. Get a copy of my book, So You Want to Learn Spanish?, on sale now. See below for details.

Summer is flying by! If you haven't done so already, register to win one of 10 free, autographed copies of my book that I'm giving away for this Summer Series. Just click on the details panel to the right for your chance to win. Good luck!

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith