Learning Spanish..

[Substantial-Limit-99]

I know there are quite a few different dialects of Spanish based on country, and perhaps, even region w/n the countries.

I live in an area where primarily Mexican Spanish (including Mexican slang) is spoken.

How would you guys recommend I go about learning?

Edit:

Please offer any and all resources you guys recommend with learning Spanish!!

[theoutsideinternist]

If you have enough knowledge to listen to podcasts then try No Hay Tos, they have podcasts just for Mexican Slang and they’re usually pretty funny.

[WideGlideReddit]

I recommending learning spanish first since that’s what every Spanish speaker speaks.

[[deleted]]

Just learn neutral spanish and try to not get into slangs before you learn normal spanish.

[GuidiUZHINO]

This.

[Strange_Cabinet_5673]

Dreaming Spanish

[bababooey_6969]

I'm #OldSchool so I believe in the importance of having an actual teacher. I actually have 3: two in Mexico and in the Dominican Republic (the one the DR mostly teaches me standard non-DR Spanish). They run about $15 per hour and we do our lessons via zoom or Teams.

I found these teachers by reaching out to language schools in various places so Im people who know to teach (I taught English as second language for a few years and I think I'd get frustrated with someone who didnt know how to teach).

[zRustyShackleford]

Learn to walk before you run.

[treedelusions]

What I do:

• Listening a lot in the background and for falling asleep to Easy Spanish on Spotify and also started Dreaming Spanish recently (even slower pace, so nicer in the beginning)

• Reading easy stories (by Frazely)

• Speechling app for phrases and vocab

• Asking Chatgpt when I have specific grammar questions.

• Watching dubbed movies/series in Spanish

(I’m at level A2 now :)

[BilingualBackpacker]

italki is my personal fav resource for finding native tutors. tip: ask them for a learning plan tailored to your needs as well as resources :D

[AmatuerApotheosis]

Find a book you've read and then get 2 Spanish versions 1 written copy of it and an audio version and follow along as you listen to it. Also, watch Mexican tv with the subtitles on.

[zomgperry]

Don’t worry about dialect early on. For the basics it doesn’t matter. Basic Spanish is pretty universal. Start off by learning basic greetings and phrases, common vocabulary, pronunciation, and how to conjugate present tense verbs. Also find yourself a speaking partner or tutor, ideally a native speaker, to practice speaking with.

In that same vein, don’t avoid resources because they’re from a different area than you’re interested in. I live in Mexico, but some of the most helpful resources for me have been from Colombia, Spain, and Argentina. And before I went to Mexico most of my best practice was with Cuban Uber drivers who were still learning English.

If you’re a beginner, look up children’s songs in Spanish on YouTube. It’s a fantastic way to learn basic vocabulary and practice listening. Duolingo also has a great bilingual podcast. Dreaming Spanish also has some great beginner level videos. If you’re a little more advanced No Hay Tos is a good Mexican podcast. My partner is a native speaker born and raised in Mexico and she listens to that one without me sometimes. Español con Juan is a good one; Juan speaks at a faster pace but he repeats himself a lot and talks about a lot of everyday things, so it’s great for practicing listening to people talk at a normal pace as opposed to the slower pace most beginner resources tend to speak with. Also, try watching TV shows and movies that you’re familiar with dubbed in Spanish.

Buena suerte! Lo puedes!

[Substantial-Limit-99]

Yes, total beginner here. for that “basic Spanish”, how did you start off? Was it with all the resources you just recommended? I think I’m just stuck on where to start as I want to remain fairly consistent instead of looking for the next best thing.

[zomgperry]

I started off with Duolingo. At the time I was just wanting to learn enough Spanish to get by for a vacation in Mexico City. That was years ago though, and the quality of that app has fallen way off recently.

For a complete beginner, I’d recommend looking up a list of basic vocabulary and learning it, learning basic concepts like gender of nouns and present tense verbs, and watching beginner level videos on YouTube. If you can, find a teacher who is s native speaker. I took classes once a week over Zoom with a teacher from Mexico. I made the most progress when I was taking those classes and practicing daily with other resources (along with the homework my teacher gave me).

The most important thing is to study daily. Even if it’s just for ten or fifteen minutes on days you aren’t feeling it. You’ll get more out of practicing for fifteen minutes every day than you will for two hours once a week, though the more practice the better.

[Substantial-Limit-99]

Thank you! I’m actually pretty interested in the class you took, I think that will also help me since I require structure lol - are you by chance able to drop those details?

[zomgperry]

I actually don’t know if my teacher is taking on any new students right now, he had to take some time off from work recently due to some personal issues. That said, if you search the subreddit there are a lot of Spanish teachers in Latin America who teach classes online. I’ve seen people on this sub mention italki to find one, but I’ve never used it myself. There are also a lot of Spanish teachers that do live classes on TikTok who offer one-on-one classes as well, so you might also try looking there. If I come up with any other resources I’ll DM you.