Spanish is the third most common language after English and Chinese and so your chances of encountering it are high. Originating as a dialect of Latin, the expansion of the Spanish Empire in the 15th century introduced it to the Caribbean, South America and Mexico, as well as countries like the Philippines in the east.

Your first decision when learning a foreign language are whether you follow a home study course or attend classes. The former has the advantage of allowing you to work at your own speed and at times that suit you, whereas good classes will force you to speak the language, correcting language mistakes and pronunciation and solidifying the learning process.

While offering the better learning option, language schools are currently outside of the scope of this website; we want to focus on the time-pressured student of Spanish who can’t allocate the time to attend regular classes, but wants to learn Spanish effectivly and as fast as possible.

So follow the links to the left and follow our advice and reviews to help you achieve your goal of learning to speak Spanish.

Why Speak Spanish?

There are many reasons for learning to speak Spanish, but whatever your reason you should know that Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world.

Conversational Spanish

One of the big problems when it comes to conversational Spanish is that the only way to really develop it is through practice. Only by using the language, making mistakes and having those mistakes corrected can we learn to speak Spanish well and is a completely separate skill from learning Spanish grammar.

Spanish Grammar

While conversational Spanish can only be acquired by practicing the language with native speaks, Spanish grammar on the other hand can be taught successfully in a class or learned from a book. As such grammar represent the rules of a language, the way in which it is correctly spoken, although what is correct and what is normal usage can be quite different, as you’ll find out when you try to hold a conversation with a native speaker.

Spanish Vocabulary

One of the most useful topics for learning Spanish vocabulary, even if you never learn anything else, is greetings. You’ll find that being able to say “hello” and ask how someone else is in their own language will break down many barriers, however you are able to communicate after that point.

Beginner’s Spanish

Whether you are just trying to learn a few words of Spanish for a trip to a Spanish speaking country, or want to learn to speak Spanish fluently the first step in beginners’ Spanish is usually to learn basic greetings.

How to Study Spanish

Learning Spanish needn’t be such a chore if you choose the right study Spanish method. The absolutely best way to speak Spanish is by living in a Spanish speaking country, just practising speaking with the locals and immersing yourself in their lives and culture.

SimplyLearnSpanish.com

If you’re starting out with Spanish or just want to find out if you like the language then you can learn Spanish online free by signing up for our email course.

You’ll receive lessons by email every few days covering different aspects of the language. From learning how to greet people to introducing yourself, from the Spanish alphabet to learning to count in Spanish, the course aims to provide you with an excellent overview of the Spanish language by covering as much of it as possible.

Of course learning Spanish free online is no substitute for a full Spanish course that includes audiovisual materials, but this course will help get you started or help solidify some of the language if you have already taken lessons.

What do you have to lose by signing up to learn Spanish free online?

The months in Spanish are quite similar to English and most people find them relatively easy to remember. One thing to note about the Spanish months is that, unlike English, the name of the month is written in lower case – enero, not Enero.

If you’re visiting Spain or Latin America it can help if you have a hand list of common Spanish phrases to hand to help you in everyday situations. Below are listed some useful Spanish phrases and of you spend a little time on them committing them to memory you will find that you don’t need to consult a phrasebook each time you need to use them. As always a little practice will help.

Everyday Spanish phrases

More basic Spanish phrases

We’ll be adding to this list of simple Spanish phrases, but if there is some topic you’d like covered please leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to cover it if there seems like enough interest.

Learning the numbers in Spanish is simple and practical – each and every time you shop you’ll be able to practice Spanish numbers

One of the most useful things you can learn are how to pronounce the numbers in Spanish. At some point in a Spanish speaking country you’ll be faced with shopping and if you understand nothing else, knowledge of the numbers in Spanish will help you both asking for products and understanding their price.

Cardinal Numbers

Spanish numbers from 0 to 99

Cardinal numbers are used for quantity (one, two, three), as opposed to ordinal numbers, which are used for order (first, second, third). Note that the pattern used in the teens and twenties is different to 30 and above, and that numbers ending in 1 follow the gender of the following noun; if the noun is masculine uno shortens to un; veintiuno becomes veintiún in the masculine to preserve the emphasis on the u; if feminine uno becomes una.

Spanish numbers from 100 to 999

The ending of the 100s agrees with the gender of following noun, for example doscientos becomes doscientas.

100. Cien
101. Ceinto uno
102. Ceinto dos
103. Ceinto tres
110. Ciento diez
200. Doscientos
300. Trescientos
400. Cuatrocientos
500. Quinientos
600. Seiscientos
700. Setecientos
800. Ochocientos
900. Novecientos
999. Novecientos noventa y nueve

1000 and above

1000. Mil
2000. Dos mil
3298. Tres mil doscientos noventa y ocho
10000. Diez mil
100000. Cien mil
1000000. Un millón
2000000. Dos millones

Note that in Spanish it is usual to use a comma to denote a decimal number and and period to mark thousands. Therefore 1,5 signifies one point five (one and a half) and 1.000 signifies one thousand. This doesn’t apply to all territories such as Puerto Rico where the US system is used instead.

Find out how to learn the numbers in Spanish and more

Do you want to speak Spanish? Study in the comfort of your own home and get fast results – we show you how with a learn Spanish CD or downloadable audio course.

One of the great benefits of digital audio has been the ease in which hours of of Spanish are available for you to study Spanish either at home or even while on the commute to work.

While audio courses were traditionally delivered on cassette tape, they quickly embraced CD when it became popular and now you have the choice of either CD or mp3. The latter is probably more convenient if you’re traveling, because you can load the lessons onto your iPod or mp3 player, but on the other hand with a CD you do have a physical product – the advantages of either are entirely down to your own preferences and CD audio can be copied to mp3 if you prefer the flexibility of having both.

While immersing yourself in a Spanish speaking country is definitely the best way to learn Spanish that isn’t a viable option for most of us; family, friends and work may all conspire against us living in another country for a month or two, but by chosing the right learn Spanish CD or mp3 course you can simulate the immersive environment and at least have the benefit of hearing native speakers.

Learning Spanish Like Crazy was specifically designed to attempt this based on the author’s own frustrations when trying to speak Spanish. Finding that what he had learned in class often didn’t match how people actually speak Spanish in every day situations Patrick Jackson decided that the answer lay in designing his own three month course that really gets you speaking Spanish in a way that you will understand and be understood in Latin American countries.

The good news is that this course is available both as a learn Spanish CD course on as a downloadable Spanish course, giving you the opportunity to select the option that is best for you. By focusing on speaking Spanish rather than spending too much time on grammar that you’ll never use the course will be you speaking Spanish in no time at all and the best news is that it has a money back guarantee.

Find out more from the Learning Spanish Like Crazy website

Many Spanish language courses have been developed on the principal that the best way for a student to learn Spanish is to teach the “correct” version of that language. Many languages have a body that acts as a guardian to correct useage such as the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola in Madrid, Spain, which makes decisions about what words and grammar may be used in “correct” Spanish.

The problem with this whole philosophy is that languages naturally evolve to their local environment and so Latin American Spanish has distinct differences to that spoken in Spain.

What’s different about this course? How will it help me learn Spanish?

Learning Spanish Like Crazy was specifically designed to overcome this problem and puts a different emphasis on the process to learn Spanish. The course, which is aimed at beginners and intermediate level concentrates on:

• Speaking and hearing the language, rather than reading – this gives you the ability to hold a conversation in Spanish much faster than other methods and is how you learned to speak English.
• Latin American pronunciation – in Spain the sounds are quite different to Latin American Spanish and will sound unfamiliar to you when speaking with Latin Americans.
• “Street” Spanish – the words and phrases that people educated at college actually use, rather than the “correct” Spanish taught in many other courses and the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola.

Is this course right for you?

As with so many things in life, the answer to this is – it depends.

• Yes – if your aim to learn Spanish language is so you can talk with Latin Americans because of work or socially then this approach will clearly give you an advantage, as it will if you are planning a trip to South America, Mexico or the Caribbean.
• No – if your aim is not to learn to speak Spanish but to improve grammar, reading skills or you will be visiting Spain then probably you should look elsewhere. Although there will be some benefit in Learning Spanish Like Crazy there are other language courses that cover your specific requirements better.

Ordering details

Learning Spanish Like Crazy is available either as an instant download or on CD from the company website.

• At $97 the Learning Spanish Like Crazy online version is much cheaper that the CD due to the elimination of most of the costs of production and delivery. As well as the better price, you can also start to learn Spanish within a couple minutes of ordering.
• The price of the CD version is much higher. However, additional course materials are provided and so you may find the additional expense is more than justified.
• The product is provided with a comprehensive 60 day money back guarantee – if you don’t like it you can get your money back, which makes the purchase decision pretty much risk free.

Do you want to learn how to speak Spanish?

We take a look at a course that claims to teach you to speak Spanish in just 3 months and find out how good it really is.

Many Spanish language courses have been developed on the principal that the best way for a student to learn Spanish is to teach the “correct” version of that language. Many languages have a body that acts as a guardian to correct useage such as the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola in Madrid, Spain, which makes decisions about what words and grammar may be used in “correct” Spanish.

The problem with this whole philosophy is that languages naturally evolve to their local environment and so Latin American Spanish has distinct differences to that spoken in Spain.

What’s different about this course? How will it help me learn Spanish?

Learning Spanish Like Crazy was specifically designed to overcome this problem and puts a different emphasis on the process to learn Spanish. The course, which is aimed at beginners and intermediate level concentrates on:

• Speaking and hearing the language, rather than reading – this gives you the ability to hold a conversation in Spanish much faster than other methods and is how you learned to speak English.
• Latin American pronunciation – in Spain the sounds are quite different to Latin American Spanish and will sound unfamiliar to you when speaking with Latin Americans.
• “Street” Spanish – the words and phrases that people educated at college actually use, rather than the “correct” Spanish taught in many other courses and the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola.

Is this course right for you?

As with so many things in life, the answer to this is – it depends.

• Yes – if your aim to learn Spanish language is so you can talk with Latin Americans because of work or socially then this approach will clearly give you an advantage, as it will if you are planning a trip to South America, Mexico or the Caribbean.
• No – if your aim is not to learn to speak Spanish but to improve grammar, reading skills or you will be visiting Spain then probably you should look elsewhere. Although there will be some benefit in Learning Spanish Like Crazy there are other language courses that cover your specific requirements better.

Ordering details

Learning Spanish Like Crazy is available either as an instant download or on CD from the company website.

• At $97 the Learning Spanish Like Crazy online version is much cheaper that the CD due to the elimination of most of the costs of production and delivery. As well as the better price, you can also start to learn Spanish within a couple minutes of ordering.
• The price of the CD version is much higher. However, additional course materials are provided and so you may find the additional expense is more than justified.
• The product is provided with a comprehensive 60 day money back guarantee – if you don’t like it you can get your money back, which makes the purchase decision pretty much risk free.

Click here to visit the Learning Spanish Like Crazy website

Still undecided? Why don’t you sign up for our FREE Spanish course delivered to you by email?

We hate spam as much as you do and promise to keep your details safe at all times.

We take a look at a course that claims to have been designed with the specific aim of improving your conversational Spanish in mind and find out how good it really is.

Many Spanish language courses have been developed on the principal that the best way for a student to learn Spanish is to teach the “correct” version of that language. Many languages have a body that acts as a guardian to correct useage such as the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola in Madrid, Spain, which makes decisions about what words and grammar may be used in “correct” Spanish.

The problem with this whole philosophy is that languages naturally evolve to their local environment and so Latin American Spanish has distinct differences to that spoken in Spain.

What’s different about this course? How will it help me learn Spanish?

Learning Spanish Like Crazy was specifically designed to overcome this problem and puts a different emphasis on the process to learn Spanish. The course, which is aimed at beginners and intermediate level concentrates on:

• Speaking and hearing the language, rather than reading – this gives you the ability to hold a conversation in Spanish much faster than other methods and is how you learned to speak English.
• Latin American pronunciation – in Spain the sounds are quite different to Latin American Spanish and will sound unfamiliar to you when speaking with Latin Americans.
• “Street” Spanish – the words and phrases that people educated at college actually use, rather than the “correct” Spanish taught in many other courses and the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola.

Is this course right for you?

As with so many things in life, the answer to this is – it depends.

• Yes – if your aim to learn Spanish language is so you can talk with Latin Americans because of work or socially then this approach will clearly give you an advantage, as it will if you are planning a trip to South America, Mexico or the Caribbean.
• No – if your aim is not to learn to speak Spanish but to improve grammar, reading skills or you will be visiting Spain then probably you should look elsewhere. Although there will be some benefit in Learning Spanish Like Crazy there are other language courses that cover your specific requirements better.

Ordering details

Learning Spanish Like Crazy is available either as an instant download or on CD from the company website.

• At $97 the Learning Spanish Like Crazy online version is much cheaper that the CD due to the elimination of most of the costs of production and delivery. As well as the better price, you can also start to learn Spanish within a couple minutes of ordering.
• The price of the CD version is much higher. However, additional course materials are provided and so you may find the additional expense is more than justified.
• The product is provided with a comprehensive 60 day money back guarantee – if you don’t like it you can get your money back, which makes the purchase decision pretty much risk free.

Click here to visit the Learning Spanish Like Crazy website

One thing that can be extremely beneficial to you when learning Spanish is to simply pick up a book or newspaper.

Try and select reading material that matches your current ability, so beginners can choose a kid’s book or comic. There are two exercises you can choose to do, each of which helps with different aspects of your language learning.

The first of these helps with vocabulary; pick a shortish passage – a newspaper article or a couple of pages in a book are perfect for this – and read through it while trying to understand as much as possible, marking any words you are unfamiliar with. Once you have finished the article you can look up the words in a dictionary and re-read the article, reminding yourself of any words that still don’t stick.

The second exercise is suitable for reading novels; this time read, trying to understand as much as possible, but whatever happens don’t stop to note words you don’t know. By forcing yourself to read as fast as you can you’ll find that you can follow the story despite the gaps in information. You’ll also find that what you may miss in one context you will pick up from other clues, whether it is dialog, descriptions or the reactions of characters in the story.

This exercise will help build your coping mechanisms for when you don’t understand everything, such as when you are speaking to a native Spanish speaker talking at full speed.

Make sure to check out Learning Spanish Like Crazy to Learn Spanish Quickly and Easily!