Fun ways of learning Spanish

Learning a foreign language doesn’t have to be boring or hard work. There are many ways to enjoy learning, even for total beginners. As a language student I've always looked for fun ways of learning and found them great for keeping up my motivation, and as a teacher I often encourage my students to try them.

The secret to make fast progess is to combine entertaining ways of learning with your regular language course. If you try the ones I suggest in this post, at first you might just catch the gist of a sentence here and there, but soon you’ll start to develop your skills and will understand more and more every time.

7 fun ways of learning Spanish:

Watch your favorite TV shows in Spanish – many dvds have Spanish language tracks and subtitles. Next time you sit in front of your TV why not select the Spanish track on The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, The Sopranos, Planet Earth, Scrubs, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, The L Word, MASH, The West Wing, Columbo, and the list goes on.
Listen to audiobooks in Spanish - the audiobook market has literally mushroomed since the year 2000 and you can find dozens of great aubiobooks in Spanish. There are bestsellers and classics published every week. Here are some you can easily find: Rick Warren’s Una vida con propósito, Don Quijote de la Mancha, the Bible, Ama de verdad, vive de verdad; Eldest, Metafísica 4 en 1, Harry Potter, Angels & Demons, and many more.
Play computer games in Spanish - there are plenty of video games in Spanish for children and adults. Some video games are for learning the language, others are for Spanish speakers, but great for practising too! There are new ones coming out all the time. Here are some: Atlantis, Spider-Man, Lion King, Toy Story, Tarzan, Monsters, Pocahontas, Dinosaurio, Spanish for Everyone, I Can Speak Spanish, My Spanish Coach ...
Read in Spanish the books you like most - Harry Potter; Eat, Pray Love; The Wisdom of Menopause, The Kite Runner, Water for Elephants, Become a Better You, A Dangerous Fortune, the Kay Scarpetta Mysteries, The Da Vinci Code, The Secret ... The list is endless. Read the Spanish version with the English one at hand so you don't have to use a dictionary. If you like comic books and manga, you're in for a treat!
Listen to audiomagazines in Spanish - there are a few for beginners and an excellent one for intermediate and advanced learners called Puerta del Sol. I’m currently using the French and German versions myself, and I’ve used the Spanish one to teach my more advanced students. You get to know a lot about the countries, not just current affairs but also music, cinema, recipes, literature, society, places to visit and sports. I put every new issue on my mp3 player and listen to it while cooking, doing housework and on the bus.
Listen to Spanish music and learn the lyrics - this was a favorite of mine when I was learning English. There are dozens of words I first heard in songs and I’ve never forgotten them. If your cd doesn’t give you the lyrics, you can easily find them on the Internet. Many websites give the English translations too.
Get the Spanish version of the magazines you like – National Geographic, People, Reader’s Digest, Maxim, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Americas, Elle, CQ, to name but a few, all have Spanish language editions.

This article was written by Maria Fernandez, an experienced native Spanish teacher and author of Learn Spanish At Your Own Pace, Spanish for Kids - interactive multimedia lessons, Spanish Podcasts for Beginners, and other publications.