Category Archives: Learn Spanish Free

5 tips for preparing for DELE – Acing DELE 101

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Have you ever found yourself just so damn frustrated with your progress in Spanish? Maybe you’ve decided to take the plunge and sit for an official D.E.L.E exam and now the nerves are building. The D.E.L.E. exams are the most widely recognised Spanish language qualifications in the world. To put it short- if you want to add “I speak Spanish” on your CV, that means having a DELE. Today we give you 5 key tips for preparing for DELE

1.Set Yourself Goals:

TOP TIP! Setting goals helps you focus and setting a time limit helps you keep that focus. Setting a hard deadline is an important first step. Be realistic – if you can’t put in the time needed to adequately prepare, don’t pay to do the exam.

CultureAlley is an online platform with interactive Spanish lessons, and fun vocabulary tools that sets a daily task plan and achievable goals for you. It has the most fun way to help you master Spanish vocabulary. CultureAlley lets you learn Spanish vocabulary while your browse your own Facebook newsfeed. It progressively replaces a few words from English to Spanish and provides you with their pronunciation and meaning . It provides 1 important lesson, and 1 practice game session everyday to help you learn a little Spanish everyday and sends your daily reminders for the tasks waiting for that day!

2. DO Find the right materials

The first thing to do is check out the DELE Cervantes website and look at some of the past exams. This will help you to familiarize yourself with the different levels, and based on that you can decide which level exam you want to write. It should come as no surprise that there are books made especially for the exam, much like the standard GRE or LSAT books.

And if you are looking for a free effective resource online, then you can find about 70+ lessons with CultureAlley covering grammar, conversations, vocabulary, lessons with native (Spanish) voice-overs, and practice exercises with fun games. CultureAlley covers all the domains required for language learning,i.e: reading,writing,listening,and speaking.

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3.DO consider taking a course

Doing simple google search for DELE courses nets hundreds of places to get exam prep, both online and in person. Most are costly (around 300€), but come with the practice book and tips to doing the exam. You can’t study completely on your own so you should consider hiring a Spanish teacher to help you with the writing and speaking part of the exam.

For hiring a good experienced tutor for 1-1 on coaching with native tutors who can mentor and guide through DELE preparation, you can book classes with CultureAlley. You just have to mail your query to contact@culturealley.com, and we will provide you with the tutor profiles and we can book your sessions!

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4.DO practice writing prompts like crazy

The writing section is a large part of the DELE, consisting of two parts: in the first, you’ll be asked to pick one of two options regarding a formal letter or email. It’s important to know formal salutations, advanced vocabulary and to include all of the parts asked for in the prompt. The second part is more personal, and you’ll have to choose between three different prompts. These could be about personal opinions, experiences or anecdotes.  Keep in mind you will have 60 minutes for brainstorming, drafting and re-writing your two pieces of 150-200 words in pen. Your pieces should also be clear. Practice with your clock ALWAYS.

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5.DO practice outside of the book:

Make sure that while you study the academic side of Spanish you continue to practice outside of class in the informal ways (watching TV, listening to music,speaking to local people) – it will take you from “classroom Spanish” to really using it as a second language. On the writing and speaking sections, and general knowledge of Hispanic culture is 100% important, as is being able to listen to different accents. The exam may call for you to read a quote and take a stance on it, talk about the economic crisis or the necessary knowledge of the language to allow communication in everyday situations.

CultureAlley helps learners to learn outside of courseware from daily conversations as learners can listen to the native pronunciation while learning vocabulary on the Facebook. A few relevant words on the Facebook feeds are converted into the language one wants to learn and one can listen to its pronunciation for better understanding as often as they want. You can listen to them, play games on them, practice your accent, and more! It helps one to speak Spanish fluently, and master the vocabulary and pronunciation just by logging into their Facebook account with CultureAlley. You also get over 70+ free audio-visual lessons to build your basic concepts.


Learn Spanish while browsing your Facebook Feed!

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At CultureAlley, we are working hard to make language learning the most effortless, and delightful experience for you!

So we thought, what if we could let you learn a new language while you do what you love the most – like browsing Facebook or playing games! Sounds crazy?

Presenting a whole New Culturealley for you: now you can learn Spanish while you browse your own Facebook feed and play games!

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What happens at the Alley? 

1. Learn Spanish while browsing Facebook : Now you can learn Spanish from your Facebook wall. While you browse Facebook we progressively replace  words from your feeds into Spanish.
Amazing, Isn’t it? :)

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2. Yummy Quests : You can play mini quizzes on words learnt right on your feed. Earn jelly beans for discovering new word

3. Unlock audio-visual lessons: As you finish fun filled Facebook challenges, you unlock interactive lessons to build your basics

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4. Play games, have fun : Our fun games – Taco and Sangria will make you remember everything you learn while you have fun!

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What are you waiting for?
Fill up that jelly jar and master Spanish while doing what you Love!
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What are you waiting for? GET STARTED NOW

Learn Spanish while browsing your Facebook Feed: Visit new.culturealley.com for unlimited fun and learning!

 

Practice Spanish with Jumble – A new Spanish practice game at CultureAlley

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Announcing the launch of a brand new Spanish practice game at CultureAlley Spanish – Jumble!

Doesn’t take too much thinking to figure out what this is! We jumble up a set of Spanish words, and give you a hint (in English). All you have to do is pick the right Spanish words and arrange them in the right order – quickly of-course :)

This timed Spanish practice game helps you perfect your translations, and also helps you understand the difference between Spanish and English grammar. You’ll master word placement with Jumble.

Jumble is built within your lesson experience, and will quiz you on the words and phrases you learn in each lesson.

Jumble practice gameJumble game - Question Jumble practice game - How to play Jumble practice game - timed

CXC Spanish

The CXC Spanish Examination (CAPE Spanish): Ace your Spanish exam

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In our last blog post, we talked about the CXC CSEC examination and the exam pattern, and syllabus for CSEC Spanish. We also discussed some tips and reviewed some resources for preparing for the CSEC Spanish examination. Today we discuss the syllabus, exam pattern, and learning tips and resources for the CXC CAPE Spanish examination.

The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) is designed to provide certification of academic, vocational and technical achievement to students who, having completed a minimum of five years of secondary education, wish to further their studies.

The Spanish syllabus for CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination), emphasizes on the development of the four language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) and the knowledge of Hispanic culture.

Exam pattern: CXC Spanish (CAPE)

  1. Paper 01 (1 hour): Listening Comprehension (30% weightage)
    Candidates are to answer six compulsory short-response questions.
  2. Paper 02 (2 hours and 10 minutes) Reading and Writing (30%)
    Candidates are to answer three questions.
  3. Paper 03 (2 hours) Literary Analysis and Themes (20%)
    Candidates are to answer two questions.
  4. Paper 04 – Oral Examination (20%)

Syllabus: CXC Spanish (CAPE)

  1. UNIT 1: LA FAMILIA, LA SOCIEDAD Y EL MEDIO AMBIENTE (THE FAMILY, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT)
    1. Module 1: El individuo, la familia y la vida diaria (The individual, family and daily life)
    2. Module 2: La sociedad y los asuntos sociales (Society and social issues)
    3. Module 3: El medio ambiente (The environment)
    4. Themes and Related Texts
      1. La juventud

        García Ramis, Magali     Felices días tío Sergio, San Juan: Antillana, 1986.
        Cisneros, Sandra   La casa en Mango Street, United States: Vintage, 1994.

      2. El individuo y la sociedad
        Esquivel, Laura   Como agua para chocolate, New York: Anchor Books, 1989.
        García Lorca, Federico   Bodas de sangre, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2006.

  2. UNIT 2: LAS ACTUALIDADES, LA TECNOLOGÍA Y LA ECONOMÍA (THE NEWS, TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECONOMY)
    1. Module 1: Las actualidades (The news)
    2. Module 2: La ciencia y la tecnología (Science and technology)
    3. Module 3: La industria y los asuntos económicos (Industry and Economic Affairs)
    4. Themes and Related Texts
      1. El mundo moderno
        1. Allende, Isabel        Cuentos de Eva Luna, Mexico: Debolsillo, 2008.

          (a)  ”Dos palabras” pp 15-24
          (b)  ”la mujer del juez” pp 156-166
          (c)  ”Un camino hacia el norte” pp 167-180
          (d)  ”El palacio imaginado” pp 249-265
          (e)  ”De barro estamos hechos” pp 266-277.

        2. Ortiz, Lourdes         Fátima de los naufragios. Madrid: Planeta, 1998:
          (a) “Fatima de los naufragios” pp 7-22
          (b) “La piel de Marcelinda” pp 25-42
          (c) “El vuelo de la mariposa” pp 43-96
          (d) “Desayuno de trabajo” pp 99-108
          (e) “El Farero” pp 111-117

        3. El compromiso político y social
          Carpentier, Alejo    El reino de este mundo, New Jersey: Lectorum Publications, 2010.
          García Márquez, Gabriel   El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, 1981.

A detailed list of topics can be found here: http://www.cxc.org/SiteAssets/syllabusses/CAPE/CAPE%20Spanish.pdf

Preparing yourself for the CXC Spanish examination (CAPE)

  1. Start well in time: The exams begin in April (21st to 28th – Orals) and May (Spanish unit 1 – May 15th, unit 2 – May 20th). Start at least 6-8 months in advance and take one topic at a time. After finishing each topic, solve a lot of past question papers on that topic. Then move on to the next topic. Leave the last 1 month completely for practice

  2. Get expert help: If you truly want to ace the examination, then study Spanish with the help of an expert native tutor. The CAPE Spanish needs you to develop listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. To truly master the listening and speaking skills, you need interaction with someone who speaks Spanish – and can help you speak it too! An expert will also be able to guide you with an organized study plan, grammar help, regular practice, and more. If you can’t find a tutor in your city, you can take 1on1 lessons with an expert tutor over Skype – from the comfort of your home – at hours convenient for you!
    If you haven’t started preparing yet, we recommend taking at-least 3-4 sessions a week along with self-study and practice.

  3. Self study: Along with the tutoring sessions, you should spend at-least an hour studying yourself. You can find some great self-study lessons and practice exercises online on the topics prescribed in the syllabus for the CAPE Spanish exam. We have listed some resources at the end of this post.

1on1 Live Skype lessons with native Spanish tutors – To help you ace the CXC Spanish Exam

Live lessons with expert native tutors is the most effective and personalized way to learn Spanish.

CultureAlley offers 1on1 video conferencing based lessons with expert Spanish tutors who can help the students with all aspects of the CXC examination. The lessons are completely interactive, and fun, and include all 4 aspects – reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

The tutors personalize the course completely to focus on topics related to the CXC examination, and focus on topics which the student finds difficult. They give regular practice exercises to help with the problem areas.

The lessons include:

  1. Grammar practice,
  2. Conversational practice,
  3. Vocabulary,
  4. Fun exercises like role playing, reading, music based listening practice, watching videos and understanding their meaning, and more!

You can take these lessons at hours convenient for you. All you need is a Skype account, and you can get connected with one of our tutors for 1on1 lessons from the comfort of your home!

Find out more
To book a Skype session just fill up this form

More resources:

70 free audio-visual lessons with interactive practice: Cover topics like: talking about family, introductions, beginning and ending letters, expressing opinions, commands, business Spanish, Spanish grammar and more!

Audio dictionary (English to Spanish): with curated words and audio support so that students can hear the pronunciation

So start preparing for your CXC exam today!

CXC Spanish Exam

The CXC Spanish Examination 2014 (CSEC and CAPE) – How to prepare for and ace your Spanish exam

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The examinations conducted by the CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council) are popular examinations in the Caribbean countries. Spanish is one of the subjects in this examination. Today, we share some details on the pattern of this examination, topics covered, and also talk about ways by which students can excel in their CXC Spanish test (resource references are at the end of the post).

cxc logoCXC is the regional examining body of the Caribbean that provides educational certifications in 16 English speaking Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, and some Dutch speaking Territories. Its new vision is to “assure the global human resource competitiveness of the Caribbean”

For employers and parents, CXC is about certification, mainly CSEC® or CAPE®. Most Caribbean people see CXC largely as an examining body which issues certifications that have become increasingly recognized worldwide.

  • The Caribbean Secondary Education Certification (CSEC) -  usually taken by students after five years of secondary school. It is equivalent to the Ordinary Level (O-Levels) examinations and are targeted towards students sixteen and older.

  • The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) – taken by students who have completed their secondary education and wish to continue their studies.  The CAPE is equivalent to the British Advanced Levels (A-levels).

CXC Spanish examination – CSEC

In this blog post, we will cover the guidelines, exam pattern, the syllabus, and resources for past papers for CSEC Spanish (part of the Modern Languages) and also how one can easily learn Spanish for this examination. In the next post, you will find the same details for the CAPE Spanish exam.

The Spanish syllabus focuses on developing students’ ability to communicate in Spanish. As students develop the competence to listen, speak, read and write in Spanish and interpret aspects of the culture, they acquire the means to facilitate deeper interaction with Caribbean neighbors.

Exam pattern

The exam tests candidates on: listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.

  1. Paper 01 – General Proficiency (1 hour 20 minutes) – 60 marks – A 60-item Multiple Choice test in two sections
    1. Part A – Listening Comprehension (30 items)
    2. Part B – Reading Comprehension (30 items)
  2. Paper 02 – Written paper (2 hours 15 minutes) – 100 marks
    1. Section 1 – Requires candidates to provide written responses to various situations in Spanish
    2. Section 2 – Choose between writing an informal letter (130-150 words) OR a composition (130-150 words)
    3. Section 3 – Choose between writing a contextual announcement (80-100 words) OR a contextual dialog (80-100 words)
    4. Section 4 – Reading comprehension – candidates need to read a comprehension in Spanish and answer the questions in English
  3. Paper 03 - Oral (10-15 minutes) – 80 marks
    1. Section 1 – Requires candidates to answer orally (in Spanish) to situations given in English (see some sample papers)
    2. Section 2 – Read a passage in Spanish aloud
    3. Section 3 – Answer orally to 4 questions
Syllabus

Candidates should be able to carry out guided conversations based on the following topics:

  1. Home and Family
  2. School and Career
  3. Sports and Recreation
  4. Daily Routines
  5. Shopping
  6. Travel
Tenses:
  1. Present
  2. Present Continuous
  3. Future
  4. Preterite
  5. Imperfect
  6. Past Continuous
  7. Present Perfect
  8. Pluperfect
  9. Conditional
Moods:
  1. Indicative
  2. Imperative
  3. Infinitive
  4. **Present Subjunctive
  5. *Imperfect Subjunctive*
    *For recognition at General Proficiency only

The CXC guidelines also list out the detailed topics that students should know such as greetings and responses, farewells, introductions, beginning and ending letters, expressing gratitude, inviting, filling a form, describing weather, expressing opinions, commands, and more!

A detailed list of topics can be found here: http://www.cxc.org/SiteAssets/syllabusses/CSEC/CSEC%20Modern%20Languages.pdf

Preparing yourself for the CXC Spanish examination (CSEC)

  1. Start well in time: The orals begin in April (21st-28th) and the Spanish 1 and 2 exams are in June 11th and May 23rd respectively. Start at least 7-8 months in advance and take one topic at a time. After finishing each topic, solve a lot of past question papers on that topic. Then move on to the next topic. Leave the last 1 month completely for practice.

  2. Get expert help: If you truly want to ace the examination, study Spanish with the help of an expert native tutor. The CSEC Spanish syllabus needs you to develop listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. To truly master the listening and speaking skills, you need interaction with someone who speaks Spanish – and can help you speak it too! An expert will also be able to guide you with an organized study plan, grammar help, regular practice, and more. If you can’t find a tutor in your city, you can take 1on1 lessons with an expert tutor over Skype – from the comfort of your home – at hours convenient for you!
    If you haven’t started preparing yet, we recommend taking at-least 3-4 sessions a week along with self-study and practice.

  3. Self study: Along with the tutoring sessions, you should spend at-least an hour studying yourself. You can find some great self-study lessons and practice exercises online on the topics prescribed in the syllabus for the CSEC Spanish exam. We have listed some resources at the end of this post.

Getting expert help from Spanish teachers

CultureAlley offers 1on1 Live Skype lessons with native Spanish tutors to help you ace the CXC Spanish Exam. It is one of the most effective and personalized way to learn Spanish.

The lessons are 1on1 video conferencing sessions with Spanish tutors who can help the students with all aspects of the CXC examination. The lessons are completely interactive and fun, and include all 4 aspects – reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

The tutors personalize the course completely to focus on topics related to the CXC examination, and focus on topics which the student finds difficult. They give regular practice exercises to help with the problem areas.

The lessons include:

  1. Grammar practice,
  2. Conversational practice,
  3. Vocabulary,
  4. Fun exercises like role playing, reading, music based listening practice, watching videos and understanding their meaning, and more!

You can take these lessons at hours convenient for you. All you need is a Skype account, and you can get connected with one of our tutors for 1on1 lessons from the comfort of your home!

Find out more!
To book a Skype session just fill up this form: http://culturealley.com/SkypeLiveLessonform.jsp

More learning resources:

  1. More than 70 free audio-visual lessons with interactive practice : CultureAlley Spanish
    Covers topics like: greetings and responses, farewells, introductions, beginning and ending letters, expressing gratitude, inviting, filling a form, describing weather, expressing opinions, commands, and more!
  2. Audio dictionary (English to Spanish): with curated words and audio support so that students can hear the pronunciation
  3. Past question papers: Refer to our blog post where we have shared a lot of past papers

So start preparing for your CXC exam today!

CXC Official site: http://www.cxc.org/

Call Center Spanish

Spanish Call Center Phrases

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In our earlier post, we highlighted the rising demand for bi-lingual call center employees in the Philippines and how learning Spanish can help call center agents in boosting their salaries.

Today, we discuss some of the most important Spanish call center phrases that may be useful for call center agents taking calls from Spanish speaking customers.

We will begin with the introductory phrases and then discuss some more phrases around asking for payment information, discussing the problem, etc.

1) Welcoming the customer

On picking the call, you would usually thank the customer for calling the call center and then introduce yourself.

Let us learn how to say ‘Thank you for calling the call center’

  • We know that ‘Thank you’ = Gracias
  • For = Por (whenever we express gratitude or apology, always use ‘por’ and not ‘para’)
  • To call (infinitive) = Llamar
  • The call center = el centro de llamadas (literally center of calls)
  • Now, calling the call center literally becomes calling to the call center. Where to = a
  • We know that to the = a + el on contraction becomes ‘al’

Hence,
Thank you for calling the call center = Gracias por llamar al centro de llamadas

You can also say, Thank you for your call
Call = Llamada
Thank you for your call = Gracias por su llamada

2) Introduce yourself:
  • Hello! I am… (This is…) = ¡Hola! Soy…
  • Hello! My name is… = ¡Hola! Me llamo…
  • Good morning! = ¡Buenos días!
  • Good afternoon! / Good evening! = ¡Buenas tardes!
  • How can I help you?/ How can I serve you? / What can I do for you? = ¿En qué puedo servirle?

More phrases to help you introduce yourself in Spanish

3) Transferring/ Holding:
  • One moment, please = Un momento, por favor
  • I am going to transfer your call = Voy a transferir su llamada
    • I am going = (Yo) voy
    • To transfer = Transferir (we don’t conjugate it as we have already conjugated ‘voy’)
    • Your call = Su llamada

More phrases to help you with phone conversations in Spanish

4) Payment information:
  • Can you give me your card number? = ¿Puede darme su número de tarjeta?
    • Can/To be able to = Poder; You can = Puede
    • To give = dar (we don’t need to conjugate it, as we have conjugated ‘poder‘)
    • Can you give = Puede dar
    • Now, in the sentence, Can you give me your card number?; You = subject (the person doing the action), card number = direct object (being given), me = indirect object
    • Place the indirect object either before the conjugated verb ‘puede’ (Me puede dar) or attach it to the infinitive ‘dar’ (Puede darme)
    • Can you give me = Puede darme
  • What is your area code? = ¿Cuál es su código de área?
5) Discussing the problem:
  • What seems to be the problem? = ¿Cuál parece ser el problema?
    • To seem = Parecer; It seems = Parece
    • To be = ser
    • Remember, even though ‘problema’ ends in -a, it is masculine
  • Is it broken? = ¿Está roto?
  • I understand your concern = Entiendo su preocupación
    • To understand = Entender, I understand = Entiendo
  • I’m sorry, it is not our policy = Lo siento, no es nuestra política
Vocabulary:
  • agent = agente
  • area code = código de área
  • call = llamada
  • to call = llamar
  • call center = centro de llamadas
  • customer service = servicio al cliente
  • database = base de datos
  • delay = retraso
  • help desk = mesa de ayuda
  • I am sorry = Lo siento
  • international = internacional
  • please = por favor
  • representative = representante
  • technical support representative = representante de soporte técnico
  • toll free = gratuito/a
  • toll-free customer service hotline =  línea directa gratuita de servicio al cliente
  • thank you = gracias

More Vocabulary: Tagalog to Spanish audio dictionary, English to Spanish dictionary
More free lessons and interactive games: CultureAlley Spanish

Learning Spanish for Cultural and Professional Growth | Anthony Diab

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Spanish studentThis week we feature one of our star students – Anthony Diab. Anthony is a culture enthusiast and runs a business in the tourism industry. Realizing the importance of Spanish in both his professional as well as personal life, Anthony decided to take up the challenge to learn Spanish – and he has excelled in it! In no time, Anthony finished all the lessons (yes more than 60 lessons!) at CultureAlley and is now getting into practicing his Spanish accent with our coach Ivan over 1on1 Skype lessons.

 

We spoke to Anthony to understand how others like him can learn Spanish quickly:

 

CA: Tell us a little bit about yourself
Anthony: I’m from Lebanon – a town called Jezzine. I studied a double major at a university in Beirut (Fashion Design, and Music).
We have a mountain resort and a restaurant – I spend time with my dad working on making it better and growing our business.

 

CA: Why did you decide to learn Spanish?
Anthony: For two reasons: One,
Spanish is really helping me take my hotel business to the next level.
Second, I am inspired by the cultural diversity of this world! I’m really interested in singing (opera), I love Spanish music, Tango dancing, the Greek mythology, and wine! Learning Spanish has a big relation to all these cultural inspirations I draw!
Being a fluent French speaker, I thought that I really should learn this lovely language – Spanish. I really see myself walking down the streets of Spain trying to realize my dream!!

 

CA: How did you start your learning journey and how did find the right source to learn Spanish from?
Anthony:
I started by reading books about translation from English to Spanish and from French to Spanish – but after trying for 4 months, I did not find them too useful. So, I moved to find a way which was more professional.
Something that had structured lessons. I Googled for websites to learn Spanish and after reviewing some of the options I made my choice. I think it was the best choice that I made by choosing CultureAlley as my teacher!

 

CA: How did you learn Spanish so fast? Tell us about your learning routine

Anthony: My background in Arabic and French did help me a little but it is not as difficult to learn Spanish quickly.

I started with CultureAlley as a normal person who just knows how to say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ and ‘how are you?’ in Spanish. I started, and every day this website gave me more and more passion to continue learning!

I took about 3 lessons a day sometimes even 4 and wrote the notes on sheets of paper.

Every day before starting a new lesson I ensured that I revise right from paper 1 which contained the basics (Hola/Adíos etc.). I revised till where I stopped the previous day just to remember all the words without forgetting anything. Then I took quizzes – multiple times till I got everything correct. Regular practice and repetition helped me learn Spanish fast. Now I will get into Skype lessons for developing my listening skills and my accent.

CA: Has learning Spanish helped you? If so, how?
Anthony: Learning Spanish has helped me immensely.
First of all,  now I really can communicate with the Spanish tourists that come to our hotel. It makes our hotel appear more professional and adds a personal touch.
I already speak Arabic, French, and English, and now Spanish is adding another dimension.
Secondly,  now I understand the Spanish songs that I really loved, so now I sing them with more passion and I can Dance on Tango Songs with great passion .
Third, the nightlife here in my country Beirut makes me meet a lot of people who speak Spanish – now I can hold real conversations with them in this lovely language!

 

CA: How did CultureAlley help you in learning Spanish?
Anthony:
CultureAlley is so professional and contextual that it contains lessons on topics like – if you were in a hotel or in a restaurant – it was very useful learning these for my business.
Its a very cool website and not boring at all! The teachers and founders are available on live chat and they reply to your emails very quickly with a lot of passion. It gives you more momentum and energy to continue your lessons!
Now I am taking the Skype lessons with a coach to perfect what I have learnt and improve my accent!
CA: To conclude, what would you like to tell other learners who are thinking of learning Spanish?
Anthony: At the end, I can tell you that if you really want to start learning Spanish and you don’t have time to register in school or something like that just click http://culturealley.com/ and  you will start living your Spanish dream from the second you press on the button!
Thank you very much again CultureAlley Team you have helped me a lot!

Learn Spanish for Free!

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In our last post on how to learn a new language, we discussed a high level methodology to make language learning easy, fun, and as natural as any other habit.
One of the most popular languages today is – Spanish – the second most natively spoken language in the world, Spanish is witnessing a tremendous rise in its popularity!

A lot of our learners talk to us on live chat and on our forums and ask ‘How can I learn Spanish?‘, ‘How do I learn Spanish for free?‘, ‘How can I learn Spanish online?‘ etc…

Today, we talk about some ways by which one can easily learn Spanish for free and skip making a hole in one’s pocket! :) We will review various methods to learn Spanish for free, suggest which to choose and why, and also provide some resource references.

Here are some great ways to learn Spanish for free:

1. Free Online Lessons 

Gone are the days when you were forced to buy a 500$ CD/software to pick up a new language! There are some great self-study courses available on the web/as mobile apps to help you learn Spanish grammar, conversations, and vocabulary for free. These can help you start right from the beginning and take you to even an advanced level.

Which website/apps to choose for learning Spanish online:

  1. Depth: Check the list of topics on these websites and then go with a source that has enough material for your learning needs. Switching from one source to another too often may result in a break in continuity.
  2. Interactivity & practice: Pick a source that provides interactive Spanish practice games and exercises on top of the content. This will ensure a consistent learning experience. Testing yourself on what you learn is extremely important. Choose sources which give you a mix of reading, listening, and writing exercises and give immediate feedback.
    Quizlet is a good website for finding practice exercises but they don’t have complementary lessons – so you may feel lost as to which exercises to look at.
  3. Structure and flow: There are two types of websites:
    1. Websites that have structured lessons and quizzes with a clear flow – These pretty much act as a book guiding you one lesson after the other. Choose this if you are looking for a one stop shop experience and want to limit the need for searching for topics.
    2. Reference Websites which cover a lot of different grammar and conversational topics without necessarily having these organized in a flow or as lessons. Choose these only if you are looking at these websites for one-off reference or as supplementary material. About.com for Spanish is a good reference website if you want to search for help on certain topics
  4. Audio support: We would highly recommend choosing websites which have tutorials and lessons with audio support. Audio-visual lessons just change the way you pick up Spanish. You will develop a better accent and better listening skills.
  5. Content: Of-course the meat of any learning website is the content it offers. Now, how good or bad the content is would only be discovered once you try out a couple of lessons. But you could look at user comments/ feedback about the website before getting started. Remember that different people may like different styles of teaching. We ideally recommend content that is beyond just a phrasebook and helps you understand why something is said the way it is.

2. The Telenovela method

Another great way to learn Spanish for free is using Spanish media. Traditionally, the telenovela method (TV method) involved watching Spanish soap-operas and learning Spanish with them.
The Telenovela Method uses Spanish-language media, that you would enjoy, to teach you Spanish. In our experience, this method works best once you have some basic knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary - although we have seen people use just this method as well.

Expanding scope from just TV, you could use movies, YouTube videos, songs, comic strips, news, or whatever you enjoy to make the process of learning Spanish fun and engaging. While starting out, it is ideal if you use videos, songs, movies, and comic strips with  both Spanish and English subtitles.

Learn Spanish for free with comics

Learn Spanish for free with comics (copyright: GoComics)

Take the above comic strip for example. If you don’t know any Spanish then you’ll find it difficult to understand the first script. But if you know the basics (like pronouns, ser/estar, basic conjugations) then understanding the strip becomes very easy by looking at its English version.

Eg: Una gran mayoría de gente de seis años dice que no satisfaces sus expectativas de la paternidad
Una gran mayoría de gente = A large majority of people
de seis años = of 6 years
dice que = say that
no satisfaces = you don’t satisfy
sus expectativas de la paternidad = their expectations of (the) fatherhood

You should watch/read small sections at a time, then try to look at the meanings of the words you don’t understand. More than just the vocabulary, try to understand the grammar – why a sentence is framed the way it is.

If you don’t understand certain concepts, you can post questions on forums.

The Telenovela method is effective because it introduces real conversations – as a native would talk, and is fun at the same time. However, you will need help with understanding the grammar and vocabulary. So, the Telenovela method would need some basic understanding of the language and supplementary sources which explain the concepts well. We recommend using it as a fun way to practice and learn more vocabulary.

Some resources:

  1. Songs:
    1. Just go to YouTube, Grooveshark, or Pandora to tune into Spanish songs. You can find Spanish and English lyrics on sites like metrolyrics.com, lyricstranslate.com, etc..
    2. We are working on adding a Karaoke tool into your lesson experience to help you practice Spanish. Check out a sample: http://culturealley.com/SpanishKaraoke.jsp
  2. Comic strips: GoComics:  You can find popular strips like Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, and other in Spanish on this site. It also has the English version of the same strips.
  3. Movies: You may find some movies (with subtitles) on YouTube. Otherwise you can also get DVDs or go to websites like open subtitles.

3. Language Exchange

This method involved conversing (either face to face or over Skype) with a native who speaks Spanish and knows some English (or whatever your native language is) – the native would teach you Spanish and you in-turn would teach him/her English (or whatever your native language is).
Finding a native:

  1. Friend circle: If you can find someone you know already or a friend – nothing like it! Because that will make the conversations more natural and comfortable.
  2. Clubs: A lot of cities have clubs and meetup groups for language learning where you can find a mix of beginners as well as native speakers
  3. Online: You can also find websites to connect you with natives over chat/Skype

It works well because you are interacting 1on1 with a native – you pick up the right words, learn the accent well, learn about their culture, and most importantly practice speaking.
The only draw-back at times is that a native Spanish speaker may not be necessarily equipped to teach Spanish and both of you may feel lost.
There is a paid version of this option where instead of choosing just any native, you can interact with a native Spanish teacher over Skype who is trained to teach you Spanish. However, experienced teachers would charge a fee.

4. Free English-Spanish Dictionaries

There are several online dictionaries to help you find new words and build your vocabulary. If your aim is to build vocabulary, find a limited word dictionary that has curated the most important words. If your aim is to find meanings of words you read somewhere or hear somewhere then go for a more comprehensive dictionary like the one from Oxford word reference or use Google translate (it works well with individual words, not so much with phrases).

The web provides tremendous scope for learning a new language – so save the 500$ for exploring a new place! :) There is enough quality material out there – all you need to do is be careful and picky.

Here are some resources and tools that we have built at CultureAlley to help you learn Spanish for free (also available for other languages):
1) Free audio visual lessons on Spanish – More than 60 free lessons with voice and audio support. The lessons are super-intuitive, conversational, and explain each concept in detail
2) Free practice games on Spanish – Our games ‘spellathon’ and ‘scatterathon’ provide action packed practice to develop your reading, writing, and listening skills. They complement what you learn in each lesson and give immediate feedback
3) Free Spanish Dictionary – 1000 most used words in Spanish with English translations. Has an easy search feature and comes with audio support.
4) Live chat - To guide you on your learning plan, answer your questions, hear your feedback, and more!
5) Spanish Forums – Ask questions and get responses from our team within 24 hours
6) Spanish Karaoke Tool – Learn Spanish with music using our karaoke tool. Many more songs coming up soon!

Tell us about more helpful resources that you’d like us to review or include in the list. Happy learning!