There are many methods for learning Spanish. Some people like to see the words as they hear them pronounced. Others can just pick up the language by hearing it. Some just need to be able to memorize some vocabulary, repeat key phrases, and then they are ready to go. Following are a few things we are adding to our routine to make learning Spanish a little easier.
Netflix
Netflix has a ton of shows that are available in Spanish. Recently I have been watching shows with the subtitles on in Spanish. Reading along seems to help me pick up some new vocabulary as I hear the word in English and see it in Spanish. I plan to go back and watch a handful of shows dubbed and subtitled in Spanish – ones that I have seen and know the plot. My kids really enjoy watching (some) cartoons in Spanish as well…although I noticed today that they sneak and change it to English when I leave the room! When I find someone in Panama who speaks pretty good English, I always ask them how they learned. I have heard quite a few of them say they learned while watching TV in English. If it worked for them to learn English, it has to be good enough for me to learn and improve my Spanish that way!
Book Box on YouTube
I recently found a great YouTube site for helping my kids hear and learn some Spanish, BookBox. It plays little stories and reads them at a slow pace where it is easily understood. Each story is about five to ten minutes long and keeps a child’s attention. They are also subtitled so you can read along. There are about 25 stories available to view on the BookBox channel.
Video source: YouTube
Espanol Automatico Podcast
If you’re more into Podcasts, I just heard of a great one today called Espanol Automatico. The transcripts are available if you would like to read along while you listen. I like that this is free and gives you a chance to hear native speakers.
Do you use any of these methods to learn a foreign language?
Panama Trivia
Well, we had a very interesting week last week as Panama won a soccer game that allowed them to advance to the World Cup. They were honking, shooting fireworks and playing loud music well into the night on Tuesday night after they won. This has never happened before and the president was so excited, he made the day after the game (Wednesday) a national holiday. He made the announcement on Twitter at midnight! Basically, no one went to work and everything was closed – banks, immigration, stores. The whole country was in celebration mode. Check out this short video of the announcers after the winning goal. You can FEEL the excitement.
Video source: YouTube
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Tuesday Tarea will be brought to you here every Tuesday by A Panama Mama. (Tarea means "homework" in Spanish.)
Check back each week for videos, lessons, poems and much more that will encourage you to explore and learn Spanish!
If you would like to share your thoughts on Spanish, feel free to in the comments.
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