You can now get my Spanish language course Learn Spanish At Your Own Pace on Amazon.co.uk:

This is a Spanish course that takes you from a beginners’ to an intermediate level in 24 lessons with: dialogs, vocabulary practice, grammar, pronunciation drills, learning tips, speaking and listening drills, reading and writing exercises, and more.

This course contains a 300-page book and 2 audio cds with more than 2.5 hours of recordings by native Spanish speakers.

At Spanish Bookworld you can find all the information you need: features, lesson plan, cd content, free audio samples, free text samples and about the author.

This is an extract from "How to learn Spanish", ebook by Maria Fernandez

You can learn new Spanish vocabulary fast, and remember it easily, if you use the right learning technique.

One of the biggest frustrations we all face when studying a foreign language is failing to remember the words and phrases we thought we had learned. How do you stop forgetting the words you came across in previous lessons? Here is the technique my students and I use:

1. Learn new vocabulary with audio material rather than from text only. The difference between learning new Spanish words by reading them in your lesson’s glossary only and by hearing them said by native speakers is abysmal. Hearing the vocabulary said by a native speaker will not only make you familiar with those words substantially faster, but it will also help you understand them better, and you will pronounce them correctly and memorize them easily.

2. Learn new vocabulary in context. Whenever you learn a new Spanish word, make sure you also hear it in context; in you lessons’ dialogs, for instance. Remembering lists of single words without context is practically impossible for most of us, because the human brain works best when it can make associations. In my experience both as a language teacher and a learner, recorded dialogs are the most effective tool for reinforcing your vocabulary.

3. Review vocabulary by listening to your audio material regularly. Listen to the dialogs and flashcards in your lessons as frequently as you can. Repeat them out loud, along with the recordings, with and without the transcript in front of you. In other words, make reviewing part of your study routine. Reviewing always pays off. The more often you review the vocabulary you have learned, the more solid your knowledge will be and, in turn, the faster you will be able to learn and remember new, more difficult, words.

4. Learn all Spanish nouns with their article (“el”, “la”, “los”, “las”) rather than on their own. Whenever you learn a Spanish noun with its article, you are avoiding endless future mistakes. In essence, you are saving yourself a lot of time, and unnecessary, repetitive work. As you may know, the Spanish gender rules can help you “guess” the gender of many nouns, especially those ending in “a” and “o”, but there are many nouns that will let you down if you try to guess their gender. That is why it is safer, and faster, to learn them all with their article when you first come across them.

5. Learn phrases and idioms as a whole, rather than analyzing them word for word. Better still, learn them in context, within complete sentences, and you will not forget them.

6. Redo the vocabulary drills in your course until you can get all the answers right.

You can read these and more tips on how to learn Spanish vocabulary and remember it in my ebook “How to learn Spanish“.

You can get this ebook on:

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.de

amazon.fr

Spanish vocabulary audio flashcards from Maria Fernandez’s course

Forgetting the gender of the Spanish nouns you’re supposed to know well is both frustrating and demotivating. Today I’m going to walk you through the reason why those mistakes are made, and I’m going to give you an easy solution.

My fifteen years teaching Spanish have shown me that learning and reviewing vocabulary the wrong way is what leads to those mistakes.

You may be wondering, then, if there is a way of learning new Spanish nouns that will allow you to get the gender always right. The answer, without any doubt, is ‘yes’. Here are the two steps you need to follow:

1. Every time you come across a new Spanish noun, make sure you learn it with ‘el’ or ‘la’. When you’re reviewing vocabulary, do so with ‘el’ or ‘la’ in front of all the nouns.

2. Use recordings by native Spanish speakers to learn new vocabulary, in particular audio flashcards.

In all my Spanish courses this is the method I use. It’s fast, efficient and a great time-saver.

Learning nouns with their article the first time you come across them takes the same effort as learning them on their own, and it will save you a lot of time and frustration later on. So, for instance, instead of learning that:

the word ‘flor’ means ‘flower’

Always learn that:

‘la flor’ means ‘the flower’

Doing so will ensure that you associate ‘flor’ with ‘la’ in a natural way, just like Spanish native speakers do.

My second vocabulary tip is to use audio flashcards. The advantage of those is that you can hear the new Spanish words and their English translation, as well as practice and review them.

The task of learning new Spanish vocabulary becomes significantly easier with audio flashcards. They are an essential tool for acquiring a good Spanish accent, and a powerful resource for reviewing efficiently. Throughout my Spanish courses I have created audio flashcards to make your vocabulary learning experience smooth and enjoyable. I’ve included them in my online course, my Spanish Podcasts for Beginners, kids’ course, videos and my iTunes apps.

Briefly, learning new vocabulary following the two steps I’ve described in this article is not only more efficient in the short, medium and long term, but also much more enjoyable.

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The Spanish greeting ‘buenas tardes‘ translates both as ‘good afternoon‘ and ‘good evening‘; and the greeting ‘buenas noches‘ means both ‘good evening‘ and ‘good night‘.

So, when do you use ‘buenas tardes’ and ‘buenas noches’?

Unlike in English, these two Spanish greetings have more to do with meals and the sunset than with the actual time of day.

Therefore, ‘buenas tardes’ is usually said after lunch, which is often from 2.00 pm. ‘Buenas noches’, especially in the summer, is usually said after 9.00 pm. In winter, many people say ‘buenas tardes’ at least until 8.00 pm, even if it’s dark; and many only use ‘buenas noches’ after dinner, which tends to be from 9.00 pm.

When using ‘buenas noches’, remember that it’s not only a farewell, but also a greeting. You can use it both when you meet someone and when you leave.

As you can see, there is no golden rule as to when to use these Spanish greetings. The important point is that they’re vague and flexible. Best of all, there’s an easy way out if you’re unsure as to which one to use: you can simply say ‘buenas’.

If you want to practice saying these and other Spanish greetings, you can hear them said by native speakers in the Lessons 2, 3 and 4 of my Spanish course. Here are two samples:

Lesson 2 dialog and flashcards

Here are the most common Spanish greetings, together with their English translation:

You can hear these greetings said by native Spanish speakers in the first four lessons of my Spanish for beginners course. Here are the Lesson 1 flashcards:

Learning tip

To learn new Spanish words well, make sure you hear them said by native speakers, rather than someone without a native accent. Learning from native speakers is essential if you want to avoid bad pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar habits.