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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Getting the gender of basic Spanish nouns wrong is not only frustrating, but also highly de-motivating. In this article I give you an insight on what causes this problem and I help you overcome it from today.

In my experience as a Spanish teacher, the reason why you find yourself making gender mistakes is because of the way you learned the nouns when you first came across them, and the way you’ve reviewed them afterwards.

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. Always learn new nouns with their article, rather than on their own, and review them with their article too.

2. Always learn new nouns with audio material, preferably audio flashcards.

I’ve recommend this way of learning new vocabulary to my students for many years. It’s the fastest and most efficient method, and the one I use in my Spanish for beginners online course and downloadable podcasts.

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:

‘flor’ means ‘flower’

Make sure you learn that:

‘la flor’ means ‘the flower’

This will guarantee that soon you won’t need to ask yourself anymore whether ‘flor’ comes with ‘el’ or ‘la’, because ‘la flor’ now sounds right to you, just like it sounds right to a native speaker.

As for audio flashcards, those are flashcards where you can hear the Spanish vocabulary said by a native speaker, and see or hear the English translations too.

Audio flashcards are an invaluable tool that allow you to learn new words accurately and faster than you ever imagined you could. They help you develop a good accent, and they make it easy and fun to review your vocabulary. You can play some examples of Spanish audio flashcards here.

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.