How to immerse yourself in the Spanish language without leaving London
It has been said hundreds of times that if you want to learn Spanish, you have to live abroad in a Spanish speaking country.
But like me, most of us do not have time to quit your job and jump onto a plane tomorrow.
There are plenty of ways you can learn, without moving from your house, or even your beloved bed.
Sound good? Well you’re in the right place.
This blog will teach you 9 ways to immerse yourself in the Spanish language without the time and cost of moving abroad.
1) Use your smartphone to learn Spanish
We now live in a world where we spend around a day a week on our smart phones. Our phones are with us all the time, from waking up in the morning to going to sleep at night. So why not use this to your advantage and use it to learn Spanish?! Change your phone language to Spanish. You will be surprised at how much language you will pick up from this. This simple change can really immerse yourself into the language without much effort.
2) Read Spanish newspapers online
Combine your daily news fix with learning Spanish. You can go to Spanish news websites such as ‘elpais.com’ where you can read what’s happening and associate it with what you’ve already seen in the international news. Use the headlines to pick out key words and phrases and you will be surprised how many similar words there are (cognates).
3) Read books in Spanish
Reading a book in Spanish that you’ve already read in English has huge benefits. One of the biggest benefits is that you will consciously and unconsciously make connections between the stories you’ve known from a child with what you’re reading in Spanish.
If you’re into your personal development why not try ‘Piense y hagese rico’ (Think and grow rich) by Napoleon Hill or ‘Como ganar amigos e influir sobre las personas’ (how to win friends and influence people) by Dale Carnegie. Not only are these books considered must read books, the Spanish translations will add to your Spanish skills.
4) Label items in your home
Labelling items in your home not only organises your cupboards but improves your Spanish language skills. Get some sticky notes and label anything you want. Sit on el sofa and watch la television!
Seeing the word and saying it whenever you use it will help you associate the word with the item and can keep you motivated to learn more. You can start by labelling a few and slowly add different labels. When you’re confident, try removing the labels and naming the item out loud before you use it.
You don’t have to label your whole house. Start small, label a few of the items you use the most. You don’t want to get used to seeing the labels everywhere and start ignoring them either.
5) Wine and dine!
We now how much Londoners love wining and dining. So why not do the things we love the most whilst learning.
Start by inviting your friends over for a Tapas evening with some amazing Spanish wine. You can find a lot of recipes on google. Start by introducing your guests in Spanish and doing some basic introductions.
Dont fancy cooking? Check out Londons best Hispanic restaurants.
6) Use your commute to learn
Your commute allows you to dedicate a proportion of your day to learning. Whether youre in the car, on the bus, tube or walking podcasts, audiobooks, radio stations and apps are a fun tool to get you immersed into the language. This allows you to learn vocabulary and grammar on the go and make those commutes more interesting! As well as this, it will wake your brain up for the day ahead and make it feel quicker than usual.
7) Write your to-do list en Español
To do lists are a great way to prioritise things you need to do, de clutter your brain of thoughts and most importantly brush up on your Spanish. Why not try writing your to do list in Spanish in the evening before you go to bed or on a Sunday evening for the week ahead? Simply take a notebook and use wordreference.com to understand the key words and phrases. You can then take the list to work with you and immerse yourself in those key Spanish verbs.
8) Binge watch some Spanish Netflix
Love Netflix but want to learn? We now spend so much of our time on Netflix and the great thing is there are loads of Spanish shows you can watch. By going to your settings you can add English subtitles and add a chrome extension ‘language learning with netflix’ to get both Spanish and English subtitles. Watch this space for some great suggestions.
9) Join us at Stripey Spanish!
Why not join us at Stripey Spanish and learn Spanish in a fun, immersive and social way. Check out our courses for more information!
By Emily Banks
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