Why Learn Spanish in Barcelona?

Barcelona seems to be an extremely popular destination to learn Spanish, although quite why that is I'm not sure.
The reason I say that is that Barcelona is defiantly pro-Catalan but it's even quite difficult to find Catalan classes in the city, while there are dozens of Spanish academies. People come from all over to learn Spanish but then they'll encounter Catalan on the street very often, which must be confusing.

Numbers in Spanish on Ezine Articles

Just to let you know that Ezine Articles has published the first of a series on numbers in Spanish. Part II should appear some time next week.

Learning numbers in Spanish

Many people find that learning numbers in Spanish is relatively straightforward, perhaps because of the patterns repeated throughout, or perhaps just because they have more of an opportunity to practice both listening to them and speaking them.

If you travel to Spain or Latin America you're bound to go to a supermarket at some point, even if you don't shop anywhere else. And when you're asked for the total amount listen carefully - repeat it back if necessary and count your money out.

It's really that simple to learn the Spanish numbers and you'll probably find you can memorize them, speak them and understand them in no time at all.

Business Spanish

Learning Spanish for business can have big advantages for you if you are dealing with Spanish speaking countries, such as Mexico, Argentina or the Spanish Caribbean.Even if you learn enough to great people you'll oil the wheels of commerce; and if you can negotiate in Spanish then you give yourself and your company a big advantage.

Read more: Spanish language downloads for business.

Spanish downloads

Yesterday I was talking a bit about how downloadable Spanish courses are beginning to make an impression on the market. In fact I think it's inevitable that the end of the CD audio course is nigh, with downloads being much more cost effective and easier to distribute while having all the advantages of CD too.

Read more: Spanish downloads

Spanish Immersion

Absolutely the best way to learn to speak Spanish by living in a Spanish speaking country for a few months. There are schemes that allow you to do that, where you spend your days in class while staying with a local host family. The advantage of this is that you are constantly surrounded by the language and the culture - it's almost impossible to escape it in fact.

Why speak Spanish?

I could give you a dozen reasons about why I think you should speak Spanish, but if none of them really clicks with you then what's the point. My first attempt at learning was because I was visiting Spain a lot and wanted to speak with the locals, but what really got me interested was when I started dating a Spanish girl. I've looked at the reasons to speak Spanish in an article on my website.

Spanish for beginners - the basics

Everyone has to start somewhere and when you learn Spanish you start with the basics. Take a look at the phrases below for some real rudimentary Spanish that will prove an excellent foundation for what you study afterwards.

Hello	Hola
Goodbye	Adiós
Yes	Sí
No	No
Thanks	Gracias
Many thanks	Muchas Gracias
You're welcome	De nada
Please	Por favor
Good morning	Buenos días
Good afternoon	Buenas tardes
Good evening	Buenas noches
Goodnight	Buenas noches
How are you?	¿Como estás?
Very well	Muy bien

See my website for more details on Spanish for beginners.

Learning Spanish Like Crazy

Do you want to learn Spanish the way the Real Acadamia wants you to speak it? Or do you want to speak it like it spoken by native Spanish speakers?

For most people the answer is the second, but most Spanish courses focus on teaching the very formal Spanish that you won't actually encounter.

Learning Spanish Like Crazy concentrates on the second approach and you can read my review of it on my website at www.SimplyLearnSpanish.com.

Spannish Grammar

I hate Spanish Grammar with a vengeance and now I know why.

OK, it's boring and I'd rather spend too much time in class or poring over text books. The real thing is that we ultimately know that it's a waste of time. And it's a waste of time for a very good reason - the grammar that is taught by language schools and in text books is based on completely formal grammar, but native Spanish speakers don't actually speak like that.

Think about this for just a minute - do you stick to ALL rules of English grammar? I'm sure you don't as it's just too constrictive. I'm not talking about semi-literate English either.

Anyway, you can read more about Spanish grammar and what you really need to learn at my new website www.simplylearnspanish.com.