Keep your Spanish going over the summer!
This summer, don’t leave Spanish behind in the classroom. If you’re interested in improving, there are plenty of ways you can keep enriching your understanding of the language during the holidays, without it feeling too much like schoolwork.
Speaking
It’s fairly easy to read, write and listen to Spanish, so this week, time for something more challenging: speaking in Spanish. Naturally, this is the hardest to practise and improve upon, but it’s every bit as vital as the other four if you want to master the Spanish language. Speak Spanish and you can hold a conversation with any of the 570 million people who speak it worldwide!
Family and friends
Do any of your friends or family speak Spanish as well? If so, it’s important that you speak it with them as much as you can. Of course, it’s easier and quicker to chat in English, but the more you force yourself to express thoughts and ideas in a foreign language, the easier it will become; and with your friends and family you have a safe environment in which it’s OK to make mistakes while learning.
Pen friends abroad
If you write to or email a friend in a Spanish-speaking country, why not suggest that you talk face-to-face, once you know each other well enough? Phoning a different country is quite expensive, so use Facetime, Skype or another video chat service. You may feel shy talking in a language you’re learning, but you’ll find it rewarding if you persevere.
Native speakers
This is only applicable if you’re on holiday in a Spanish-speaking country, but if you are then make sure you speak to locals as much as possible! Buy groceries at fruterías (greengrocers), ask for directions when you’re lost, or even just strike up a conversation with a stranger in a café or on the bus, if you’re feeling brave. There really is no way to pick up Spanish better than with a native speaker, so be bold and talk as much as you possibly can. Good luck!
Join us next Friday for the final part of our Spanish in Summer series!
