How to learn Spanish without a tutor

Have you met people who have learned Spanish on their own? Learning a foreign language independently sounds very impressive, isn’t it? Indeed, learning on your own requires a lot of motivation and self-discipline, but it’s very much possible to learn Spanish without the help of a Spanish teacher.

In this article, we suggest a few tactics you could use to learn Spanish on your own.

Connect with Spanish speakers

One of the best ways to learn a foreign language is by conversing and interacting with native speakers. If you know native Spanish speakers, you should jump on any occasion to speak to them. You may be nervous at first, but the more you talk to them, the more confident you’ll become.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and ask questions when you don’t understand. Sometimes you learn more from the mistakes you make and the corrections you get. Interacting with native speakers will help you to practice your vocabulary and sharpen your listening skills in Spanish.

The fact that you’re only a beginner student should not stop you either. Even if you know only a few Spanish phrases and grammar rules, you should practice them. Soon you’ll learn new words and commonly used vocabulary such as greetings, numbers, and other simple words.

Travel to Spanish-speaking countries

We understand that not everyone can travel easily. Traveling abroad requires time, money, and a lot of arrangements. But if you’re looking for ideas for your next vacation destination, consider combining pleasure with learning. Not only you’ll get a chance to practice Spanish, but you’ll also discover more about the diverse Spanish culture and its people.

We recommended traveling to a Spanish-speaking country once you’ve at least masted the basics of the language. Ideally, you should start simple conversations about directions, and the main attractions to visit and introduce yourself and your country. From there, it’s easy to pick up other conversations with hotel staff, travel agents, and fellow travelers.

You’ll be surprised how friendly some locals are when they see that you’re making efforts to speak in their language. After all, you’re not an average tourist, but a Spanish speaker!

Watch Spanish movies with subtitles

It might seem odd to some, but watching movies and TV shows in the Spanish language can be a great tool for self-study. It helps language learners be more exposed to the language and practice vocabulary, reading, and listening skills.

But don’t get too excited! Watching Spanish movies to learn and improve your level is different from casually watching Netflix or your favorite TV show. You’ll have to do some work. Listen and analyze the sentence patterns. Pause to take notes and write down the words you don’t know. Translate new words and add them to your vocabulary lists. Replay the parts that you don’t understand.

Depending on your current level, you have two options when you self-study with the help of movies. You can watch Spanish movies with English subtitles, or more advanced speakers can watch Spanish films with Spanish subtitles.

Get on Social Media

We live at a time when we can meet and interact with people from all over the globe thanks to social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Fortunately, these social networks also represent an excellent platform for language learners to meet and interact with each other. A simple search shows hundreds of free Facebook groups dedicated to Spanish learning and exchange, and some have more than 200 posts per day! What a great way to stay active and engaged!

With the help of social media communities, you will quickly improve and practice Spanish online. You can also find different social media groups meant for language exchange. Through them, you connect with like-minded language students, and you can exchange experience and advice about self-learning Spanish.

This way, you will learn fast since you are motivated by the fact that you have many people who have the same aim: fluent in Spanish. With determination, you can master the Spanish language with all the means mentioned.

However, if you want to master Spanish faster and with more ease, you can consider booking a trial Lesson with an online Spanish teacher on italki. You will learn the language through 1-on-1 lessons that are crafted to match your skill and level of fluency. Your teacher will also tap into your interests to make your learning process engaging and interactive.