This is a collection of my favorite Spanish resources that I regularly use to maintain my Spanish fluency while living in the US.
Language Learning
These resources are focused on learning Spanish vocabulary and grammar.
Lengalia is a complete online Spanish course. I came across the site because I was looking for resources for business Spanish and this was the first result of my Google search. I was surprised to see very little out there for business Spanish but I was nonetheless impressed by Lengalia.
There is a lot of content on this site. I’ve been using Lengalia for over a year and I haven’t even touched a quarter of the material. There are beginner courses all the way to advanced courses. Additionally, there is Spanish for business, vacation, computers, medical, holidays, negotiations, and more.
A major factor for me in choosing Lengalia was that you can take a placement test and get a certificate to show your proficiency. The levels are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
While the site has everything you would ever want to know about Spanish, the material can be somewhat dry. This isn’t unique to Lengalia, it’s just that learning vocabulary and grammar is always tough to get around that no matter what resource you use.
Lengalia is mostly a lot of text content with exercises that mimic something you probably did in high school. For example, exercises can include reading a text followed by text comprehension, short text exercises, conjugation drills, and flashcards. You do get instant feedback on your answers which definitely helps speed up learning and provides more value than a textbook.
The cost is very reasonable. You pay $60 a year which is $5 a month to access everything. Their website is mobile-friendly and works great on my iPhone and iPad.
The bottom line is this. If you are a serious Spanish learner, want a complete course, and are a disciplined self-learner, then this is a great deal. If dry Spanish material never worked for you, I would look elsewhere as you probably won’t find the motivation to log in. There are plenty of apps that try and make language learning more fun. However, I like the completeness that Lengalia offers.
Audible has a huge selection of Audiobooks geared towards language learning. I find getting through vocabulary and grammar is much easier when all you have to do is hit play and absorb the content.
Audible is broken into two main sections. There is a section for Language Learning and their Audible Latino section. For beginners, I recommend the language learning section. One series I do want to point out are the books by Patrick Jackson on Audible that covers the essential words and phrases for conversational Spanish. The audiobooks are about 20 hours each so it’s a great value for an Audible credit.
Check out my post on how I use Audible to maintain my Spanish for more strategies on maximizing your language learning with Audiobooks.
Rosetta Stone
To be honest, I haven’t used this one. However, everything I’ve read about Rosetta Stone leads me to believe this is the best place to start if you are pursuing language learning on your own. On top of that, I keep seeing ads that are promoting their deal on a lifetime membership with access to all languages for $200. That’s a pretty incredible deal considering if language learning is a long term pursuit for you.
I was looking to learn some Italian and some Japanese for upcoming trips before the pandemic hit and was close to purchasing a membership. Once I have more clarity on international travel, I will likely try this out!
Conversation Practice
These are a great set of resources to get you speaking Spanish.
The iTalki site allows you to connect with native Spanish (or any other language) speakers over Skype or Google Hangouts. This is my favorite way to practice Spanish. If your goal with language learning is to be able to communicate with others, then look no further. iTalki offers one-on-one lessons with native speakers at very reasonable rates.
Scheduling lessons is very flexible. You can schedule one class at a time so you can choose to continue with the same person or find someone else. The price is also very reasonable and varies by the instructor type (community tutor or professional teacher). My last lesson cost $8 for an hour.
The bottom line here is that this is the best resource for getting out of a textbook and actually practicing your Spanish. I will say the hardest part is just booking the first lesson. The fear of being embarrassed about making mistakes held me back at first, but the individuals I’ve interacted with have been amazing and truly want to help you. They make you feel very comfortable.
Meetup is a platform designed to connect people with similar interests. You will find a number of Spanish conversation groups happening in most large cities and even worldwide. There are two main groups in Minneapolis where I live.
Events are free so you have nothing to loose by trying them out. They also run throughout the week so you can find a meeting that fits your schedule the best. I went to an event that met every Wednesday at a coffee shop near my office. The meetup was simply a two hour block where anyone who joined would just talk in Spanish.
I found the events a great way for me to make time in my schedule to continue speaking Spanish. Since events are free, you have nothing to lose by trying them out. However, I find that events may not always be the best use of time for intermediate or advanced speakers. The group usually has a mix of beginners to advance speakers which is great, but typically the group plays down to the lowest common denominator. That means you’ll have limited conversation as an advanced speaker while the beginners get a lot of practice and good advice. There was usually always at least one native speaker at each meeting.
Volunteer
Once you are comfortable communicating in Spanish, you can look for ways to volunteer in your community in Spanish! This is an awesome way to give back to your community while at the same time being able to practice Spanish with native speakers. A quick Google search will get you started!
Accessing Books in Spanish
Learning Spanish by interacting with books written in Spanish is a great way to learn Spanish outside of a textbook.
Reading with Kindle Books or Libby
I love reading and I have found that reading in Spanish is a really easy way to tackle two things at once – reading and practicing Spanish. There are so many original works and best-sellers that have been translated into Spanish that there is no shortage of books you’ll find interesting to read.
One way to get started is to check out Kindle Unlimited. I found out that there are a ton of Spanish language learning books. The nice thing with Kindle Unlimited is that it is like Netflix but for books, so you can try out a bunch to see if this works for you.
In addition to Audible, Libby is the companion app for your library card. If you have a library card you have access to tons of free e-books and audiobooks on your phone. Did I mention that a library card is free?
Check out my post on Why Audiobooks are my Favorite way to keep up with my Spanish
Translation Software
DeepL
I use Deepl all the time when I write in Spanish. Ideally, I would like a software that checks your grammar (like Grammarly) but I haven’t found a good one. If you know of one, comment below!
What makes DeepL so much better than Google Translate is the fact that it picks up on context and therefore provides much more accurate translations. Context is very important in Spanish because it does ultimately affect grammar. The indicative and subjunctive tenses are examples of where grammar differs based on context.
El Diccionario de la lengua española
This is a Spanish-to-Spanish language dictionary. Having words be translated into Spanish will speed up your transition into thinking in Spanish.
If you have a Kindle, then this dictionary is already built-in! With a few settings changes, you can have it default for Spanish words. Check out my post on Adding a Spanish-to-Spanish dictionary on your Kindle.
News in Spanish
Today’s Front Pages by Newsium
This service is just cool if you enjoy the news and newspapers. Today’s Front Pages is a collection of the front page of major newspapers worldwide. The front pages are high-quality images so, yes, you can actually read everything in the image. They even have national newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today. The best part is that all of this is free and they have an app for the iPhone!
Now back to how this relates to Spanish. You can view the front pages of Central America, South America, and Spain, for example. Newspapers are a fantastic way to learn Spanish because you get fresh content daily. This helps you stay current on the latest vocabulary and phrases. Having this type of access is another reason why learning Spanish from home is easier than ever.
One caveat about using the news to learn Spanish is that I find the vocabulary in news is challenging. There are many words I encounter for the first time while reading the news and I have been studying Spanish for over twenty years! One reason though is that I have been exposed to mainly academic Spanish over real-world Spanish.
El Times
El Times is a free Spanish newsletter crafted by the New York Times. It’s a newsletter sent out once or twice per week and pacts in a ton of great news articles.
Despierta América
Despierta America is a Spanish morning talk show on the Univision network. This network is typically included in your local TV package so you should be able to access for free using an antenna or a service like Locast.
I find that the news anchors speak very clearly and the conversations are a great way to learn a lot useful everyday phrases.
Books about Language Learning
Fluent forever
This book is an incredible resource for understanding how to approach language learning. The author, Gabriel Wyner, is a polyglot and had to quickly learn several languages for his job. The main message is that anyone can learn a language. He provides a ton of valuable insights and resources to make sure you progress in your language learning journey. If you have gotten stuck in the beginner stages of language learning, I that this book can help you achieve the next step.
Conclusion
I hope you can see that language learning doesn’t only happen when you live in Mexico or Spain for example. There are so many great resources available online that you can learn a language anywhere. I’d love to hear what resources you have found helpful. Comment below!