Study Strategies for Spanish

General Advice

  • Study at least 1 hour/day every day…including weekends. Really. Mastering small amounts of information at a time will help your brain form patterns and links, bringing everything together. CRAMMING WILL NOT WORK.
  • Use only Spanish while studying Spanish. If you listen to music while studying, listen to music in Spanish. If you need to text (ideally, don’t), text in Spanish, not English. Interruptions, especially in English, will keep your mind from absorbing the Spanish.
  • The classes are good for grammar but vocabulary needs to come from self study.
  • For those enrolled in higher level courses, teaching Spanish basics to others, even volunteering to teach kids for free, is an excellent way to reinforce your knowledge.

Vocabulary

  • Use note cards or Quizlet. Write the word out while saying it in Spanish and English.
  • Practice writing out definitions in Spanish for each word.
  • With a study partner, play Taboo or 20 Questions with vocabulary words.
  • Use “Anki” app for mac/iOS or “Ankidroid” for android for active recalling.

Conjugations

  • Create 2 columns on a note card, one for 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular, the other for 1st, 2nd, 3rd person plural. Taking one verb at a time, practice saying each conjugation aloud until you can do so without looking at the notecard.
  • Color-code each particular tense (e.g., write out the present indicative conjugations in blue).
  • Language reactor plug-in for Chrome is a great resource. You can use that to watch Spanish shows on Netflix with both Spanish and English subtitles. Helps recognize when words are being used/things are being conjugated that we don’t pick up on with the English subtitles alone.

Ser & Estar

  • Focus on one of the two and memorize when to use that particular form of “to be.”
  • Once you’ve mastered one form--Estar, for example--you’ll know by default when it cannot be used and therefore when to use Ser.
  • Formulate acronyms. For example, Estar is used to indicate temporary states and locations. Think of the acronym PLACE, which stands for Position, Location, Action, Condition, and Emotion.

Using Supersite (for Dr. Bauer's 201 students)

  • Pretend the individual exercises on Supersite are mini-quizzes and do them without using your book.
  • If you receive a poor score, return to the grammar point in your book to study some more. Then, when you’re ready, try the exercise again. IMPORTANT: Don’t rely on your book while doing the exercises since you won’t be able to use your book during an exam.
  • For particular grammar points, use the Tutorials tab.
  • Gain more practice by doing any of the unassigned activities.
  • Take the Diagnostic Quiz at the end of each leccion (under the Assessment tab).
  • For grammar explanations and mini-quizzes, try StudySpanish.com (a free site).

Listening Exercise Tips

  • When listening to audio exercises, listen the first time through with your eyes closed. Then read over the corresponding exercise’s questions and go back and listen to the audio clip again. It’s normal to listen to a clip 5+ times—the more you do so, over time, the better you’ll become at discerning what is being said.
  • If you really want to push yourself, or if you’re really struggling with this skill, write out what is being said. By doing this, you’re forcing your brain to focus on individual words in order to make them fit linguistically in a sentence that makes sense.
  • If you're into sports or know any Spanish speaking celebs, watch their interviews or talk shows
    because it’s a quick and entertaining way to learn a few new words or expressions.
  • Re-read books you are very familiar with in Spanish. That way, you know the
    context of what is going on in the book and you can familiarize yourself with familiar vocabulary,
    phrases, and topics. For example, read the Sorcerer’s Stone in Spanish. If your favorite books haven’t been translated, pick something aimed at younger audiences.
  • If you're learning a language you really can’t expect to watch a movie like you do in your native
    language. It is generally recommended to watch a movie 3 times: Once with subtitles in your native
    language, once with Spanish subtitles and finally without subtitles.

More Helpful Tips

Used with permission from Rachel Bauer, Assistant Professor at Rhodes College. Additional information compiled by the Office of Academic and Learning Resources Student Staff.