Blogs

As with any language, Spanish can be difficult to master.

For many, perhaps the most difficult thing about learning Spanish is memorizing all the vocabulary. There are a certain number of essential grammar rules you need to know, but the word lists are endless!

When learning Spanish words, many people use certain standard methods to memorize them. Methods like repeating a word endlessly or writing it out a hundred times. The problem with the standard methods, is that they are really boring and time-consuming.

So, are there any other options for memorizing Spanish vocabulary fast?

A recent environmental campaign in Spain encouraging people to recycle paper has adopted a clever marketing slogan.

Do you get the pun (or double meaning) of the slogan on the paper recycling bin in this photo?

If you don't, here's some help...

Ray Vetne is a regular guy from Norway who is fast becoming one of the Net's most down-to-earth and direct voices on the topic of language learning.

He's the Editor of LinguaGuide, which is a fantastic resource for language learners.

Recently, Vetne has begun producing a series of informative videos on the topic of learning languages faster.

This series offers some valuable advice, the kind that many have traditionally had to pay for. Have a look at the first video...

All languages have their fun side …I mean, er, dark side. If you’re looking to add a little pepper to your Spanish, then keep reading. (If you’re easily offended or still live in your parents house, it’s best that you hace clic elsewhere!)…

What’s the deal with all these Al- words that we have to learn in Spanish vocabulary?

Well, the answer goes way back to the year 711 A.D., when the Arab forces, called the Moors, ousted the Visigoths who were controlling the Iberian peninsula (the current area of Spain), and set up an occupation that eventually led the way for a flourishing subculture of arts & sciences. These Moors, along with their progressive cultural pursuits, managed to heavily influence the tongue of would-be Spain with Arab-based vocabulary and structures...

Many people have the mistaken idea that the Spanish spoken in Spain is completely at odds with the variant spoken in Latin America (Central and South America). They also believe that if you speak Latin American Spanish, then nobody would understand you in Spain.

I'm not sure how this idea cropped up, but it's simply not true. Some terms vary from region to region (such as popular expressions, slang or swear words) but the essential grammatical elements of the Spanish language, as spoken in each country, is very much the same.

Have you ever seen former U.Ss President George W. Bush speak Spanish?

I have, and honestly he’s not too bad. But one thing he and all new Spanish speakers need to learn in order to sound just a little bit closer to fluent is the use of crutch words...

One of the biggest problems for Spanish beginners is how to learn a large amount of vocabulary in the shortest time possible. Well, there are no quick solutions, but here are some patterns to help identify, write and learn Spanish words with more ease...

After reading my previous blogs in this series, you’ve got a feeling for some basic Japanese.

Maybe you’re even experimenting with sentences. This next post is intended to fill in some of the blanks that were necessarily left out for simplicity’s sake. After all, Japanese is still a fairly complicated language and there are a lot of things to cover. While I haven’t been able to cover all of them, this next section should tie a few concepts together and help you along in your study. First, we’ll go over some vocab...

Vosotros is an odd little word, isn’t it?

For the longest time, I and other students in American high school and college classes were convinced that it had no equal in English, and so was difficult to learn (kind of like that little subjunctive form, but let’s not go there). It’s in regular use in the north of Spain, but pretty much no where else in the world, except maybe old movies and books. But we still have to learn it, understand it, and perhaps even be forced to use it now and then...