Silvia Lopez-Cepero's blog

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...

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.

Like English, Spanish is a truly global language, but its usage varies from country to country.

This doesn't mean that a Spaniard wouldn't understand a Mexican, or vice versa. But it is true that communication may be more difficult, not so much because of grammar, but more due to wide variations in vocabulary.

Spanish grammar does vary significantly across borders regarding the use of tense and aspect, but somehow communication remains fluid.

Vocabulary is a different issue...

Every language has a different sound system.

When learning Spanish, you should notice that there are some important phonemic and phonetic differences between your mother tongue and Spanish that you must keep in mind to improve your Spanish pronunciation...