Finding the best way to learn Spanish at home starts with you. You are going to have to assess your needs before jumping in and learning a whole new language. I’m going to give you a few pointers to help you get started.

First, and foremost, ask yourself why you want to learn Spanish. Do you want to learn because you see a need for it at your job? Maybe you just want to learn for the heck of it. Whatever your reason is for learning Spanish, always keep it in mind. If you need to learn a new language for your job, you probably don’t need to know how to say “the boy had a green apple”. On the other hand, if you just want to learn for the heck of it, you might want to know how to say “the boy has a green apple”.

Second, figure out what the most important words are for you to learn. This goes back to number one, asking why. If you can find the words that you use most often in English, learn the Spanish words. This will help keep you going along and learning new words everyday. Again, “green apple” might not be a word you ever use at your job, so why waste the time to learn it if you don’t need it?

Third, find someone who already speaks Spanish. There is no way in the world you are going to learn how to communicate effectively if you never use your new language. That’s just the way it is. Think about it, how are you going to know if you are saying something correctly if no one tells you, for sure, that you are?

Lastly, don’t be afraid to use your new language. Who knows now many times you are going to be out and see someone that needs help with something, you could be the knight in shining armor by helping them get what the need or want. I don’t say this to try and get you to go out and start speaking really bad Spanish and make yourself look like a fool. I say this to help you understand that using a language is just as important as learning it. What is the point of learning a language if you intend to never use it?

People ask me all the time “How did you learn to speak so much Spanish?” and I tell them exactly what I told you.