When I visit Spain for a holiday, I will always stay at a hotel in the tourist area. I think most people do. Therefore, the need to speak Spanish is not critical because most of the people you meet in your little community will speak English, even the Spanish staff. So why bother?

Well, I also like to visit places inland and it is very noticeable that the further inland you go, the less English you hear. Therefore, if you intend to travel out of your English bubble it would be a big advantage to learn the lingo.

The best way to learn Spanish

There are a number of ways you can learn to speak Spanish. You could go to a local Spanish class in you area. You could travel to a Spanish speaking country and find a Spanish tutor or you can download language software from the internet to your computer.

Learn in your own time

The obvious convenience of downloading software to your computer is that it is immediate. When you make the decision to learn to speak Spanish you can buy your software and download it immediately. If you sleep on it, you might change your mind, again.

Learn with a family member

Once you have downloaded your software you will be eager to get started. If you can include the whole family or a family member, the learning process will be a whole lot easier.

Don't give up

After the excitement of learning a new language has worn off, you may well start to doubt your ability to continue with the process of learning to speak Spanish. Don't give up. Even if you only do about ten minutes a day, keep going. Try to make it a lifestyle choice. Try to learn something at the same time every day. Even if you only learn a couple of words or a couple of sentences per day, over a couple of months, that's going to be a lot of Spanish.

Test Yourself

It's a good idea to test yourself and family members by speaking to each other in Spanish. This will increase your confidence in speaking and understanding the Spanish language. Maybe you could do this once a week or once a month. A good way to start these test sessions is to greet each other and ask each other how they are doing. Try to make it as normal as you possibly can. In other words, be yourself, but in another language.