It’s always been a difficult question to answer, because it depends; and nobody likes to hear a fluffy answer like “It depends”!
Learning to speak Spanish depends on several factors and so if it’s going to be easy or not also depends on several factors.
These factors include:
Goals:
sourceWhat do you want or need to know in Spanish?
This can go between a few simple words, basic Spanish conversation for social means, basic Spanish for business purposes, advanced Spanish for social means, advanced Spanish for business purposes and even higher.
Think about what is your motivating factor. Why do you want to learn a new language?
Motivation: How motivated and driven you are to learn the language.
Time available:
How much free time, outside work constraints and family commitments are you prepared devote to learning? (This could encompass time for lessons, on-line courses or contacts, travel abroad to practise with native speakers, etc. )
Finance:
sourceHow much money you are prepared to invest; on lessons, on-line courses, travel abroad, etc. ?
Feedback:
We all need some positive feedback or indication that we are progressing and improving in our language skills. Without this feedback, language learning flounders and drowns fast!
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN SPANISH?
Basing your answers on the above, let’s have a bit of fun to assess if you are going to find it easy to learn Spanish:
MOTIVATION: Where are you really on “Motivation”? WHY do you want or need to speak this language?
TIME AVAILABLE: Realistically how much time are you willing to invest? (The language-learning process for adults can take time, all this depending on a) motivation, b)time available, c) finance and d) feedback.
Time on the beach! sourceFINANCE: How much finance are you willing to invest? The whole language-learning process can be accomplished absolutely free. Free on-line resources, living in a country where your chosen language is spoken, these are all valid options.
However, if you can’t find the suitable on-line course, or friendly neighbour who happens to speak the language you want to speak, then it may be necessary to invest some finance into your mission.
FEEDBACK: You need your feedback. You need to know how you’re doing, because chances are you will feel you are doing badly. It’s a strange thing about new language learners but in my experience they don’t seem to credit themselves on their language progression and they generally feel they are not progressing enough or even at all. So get feedback from your on-line community, take some basic Spanish tests that can be found easily on-line. This will help the ……
Goals to lead to the Motivation to lead to the Time Availability to the Finance to the Feedback to the Goals…….
If you have any questions or thoughts about language learning or learning Spanish, please leave a comment below.
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