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Top 5 Spanish Study Tips

By Megan McGuire/All Seasons Lessons, Inc.

www.allseasonslessons.com

1. Don’t get frustrated! Easier said then done, right? Well, I know all about getting frustrated while trying to learn Spanish. I come from a family where only English was spoken-so I know! There is no “set-pace” for learning Spanish. You need to learn at the pace that works best for you. That’s where taking community college/university classes can become difficult. They tend to move at a fast pace. If you can keep up with that pace-great! If you can’t, you may want to pursue other opportunities. There are tons of great online and private resources available. Check out my website: http://www.allseasonslessons.com. I have companies listed on my “Resources” page and also on my blog: http://www.blog.allseasonslessons.com.

2. Don’t watch Spanish TV if you are a beginner! They speak extremely fast and are using an enormous variety of grammar and vocabulary. It’s only going to lead to frustration and aggravation. Who needs it?!

3. Study Study Study!!! Yes, you have to do it. No, you do not have to spend hours on end. Chunk your study sessions into short periods of time. If you have note cards with vocabulary to memorize, I recommend studying them during television commercials. Who wants to work all day and then come home and study all night? Not me! Keep your cards with you while you are watching TV and only study them during the commercials. Memorization is best achieved when you study for short, frequent periods of time. Please refer to my blog for other study tips: http://www.blog.allseasonslessons.com

4. Only study what you need/want to learn, specifically if you are in business and are only interested in learning specifics related to your field. For example, a real estate agent doesn’t need to learn all about shopping at a grocery store if they are only interested in communicating with their Spanish speaking clients. There are many companies that offer career specific Spanish lessons. My company offers a complete Spanish for Real Estate program: http://www.allseasonslessons.com/products.html.

5. Watch career specific Spanish television. What?! You just said not to watch Spanish television! Okay, let me explain: using real estate agents as an example, you can occasionally find cable access channels that will run local real estate shows advertising homes for sale in the area. They have the same type of shows in Spanish. It’s a great, safe way to utilize and recognize vocabulary you’ve learned. Once you have completed a career Spanish program, I would then recommend delving in and watching these programs on TV. The objective is to utilize your time and not waste it on something you don’t understand or will only frustrate you. The majority of the words being spoken will be ones you are familiar with and learned in your program. Plain old Spanish TV programs are not going to give you the same exposure or result. Another example: if you’ve completed a career specific automobile sales Spanish program, watch one of the dealership’s cable access programs. They run them in both English and Spanish. It’s a great opportunity to revisit vocabulary and phrases you’ve learned. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to listen to someone else, besides your instructor, and decipher what they are saying. Instructors enunciate and speak slower on purpose. Unfortunately, not all native speakers you will work with do that.

Good Luck-Buena Suerte

How to learn a language without going back to school.

NEW ITINERARIES CULTURAL ASSOCIATION is an Association of over twenty qualified teachers living in Tuscany who offer Italian Language and Culture Homestays to foreign students wishing to gain a better academic and working knowledge of the language.

As a guest, you will live in the home as one of the family and have daily tuition from one of the hosts who is a qualified and experienced teacher.

Since 1971, university students, opera singers, professionals and senior citizens participate in our homestay programs, using our individually-planned, tutor-to-student method.

WHAT WE TEACH

Italian grammar, with practical, everyday conversation based on the student’s personal interests and goals. Tutor and guest student plan lessons on basic, intermediate or advanced Italian linked to the history of art, music, history, commerce, literature and cooking.

WHERE THE TEACHING HOST FAMILIES LIVE

Accommodation is in comfortable homes of excellent quality, in or near Florence and the Chianti Wine Area.

WHY SHOULD I STUDY ITALIAN?

Enjoy the advantage of natural assimilation of the Italian language. Italian is a melodious and charming language. Enchanting to listen to, and a delight to speak.

Tastes differ widely, of course, but Italian is considered by many to be one of the world’s most beautiful languages.

A few excellent reasons are that Italy is a world leader in manufacturing, import-export activities, in an extensive range of fashion articles, in interior and furniture design, automobiles and motor cycles, and other commercial activities.

Italian is indispensable for students of art, music, law, European history and archaeology.

The artistic and literary heritage of Italy is an exaltation of the Genius Loci.

Tuscany in partucular has its great poets - Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch, its mighty master, Leonardo da Vinci, who created a new universe here on earth. It gave the world, among many others, the ageless, muscular art and brawny sculpture of Michelangelo to which we can add such great geniuses as Galileo, Macchiavelli, Giotto, Botticelli, Brunelleschi….

Italian explorers include Christopher Columbus, Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), Giovanno da Verrazzano, and Amerigo Vespucci – the man who gave his name to America.

The world’s greatest art treasures are in Italy. Indeed, according to UNESCO over 60 percent are in located in Italy.

Our Homestays are available all year round. Minimum homestay one week.

ITALIAN LANGUAGE and CULTURE HOMESTAY TUITION

The qualified and experienced tutors give practical, essential tuition taking into account personal interests and aspirations.

TUITION PROGRAM

Daily one-to-one individually-planned tuition is given for 15 or 20 hours weekly, from Monday to Friday.The guest student’s present level of Italian, past study experience, and all personal and specific interests for studying Italian will be evaluated by the teacher.The Cultural Excursions and Walks program and the Cooking Activity program are given for 20 hours weekly.

STUDY PLANS

We recommend that you prepare, specify and discuss personal study interests with

the teacher before lessons begin. These may include concentrating on grammar and

conversation, or on particular tuition which can be linked to literature, history, art,

music, or business Italian.

Tuition will be given during the morning or in the afternoon, at a time suitable to both.

The guest student should make a constant effort to speak Italian all day and every day.

FORGET YOUR OWN LANGUAGE FOR A WHILE

Italian language courses are in the comfort of your teacher’s home. In the classroom and after attending school, students inevitably meet other students from their own country and so speak in their own language to each other. In a host family this cannot happen.

The guest student is compelled to think and speak Italian in every day-by-day situation.

This round-the-clock exercise is the very heart of constant and permanent learning.

A language which is assimilated and intensely lived and used in this practical manner

makes “Living and Learning with Your Teacher” the most effective and natural way of securing a good knowledge of the Italian language and culture.

HOMESTAY TUITION AND TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL TEACHING

The most frequent objections raised against learning a foreign language in a traditional language school are:

- I always meet students from my own country and we inevitably speak our own language during our free time.

- Too many students. The classroom is overcrowded.

- I am able to speak the language only for a few minutes every hour (this is the

disadvantage of group learning).

- We all have different learning speeds and some of my classmates just lag behind.

- We all have miscellaneous study plans and personal interests for studying Italian and above all at my level students have a widely different basic knowledge and experience of the language.

THE SUCCESSFUL STUDENT

Before beginning an Italian Language and Culture Homestay, you are strongly advised to:

- Prepare to adjust yourself to your new Italian studies and to the length of time you will be away from home.

- Prepare to live with, and accept, those cultural differences which may exist between

your own country and Italy.

- Prepare to accept, and learn from, the local daily way of life, however different from

your own.

- Prepare to live in harmony with your family and make a constant and daily effort to

study and speak the language.

- Prepare a study plan, according to your personal interests, sufficient to cover the

entire homestay period. This plan will be discussed with your teacher before tuition

begins.