By Laura Aldir-Hernandez 

Do you struggle with your Spanish homework? Or are you just anxious to excel? You may be glad to know there are many things you can do to help yourself even if, starting out, you don’t know the difference between a taco and a tamale. You should also know that your extra efforts to learn Spanish are worthwhile.

Spanish May Make You Smarter

Learning a foreign language can help you in many ways. Standardized test scores tend to be higher for foreign language learners, and language skills may be helpful to your future job prospects. One study a few years ago even seemed to show that learning a foreign language makes your brain more powerful, sort of the way exercise builds muscles!

Spanish is one of the world’s most popular languages, and this country’s most frequently used foreign language by a wide margin. In Florida, more than 1 in 5 people speak Spanish at home, and the Sunshine State does not even rank first. California has over three times as many Spanish speakers as Florida, followed by Texas. So your Spanish homework may turn out to be useful....

Easier Than English

The main thing to remember as you approach this subject is a little secret your Spanish teacher may never have told you: basic Spanish is actually easier than English!  That’s right. With few exceptions, Spanish is read and pronounced exactly the way it’s written. In other words, it’s what is called a phonetic language. For example, someone learning English, a non-phonetic language, has to struggle to memorize many different pronunciations of the word-ending “ough”—compare the words bough, tough, though, and thought. No such trouble in Spanish! Master the Spanish alphabet sounds, and you are well on your way to success in spelling and pronouncing words in Spanish.

Practice Makes Perfect

Like shooting hoops or swinging a tennis racket, the more you practice your Spanish, the better you’ll get. Learning a language is also like training for a sport in that you can’t skip practices and expect not to feel it. You must be consistent in your efforts to see the payoff.  But no one said studying for Spanish had to be boring.

These sites provide free games, vocabulary words illustrated with clip art, short videos, and more—all useful for improving your Spanish while having fun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/talk/

http://www.donquijote.org/Spanishlanguage/games/#

http://www.miscositas.com/spanish.html

http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_for_children

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Spanish%20Basic

You Can Do It

After you have mastered the Spanish alphabet sounds, you are ready to fast forward your learning. These tips should help you:

1. Speak only Spanish in Spanish class. Most good teachers will require this, but you can help by requiring it of yourself.
2. Create your own “top ten” list of words/phrases you should be using frequently in class if you are doing your best to speak only Spanish (hello, goodbye, thank you, I don’t understand, please repeat that, etc.). Make yourself a reference sheet for these key words and put it in a page protector so you can find it in a hurry. Post an extra copy of this sheet in your bedroom or keep one in your parent’s car. Basically, you want to keep it handy wherever you find yourself with time to glance at it frequently.
3. Review all your vocabulary words on a weekly basis. Even if your teacher doesn’t require or suggest it, make your own flash cards. Use unlined index cards and a marker to write each word on one side in Spanish. Make sure the vocabulary words are written correctly, including any applicable accents. On the back of the index cards, write the English translation using a pencil. Write lightly, so it doesn’t show through. Periodically quiz yourself using your flashcards, and impress your family by having them quiz you, too.
4. Look at the DVDs of some movies you like and have seen many times. Do any of them have a Spanish language track? They may have Spanish subtitles and/or a Spanish audio track. Ideally, you’re looking for a DVD with both because this is an almost painless way to get used to hearing and reading Spanish.
5. Do you use an iPod? Try listening to some tunes by popular Latin groups and print out the lyrics so you can follow along. Check out songs by Juanes, a Grammy-award winning Colombian group (www.juanes.net) that recently swept the MTV Latin America awards, or visit About.com’s Latin music site, http://latinmusic.about.com/.
6. Study, practice, and don’t give up!

A Final Note on Tacos vs. Tamales

While both tacos and tamales are staples of Mexican cuisine, they are very different foods. A taco is essentially a sandwich made up of some type of meat or other filling in a folded-over, fried corn tortilla. A tamale consists of seasoned chopped meat or vegetables enclosed in corn dough that is wrapped and steamed in a softened cornhusk.

Hungry? Maybe now’s a good time for a study break....