Learning Spanish
Do you want to finally become fluent in Spanish and feel like a local in countries where Spanish is the official language? Find below a summary of my top recommendations for tools and resources that will help you learn French. I've personally tried and tested all of them and selected the ones that I found to be most effective, user-friendly, and fun. Mix and match them, and use 3 or 4 of them interchangeably to keep your motivation high and your attention span focused.
Some of the resources below include affiliate links - which means that Perfectly Fluent will get a small commission when you purchase these resources through the link below. This comes at no additional cost to you, but helps us cover the costs of running this site!
This is my #1 recommendation for anyone starting to learn Spanish or trying to improve their listening and pronunciation skills. The 30-minute lessons are easy to fit into your schedule, and they'll do wonders for your pronunciation and speaking skills!
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: *****
Cost: $
Learning a language successfully is impossible without interacting with native speakers and getting lots of speaking practice. This app gives you access to thousands of professional and community teachers, and you can book private online courses with them for as little as US$ 5 an hour!
Effectiveness: ****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $
This online course has the most impressive innovative way to teach you Spanish through immersion into an addictive and super-fun story. Rather than following a standard curriculum of grammar, sample dialogues, etc., the teaching happens by engaging you in a creative story context, and it's surprisingly effective! Although access to this course is on the pricier side, it's one of the best investments you can make to help you learn Spanish, and it's totally worth it.
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $$$
This website and app have great short 10-15 minute videos and podcasts with lessons from beginner to advanced levels, flashcards, dialogues, grammar break-down, and vocab lists. Premium plans give access to a tutor for accountability and faster progress.
Effectiveness: ****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $$
.png)
Mondly is a fun game-style app that teaches you vocabulary through core words and phrases. The app breaks the learning process down into short lessons and puts them into themed packs. It has great visuals and is easy to use if your schedule is too busy for more structured or intensive courses.
Effectiveness: ***
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $
This is my favorite app to train my memory and retain vocabulary in Spanish. It uses spaced repetition system to help you remember words and phrases more effectively. It also has a great game-like interface, making this app a fun and exciting pass-time. And you can complete a session in as little as 5 minutes, making it very easy to practice your Spanish on a break or during a commute.
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $$$
Lingoda is an online language school that offers private and group classes at unbeatable prices and at a time most convenient to you. You can learn 24/7 from native-speaking professional teachers in a very structured and effective way and even get money back if you attend classes diligently!
Effectiveness: ****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $$
Rocket Languages has great audio content, comprehensive vocabulary-building tools, pronunciation training, solid grammar breakdown, and a steady path for progression. It's a pricier course and somewhat trickier to do on-the-go, but it's incredibly well-structured and effective.
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: ***
Cost: $$$
This is my favorite podcast for learning Spanish. Its 20-25 minute episodes teach useful vocabulary, everyday phrases, grammar, and culture, and do so in a progressive and easy-to-follow way. There are over a hundred episodes starting with the very beginner level and going all the way to advanced. The podcast is completely free, although premium content is available for a small subscription fee.
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: ***
Cost:
.png)
This fun app helps you learn languages with short stories, audiobooks, and music. It shows texts in two languages, side by side, so you can compare the two and learn the language in context. And all texts have audio narration! The texts go from fairy tales and news to science papers and novels, and new ones are added every week. You can listen to a native speaker narrate at your preferred speed (even with your phone locked or while offline) and take tests to assess your comprehension.
Effectiveness: ****
Easy-to-use: ****
Cost: $
The Hotel Borbollon course from Gymglish is the most fun and entertaining digital course for learning Spanish. Through 10-minute classes delivered to your app or inbox several times a week, you will be learning Spanish grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation through an engaging story and authentic movie and song clips. This course is well worth the (modest) cost, and it's really effective in targeting your particular challenges and needs.
Effectiveness: *****
Easy-to-use: *****
Cost: $
Lirica app focuses on listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar through songs. This collection of language lessons cleverly uses the power of song to engage learners and teach key concepts. Lirica takes the idea that nursery rhymes help children learn languages and ages it up with a varied selection of well-known pop songs. Each song is matched to a concept, from introducing yourself to possessive adjectives to past experiences and wishes.
Effectiveness: **
Easy-to-use: **
Cost: $
