1. Listen and imitate.

The general approach to learning a modern language is to learn the “habits” or speech patterns of that language.  Listen carefully to someone who know how to speak the modern language, then imitate that person as exactly as you can.  You can listen to native speakers on Univision and other cable channels “en Español” (i.e. CNN, MTV, etc.) and on the radio (satellite radio offers specific channels that are broadcast only in Spanish).  You can also hear Spanish in your neighborhood if you listen for it!

2. Practice makes perfect.

The only way to learn is by practice, practice and more practice.  In other courses you may be asked to go home and organize, analyze and interpret factual data.  In your Spanish class, you will be asked to go home and review (practice) the material you have heard over and over again in some form or another until it becomes second nature to you.  Daily oral practice is extremely important and is a vital part of assigned homework.

3. Study out loud.

One way to learn material is to read it over silently, again and again.  With a modern language, if you study aloud you double your efficiency by adding auditory memory to visual memory.

4. Divide your study time into small units of time.

If you spend two uninterrupted hours of trying to learn the material of a new lesson, you may do a poor job of learning and will probably go stark raving mad in the process.  Use a technique that is saner: start with 15 minutes; then turn to some other work; then come back for another 15 minutes of Spanish.  Time divided into small segments will produce far better results.

5. Make full use of class time.

When someone else is answering, you should recite mentally along with him/her.  If you just sit back and daydream, then you are wasting your class time as well as piling up extra hours of study and review at home on the same material that was covered in class.

6. Keep up.

Cramming for a language exam makes about as much sense as cramming for a swimming test.  Learning a language is like building a tower of blocks.  You keep building on top of what you did the day before.  If you don’t keep at the job steadily, soon you’re trying to put new blocks on top of empty space.  Keep up with the class work and homework.

7. Ask questions.

If something does not make sense to you, ASK A QUESTION!  Most likely, you are not the only one who is confused.  Be brave and raise your hand.  If you are paying attention, taking notes and on-task with the class, your confusion is most likely the result of a poor explanation.  Asking a question will help you and your classmates better understand the material.