Exploring The Spanish Language

Language: Spanish Skills Acquisition

If you want to learn Spanish, chances are one reason you picked it to learn was because you expected you would have a good chance of using it in your Extension work. If so, you're probably right — Spanish is the most common first language in the Americas. Spanish and English are in a virtual dead heat to be the second most spoken language in the world. Spanish has more than 332 million speakers, while English has approximately 322 million. They were far behind Chinese, with more than 885 million. Source: Ethnologue.

Where Spanish is spoken in Utah: Modern Language Association's Interactive Map of US Languages.

Learning any language can be daunting. The resources identified below will help you get started and provide easy to use guides to improve Spanish language performance. These self-directed sites on Spanish are provided generally free of charge for these basic lessons. The lessons provide the basis for understanding the language, pronunciation, vocabulary, idioms, common phrases and grammar skills. Take some time to explore these sites choosing the one you’re most comfortable with and then establish a routine for breaking down the communication barriers that may affect your ability to work with Latino and Spanish speaking individuals and audiences by learning Spanish.

This is a great website focused on learning to speak Spanish conversationally. It includes levels from Beginning Spanish to Advanced Spanish. This site also includes audio lessons that help in correct pronunciation.

This is a great Spanish conversational technique website providing nine lessons with pronunciation guides.

This website is a great quick-resource. It starts with basic phrases, and then starts building up to pronunciation, the Spanish alphabet, pronouns, verbs, days of the week, numbers, etc. 90 lessons lead one from the basics to more advanced Spanish.

 This site is very basic and easy to use. It includes easy-to-find basic vocabulary and useful expressions.

This website is a good place for beginners to start. It begins with an introduction to the Spanish language and also includes lessons for beginners, ways to increase vocabulary, verb tenses, online quizzes, and a word of the day. This site also has a section on the Spanish culture and how to use Spanish in the real world.

Basic language skills including grammar, common phrases, common names, numbers, time, alphabet, dictionaries and culture can be found in multiple languages at this site.

Spanish Electronic Translators

Often a quick translation may be needed for a phrase or sentence. The basics of obtaining a computer generated translation are provided at the sites listed below. These translations however may lack the accuracy of a professional translator and should not be used for publication without first validating the translation with professional translation services.

Publications

This site provides a ready-made reference for those exploring the Spanish language with glossaries, language references, cultural guides, style guides, Spanish translation organizations and Spanish language publications sites.

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