Learn to Speak the Spanish Language FREE Online

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Learn to Speak the Spanish Language FREE Online

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Don't get screwed over, like I did.

After studying the Spanish language for 4 years in high school, 4 years in college, a year abroad in Granada, Spain, a year living in the latino Mission District of San Francisco, California, nearly a year in Santiago, Chile, 4 years of Linguistics at University of California Santa Cruz to get a B.A. in Language Studies, with coursework in phonetics and phonology, I very, very recently made the profound discovery of how to cure my North American 'gringo' accent.

Instead of pronouncing the "r" like "r", I should pronounce it like a "d". It's amazing. It really, really works, and has even elicited clapping and kisses from a member of the opposite sex.

Still, this late in the game, I may never fully integrate it into the way I talk.
But why, with so much background in the Spanish language, didn't I ever learn this basic phonetic rule?

I'm honestly starting to think it's because I never took these free online Spanish lessons and missed the opportunity to buy the CDs, or any other learn Spanish CDs, for that matter. I don't care how good my teachers were, and how much grammar I learned (yes, I unabashedly love grammar), how many Spanish words I know (I have an amazing vocabulary) -- if I'd only taken a couple free online courses with these guys, I'm sure I would have been doing a LOT better with my accent in Spanish, my conversational ability. And that's one of the most important parts of learning a language.

I mean, I read books in Spanish. My vocabulary impresses people (I know the word for confetti, three words for darkness - stuff many Chileans don't know), I can explain complicated grammatical concepts. But who cares? My speaking? Forget about it. People here hardly understand me. My friend a Chilean voice coach for drama students. Yes, she spends a lot of time professionally mocking the north American accent, and teaching other people how to mock it. She once told me that the secret to speaking like a Chilean - or any Spanish speaker - is getting rid of the "r".

She didn't say how. But it got me thinking back to all those phonetics classes, then my cheerful revelation about the "r" and the "d".

Well, in their very first lesson, this online Spanish course plows through what it took me a decade to discover. Don't say "R", say "D"! Man, not once did any of my teachers ever explain that to me.

Probably because too many of my classes doted on the dimmer minds: "It's not pronounced mee lamo Chileno no, it's may YAH-mo Chileno." Stuff like that you shouldn't waste your time with. Better, learn Spanish online. Learn to pronounce the r in Spanish. Then go practice with native speakers in your free time. Don't waste your time in a classroom (by the way, the word for "boring" is "aburrido", although that's a double rr which is a trill or "roll", rather than a flap). Go out and speak to people, join Spanish language conversation groups through your school or community center -- but do so after you've learned the basic tools online.

Try it out. Take a couple free Spanish lessons right now to see how you like it. I liked it. Even more important, I was really, really impressed - and that's coming from someone who majored in Language Studies with an emphasis in Spanish!

Of course, if you really want to delve deep into grammar, you should probably take a Spanish class, hire a teacher, take online Spanish lessons at a university or whatever. But I would definitely recommend talking to the teacher beforehand, and students who completed the course. A great way to learn to speak Spanish online with a teacher talking and teaching on line is through these free Spanish lessons. These are good even if you end up taking a university course because you'll probably get more out of your course if you have some background. Take a few online lessons so you're not a total newby when you walk in door. Use this course to stay ahead. So Click Here now to try it for FREE, and start learning Spanish today!

Of course, I respect your decision as a consumer and so I encourage you to find other ways of learning Spanish, perhaps video language learning is the best method. There are numerous learn Spanish DVDs that provide visual, interactive Spanish language instruction that can really immerse you in the language and culture and help you speak Spanish and aid your pronunciation immensely.