How to Keep Your Spanish Skills Sharp

Even if you are an advanced or proficient Spanish speaker, you may find that your Spanish skills start to slip after a while if you don’t live in a Spanish-speaking country and don’t have the opportunity to speak Spanish on a regular basis. Naturally, you don’t want your skills to erode, especially after putting in so much time and effort to learn the language in the first place.

So how can you keep your Spanish skills sharp with minimal effort and minimal time commitment? Here are a few methods I use:

1) Read a book. I usually have a Spanish novel on the go. It’s an easy, passive way to keep Spanish active in your brain. I like mystery and police novels. Right now I’m reading Cazador de Almas by Alex Kava.

2) Subscribe to a Spanish magazine. Getting a magazine such as People en EspaƱol delivered to you each month serves as an automated reminder to keep up your Spanish.

3) Change your start page. I like to set the start page on my web browser to a Spanish site. I like to read the latest news from Buenos Aires so I set it to Clarin. Sometimes I change it to Esmas.

4) Help a friend learn Spanish. There’s a good chance you know someone who is learning Spanish. Offer to help them study. Even if they are beginners it will help you keep Spanish at the front of your mind.

5) Listen to Latin music. This has to be the easiest way to keep Spanish words and phrases running through your head. Let me suggest one song: Por Un Segundo by Aventura. Fantastic lyrics.

How do you keep your Spanish skills sharp? Let me know. Write a comment below.

Author: Cacho

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