I have a degree in Spanish but that doesn’t mean I know all there is to know about speaking, reading or understanding Spanish. Not even close! I graduated in 1982 and I did not get a job utilizing my Spanish. For our trip in 2010(I have various posts here about that trip, here’s a sample about Barcelona), I wanted to be sure that I could guide my family around Spain. And since I had not used my Spanish in a long while, I practiced and practiced by reading all kinds of things in Spanish and having a few pen pals in Spain who were learning English. We would write in both English and Spanish and then correct each other’s errors. In that process, I collected a lot of resources on learning Spanish. I thought it would be nice to have all these resources in one spot. So, here we go!
- I never go anywhere without a good dictionary. Here’s one more for translation which is the same site I linked for verb conjugation and I found the translation page later on.
- Verb conjugation made easy
- I also have the Bravolol app on my phone. They have a phrasebook app as well.
- 5 Steps to Understanding Por vs. Para – this has always been an issue for me!
Notes in Spanish
I found this site years ago and joined their forum(the forum is no longer active but one can still view the posts there). It was created by a couple who live in Madrid, Ben and Marina. I found a lot of great information as well as fun videos to watch to continue learning Spanish. They do a great job and I have learned a great deal. Here are some links with helpful learning advice from their forum and podcasts(NOTE: some of these links do not work. I’m working on finding the new links or comparable replacements):
- Best way to improve listening skills
- Learning Spanish by reading literature in Spanish
- Another thread with book recommendations
- Some free Spanish learning reports
- Many Ben and Marina videos
- Notes in Spanish blog
Other sites
- Listen to radio broadcasts from Spain – there is also an app for your phone and I’ve been listening that way as well.
- Type Spanish accents – if you can’t figure out how to do the character map on your computer, this is a handy tool for typing Spanish accents and tildes.
- Spanish language and culture – another site with good learning activities
- Spanish idioms
- A site with audio and transcripts
- Español con Juan Youtube channel. I found his channel via another channel on Youtube and began watching his videos. It looks like he also has classes you can take. I haven’t checked them out so know nothing about them, however, I can tell you he is a great teacher! I’ve learned new words from watching his videos so I’d guess his classes are good as well. He is very easy to understand and enunciates words so clearly, at least for me. He also has a free course that he offers.
As I find more I will update this page. If anyone reading this has other sites they visit that they like and that have helped you, feel free to leave a comment and I will update this page. Thanks! And happy learning :)
travels with toby 
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I have a degree in Italian. We have to speak French, living in Quebec. Spanish is way up on my list of things to do if I can ever find the time to dedicate myself to learning another language. You are so kind to share all your sources. So glad you stopped by Jittery and I got a peek into your world!
it was that yummy recipe!! I need to save it now so that I don’t forget about it. saw it this morning and promptly forgot all about it until you stopped by. so thanks for stopping by to remind me where I saw you :) Glad you enjoyed your peek into my world.
What a fantastic list! I’ll be coming back here for sure! Saludos. :-)
Terrific! I’m glad you like it and find it useful.
Thanks for this Toby. I took 3 years of Spanish in HS and 1 on college. I never thought I would use it, but later I visited Mexico a few times to set up free medical clinics for poor folk, and was the evangelist for a 3 week tent preaching gig that resulted in a church plant in Mazatlan. I later went to language school there for a month where none of the teachers spoke English. There’s no substitute for total immersion! Mexicans were so gracious and patient with me, and we laughed frequently together at my many mistakes. Thanks for listing all the resources. I’ve been thinking lately about getting back into it. I hope to see you next summer, and maybe I can practice!
Oh gosh, I hope all the links still work as I wrote this many years ago. It’s one thing about having a blog that annoys me: having to make sure all the links work. But yea, we can practice! Thanks for your comment 👍
Shoot, I meant to reply to other parts of your note. Namely your comment about Mexicans being gracious and patient. Spanish people are the same way. The LOVE it when you try to speak their language! And yes, yes, yes to total immersion! That’s one big reason I did my junior year of college in Spain 👍