How to learn Spanish when moving to Spain: Taking the first steps

Learning the main national language is essential when you move to another country, but you'll find plenty of opportunities to build your skills and confidence once you're in Spain. You won't have difficulty finding a language school, an independent course or a private tutor – just ask around. And if the course isn't right for you, there are lots of others you can try until you feel comfortable.

Here are some tips to help you on your way.

What level of Spanish do I need for everyday life in Spain?

You should aim at an absolute minimum of A2 level (strong elementary) before moving to Spain, and arrange for classes or other learning methods once you arrive. Eventually, you should be aiming for a good B1 (pre-intermediate) or a B2 (upper intermediate) standard of Spanish, although the higher the better.

Which is better: Lessons with a native Spanish-speaker, or with a teacher from my home country?

The option that's 'better' is to take lessons from someone whose teaching methods you find work best for you as an individual, although whether your teacher is a native speaker of Spanish, or of your own language but fluent in Spanish, is always open for debate.

Beyond approximately level B1, it is advisable to opt for a mother-tongue Spanish-speaker, since accent, pronunciation, everyday or complex expressions may be more authentic. But then, a foreigner who has learnt Spanish to an extremely proficient level, ideally if they've grown up in a Spanish-speaking country, may be just as suitable.

For complete beginners to pre-intermediate levels, some learners prefer teachers they share a native language or home country with. This is because they are more likely to be 'in touch with' specific cultural aspects that affect their students, such as their education style. Also, they will have been in exactly the same position as you many years ago, so they can use their own experiences of learning Spanish to guide you.

Learning methods: Finding your comfort zone

Some learners find private lessons help them progress quicker, and are less intimidating than their first steps being witnessed by a group of people. This may be the case if you have any type of social anxiety. But group lessons can also be a way of finding support from others in your situation, and making new friends.

If any type of face-to-face learning overwhelms you, then you could enrol on an online course, or use 'teach yourself kits' – books with CDs or internet-based audio material. A quick search online will show you some of the most effective internet-based courses for native speakers of your own language. You can use dictionary and grammar sites, including verb tables, such as wordreference.com. Or if you're not confident using the internet, buy a good bilingual dictionary and grammar guide. Practise writing letters to yourself, or short essays, and talk along with the audio supports. Then, when you begin to gain confidence, try out some simple sentences in public.

You might find you aren't comfortable taking lessons in person, but are more confident on the telephone. Ask people you know to recommend a private tutor, and find out whether they can give you occasional telephone support when you run into difficulties or need to check you are on the right track.

Overcoming challenges when you start learning Spanish

It won't all go perfectly once you start learning Spanish. But the persistence and effort you need to put in is a small price to pay in exchange for a bright new future in Spain. Challenges will crop up, but they can be overcome. Here are some of the common ones:

Listening

• You will probably find that, when someone speaks to you in Spanish in real life, you don't understand a word at first. That's normal, and will improve once your ear becomes 'trained' to the sound of Spanish. You can ask the person to speak more slowly or, if it is a very short exchange, write down what they said. At home, try putting on Spanish films or TV shows with the subtitles on in Spanish, so you learn to associate what you read with what you hear.
• You might also find that people do not always say exactly what you expect them to, or what you have learnt in class. Maybe you've learnt to say "Me llamo..." for "My name is..." only to hear someone in the street say, "Mi nombre es..."

  Remember, you're learning a language, not memorising a script. Think of how many different ways your own language has of saying the same thing. Start by learning just one way of saying something, that you feel comfortable with, but keep a note of new ways you hear, for future reference.

• If you live in a region with a co-official language, such as Galicia, the Basque Country, the east coast or the Balearic Islands, you may not hear much Spanish at all. This may make you wonder whether you should learn the co-official language instead.

  Castilian Spanish (the Spanish of Spain) is universally understood in these regions. Also, utility companies are nationally-based, so they won't speak co-official languages, and the police often don't, either, as they are posted all over the country. So you should still learn Spanish, but be open to 'picking up' words and phrases in the regional language. Later, you might decide it would help you to learn the co-official language in addition, but it may not be necessary for everyday communication.

Speaking

If you live in a highly-cosmopolitan area, such as an urbanisation where everyone's an expatriate, you may find you never get to practise speaking. You could try some of the following:

• Use the Spanish word for everyday items as much as possible when you're at home. If you live with a partner or spouse, you could try saying coche, pan, leche, gasolina, for 'car', 'bread', 'milk', 'petrol', and so on. If you live on your own, talk to yourself or your pets. You can even stick labels on items in your home with their Spanish names on.
• Arrange group meetings with other expatriates who are learning, and practise with each other. When you all start to feel confident, perhaps organise a day out to a more 'traditionally-Spanish' area, so you can practise in real life.
• Read absolutely everything you find, however simple. Leaflets, information boards, signs, or adverts. This will help you start to 'think in Spanish' and get used to the sounds of the words. Why not try reading thinkSPAIN in Spanish? Start with simpler texts, like descriptions of homes for sale in Spanish. You could then try reading our articles on moving to and living in Spain, but in Spanish.
• Once you reach a good B1 level, you can practise talking back to the TV or radio, or sing along with music whilst reading the lyrics. It all helps improve pronunciation and builds up the habit of using the language.
• Join a language exchange scheme, or intercambio. This involves 'pairing up' with a Spanish-speaker who wants to learn your own language, so you can practise together. If you rarely meet anyone who's Spanish, another expatriate who is fluent in Spanish could well fit the bill.

One of the most common challenges for new learners when speaking Spanish in real life is their fear of making mistakes, 'embarrassing themselves' or 'looking silly'. Don't worry about that - because you will! And it's actually a good thing, for the following reasons:

• If you make a mistake, the person you're speaking to may correct you. If they do, it's because they want to help, not to criticise. Think of it as a 'free lesson', and say ¡muchas gracias!
• Everyone who's ever learnt a language from the beginning has made at least one 'embarrassing' or 'amusing' mistake. Once you're a competent Spanish-speaker, you'll be able to reassure new learners that even 'experts' commit memorable errors, and they're not alone.
• Making a mistake that's so 'amusing' it sparks spontaneous laughter means you'll never forget the correct way to say what you were trying to say. And what better way to break the ice with new people than to have a laugh with them?

Don't worry about inadvertently offending someone if you make a mistake while speaking to them. They'll be able to tell by your accent and speed of speech that you're just learning, and didn't mean it! And the important thing is that you do, in fact, speak, even if you get it wrong. Acquiring the habit of speaking means your confidence and fluency will grow.

What can we take away from all this?

• Learning any language is just about being able to talk to people. It's about exchanging important information, and getting to know who someone really is.
• Language-learning is not about memorising facts and figures; it's about acquiring a skill. You might like to think of it as learning a practice, such as driving, cooking or gardening. These skills, or practices, eventually become habit, so you no longer need to think about them when you do them, let alone try to remember anything.
• Anyone, except those with severe cognitive impairments, is capable of learning a language if they have the right resources, a good teacher, or both. It doesn't involve any special level of talent or intelligence.
• Language-learning takes a long time, and lots of repetition. It doesn't matter if it takes you longer than other people; what matters is that you keep doing the same thing again and again, as often as possible, until you've mastered it.
• Everyone who speaks a non-native language fluently has had to learn it from the beginning. Even those whose Spanish is faultless and spontaneous have been where you are now. Many of them may have taken far longer than you to get to that level.
• And, naturally, don't give up, or it's a waste of the work you've already put in.
• The hurdles you may face along the way are unlikely to be unique to you, and mostly have solutions. Look for support among other learners - ideally those with a higher level of Spanish than yours - or among expatriates who are already fluent in Spanish. They will be able to offer you the benefit of their own experience.

In the meantime, we'll wish you ¡Buena suerte! ('Good luck'!)