Cheap Spanish Lessons- Create your Spanish immersion Free

The following tips will help you create your own Spanish immersion program at home. Use your neighborhood and convert your living space into a cheap Spanish lesson learning lab! Going to Costa Rica or finding an expensive Spanish immersion program in Medellin might be awesome but most don’t have the time and the money!

1. Change your cell phone, computer and all electronic devices you use on a daily basis to Spanish!

Total exposure time=about 1 hr Total cost=$0

Tip one  Make Spanish your primary language for all of your devices.

How to change your Android device language to Spanish

Simple steps to try here for Android

Steps for Iphone 7 here 

**If you have other devices don’t worry look it up on YouTube or try the steps in either videos above- most devices behave similarly. 

You may not know the meanings of the words you are reading on the screen; however, your brain has seen the same prompts in English numerous times! Your brain will naturally “guess” what the prompts mean. Patience required! 🙂

Since you have seen the same prompts in English your subconscious mind will remember. Our brain learns in a multi dimensional way so words are one small way we understand our environment. We use visual, auditory, sense of smell, touch, emotions etc… to learn. Words point to our reality which is why translating words from Spanish to English is usually not helpful.

Our brain needs sensory data in order to make sense of words and our environment! This is how you get permanent results so give your brain as many visuals as you can. Sensory data sticks to words and hence how we remember words not the other way around!

Tip 2. Pick Spanish when using an ATM

Total exposure time=10 to 15 minutes Total cost=$0

Using the environment you live in is the best cheapest Spanish lesson you can ever have! Remember you have used ATMs so many times that if you were to pick Japanese you would still be able to figure out what the buttons mean. Due to there placement and color.

You are using muscle memory and your brain is using memory files from previous ATM visits. This is so clever because you are using past memories as a foundation for learning new words! You are recycling what you already know and adding just one new thing to it! Spanish in Atlanta uses this same strategy in all of the beginner Spanish classes we teach!

Sounds crazy right? Well, if you let your brain work, you would be surprised how much it does for you without you asking it to! It has an automatic system that is triggered when it is presented with certain challenges!

Tip 3. Download Spanish podcasts & Program Spanish Radio Stations in your car

Total exposure time= 45 to 90 minutes Total cost=$0

Create your Spanish immersion program by controlling what you hear. Train your ear by just listening to Spanish. Listen to sounds, the music the words create without thinking about the meaning of the words! Spanish in Atlanta has short stories you can use to develop your Spanish auditory comprehension skills. 

Don’t try to understand what the words mean or what is being discussed! Your job is not to focus on the words but the sounds! WATCH: Spanish in Atlanta’s free Spanish practice exercises– auditory comprehension video

If you are musically inclined, your brain will start to focus on the sounds. Your brain will start to sort out the sounds and rhythm of the language naturally. This will help you learn Spanish faster!

Eventually your brain will notice the phonetic pattern. It recognizes familiar rhythmic patterns and identifies repetitive phonetic combinations. This makes it much easier for you to recreate these sounds when speaking the language. Helps with reading and auditory comp. as well!

 

Spanish Stories & Tales List:  

I did not listen to all of these from beginning to end so can’t make any guarantees.

• Cinderella in Spanish 14mins 45 seconds
• Little Red Riding Hood in Spanish 16 mins 35 seconds
• Pinocchio in Spanish 15mins 31 seconds
• CNN in Spanish numerous videos
• Podcast about Organic food in Spanish 47 minutes

After approximately 2 weeks- 2 months of listening to Spanish, your brain will have successfully downloaded the phonetic structure! All naturally without much effort! You should listen to Spanish everyday for at least 2 hours.

Spanish vowels are the most important sounds in the Spanish language. Learn Spanish vowels & pronunciation rules in this blog post with audio files!

Important Summary: -Brain sees a predictable sound pattern – Sound memory -Phonetic structure

These are keywords/buzz words that are instantly easy to pick up on. These words are similar to words you already know in English so the Spanish version will be easy to memorize. You will also be able to follow the Spanish podcast and get the gist of it!

Follow these steps:

• Download a Spanish podcast that focuses on a topic you enjoy.
• Pick up on key words/buzz words used in the podcast.
• Listen while you are driving, exercising, cooking etc..
• Get the general idea of what’s being discussed in podcast
• Make a voc. list with all the keywords learned in podcast.

List of Atlanta Spanish Radio Stations:

• 102.3 WLKQ La Raza FM
• 87.7 WTBS regional Mexican FM
• 610 WPLO La Bonita Spanish AM
• 1080 WFTD Spanish Radio La Ley AM
• 1460 WXEM La Favorita (may be off air)AM

Tip 4. When you turn on your T.V. select the SAP option

Total exposure time =30 mins- 2 hours Total cost: $0

Select Spanish audio for the program you want to watch. This is a very good exercise! I suggest you do this with a favorite program or movie you have seen many times. Your brain will remember the English version of the program or movie.

This will help you naturally understand what the Spanish version of the same program or movie is.  It is free Spanish practice with minimal effort & one simple way to construct your Spanish immersion program at home!

If you have direct tv you can press the green button on your remote and bam! Your tv show is now in Spanish! Not all shows or channels are available in Spanish audio but quite a number of them are.

Ex. One of my favorite shows “How I met your mother,” “Reba” and even “Frazier” are available in Spanish! 🙂 And yes, even watching cartoons in Spanish- all in the name of improvement in Spanish!  Get more out of the tv programming you pay for already!

Doing this will help you develop your ear and some vocabulary as well! You can use your cable, dish or DVDs—don’t buy extra stuff!

Most DVDs have Spanish language audio options and even subtitles but first use the Spanish audio option without the subtitles. WATCH: Spanish in Atlanta’s  free Spanish lessons & auditory exercises for practice!

List of Movies in Spanish:

•  Perdidos en Alaska drama movie 1 hour 34 minutes
• Una Sorpresa Real un Drama 1 hour 25 mins
• Mi Loca Familia Sigourney Weaver & Ray Liotta Comedia 1 hour 37 mins
• El Camino del Luchador drama 1 hour 35 mins.

These are just a couple of examples but there are so many more movies you can watch!! Keep in mind the movies above are for mature audiences. Use your favorite video/ movie streaming service and select Spanish language. You will be able to pick movies that are originally in the Spanish language or even pick English movies but change the audio to Spanish! Do not use subtitles because you will be too preoccupied with reading Spanish then listening to Spanish!

Tip 5. Do your grocery shopping at a Spanish supermarket!

Total time spent= 90 minutes Total cost=depends $0-$50

You have to go food shopping anyways so why not go to your local Spanish supermarket. People go to big supermarket chains quite often. Why not try a Spanish shop!

Google them. I live in East Cobb Marietta so I may not have the 411 in the area you live in.

These Spanish shops usually have bi-lingual cashiers etc… but mainly they speak Spanish and a little English. This will force you to use the Spanish you know to communicate!

A lot of the items will sometimes be in Spanish, the fruits and vegetables, the directions etc… so this will be good for you to experience and see! Watch our Spanish food vocabulary video to learn some food vocabulary.

Again, I can only speak for the places I know of here in Georgia, and I am not guaranteeing that you will find an all Spanish experience. There is a good chance though so try 🙂 Want more tips on how to create your Spanish immersion free? Comment below!

Helpful Spanish Tools & Websites

1. https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/  you can read about current events in Spanish. Watch Spanish news videos & learn a lot of  good vocabulary because the Spanish news you will be watching is the same one you have already watched in English. This will give you a great advantage!
2. www.wordreference.com an excellent resource for verb conjugations, Spanish word lookups, Spanish dictionary & a forum of Spanish native speakers from around the world you can ask how to say things in Spanish and read discussion threads that are very helpful!
3.   www.spanishdict.com  a very complete & helpful Spanish website. I especially love their Spanish quizzes. These Spanish quizzes are usually free & have answer keys.

TIP #6 Use your GPS with Spanish Audio

This is perfect especially, if you use it to go to places you already know how to get to! Listen to the Spanish audio carefully. You will hear Izquierda, Derecha, gire, haga etc…. a lot! Each time you turn left or right, you will hear the Spanish words for the directions. This will help you a lot, when you travel and need help getting to unfamiliar places or if you need to give directions. Your body will remember what it feels like to turn left and turn right.

You can even use your gps in your home! I used google maps one time and forgot to exit out of it. When I went to my bathroom I jumped, when I heard the gps voice telling me to turn right! LOL 

 

Bonus Tips!

Use our Free Spanish lessons page & free Spanish blog reference

Our Spanish blog has free Spanish resources you can use, audio files, free charts & insightful tips! Have questions, comment below!

 

Interested in getting some Spanish tutoring help, Spanish classes for adults, private Spanish instruction or learn about our Spanish workbooks, Spanish short story exercises etc…? Schedule a FREE Spanish assessment with our professional language instructor! We can give you all the answers you need to make the best decision and work with one of the best Spanish language schools in the USA.