Ich Sprechen Deutsch!

Truth is, I am horrible at speaking Spanish! In High School I was one of those students that took 2 years of German, not Spanish...And when I was putting my Papers in for my mission, I really wanted to speak a foreign language. Any Foreign Language but Spanish that is.

Yes, I see the Irony of me being called to Mexico! Haha, so funny...but to get to the point of my post, how do you prepare to speak a language you don't know? Do you just wait until the MTC to start?

For me, I feel like it would be a really good idea to start learning Spanish (or I guess any language) before I have to report to the MTC so I am not totally overwhelmed with it. Here are a few things I have been doing to help me learn Spanish (feel free to use with any other language):

1. Dictionary- I bought a Spanish-English Dictionary and I have been picking one word out of it each day. I look up how to pronounce it (google it, there are plenty of places that will show you how to sound it out), I say it and write it throughout the day. And when I feel like I have it down, I cross it out in my dictionary. This really helps build vocabulary, although people may look at you funny when you randomly say Spanish words out loud to yourself ;)

2. Duolingo- Okay, this App is pretty awesome and unlike other language apps its free and not that boring. I try using Duolingo at least three times a week for about an hour. It helps so much with learning the basics of a language (that's right its not just spanish!). If your trying to learn another language, I would definetly check it out!

3. A,B,C- Just like we learned in Daycare, learn the ABC's! Different languages have different sounds, once you get the sounds down (especially your vowels) pronouncing words becomes aloooooooooooot easier.

4.Sit in on a Class- So the college started last month, meaning all the language classes started! And it hit me, two weeks into the semester, Duh! I can sit in on the Beginning Spanish class! Truth be told, the college does not care if you sit in on their classes (as long as your not causing trouble!). I've been sitting in on a Spanish beginning class for three weeks now. I let the professor know that I wasn't an enrolled student and that I was learning for my mission, and they were actually happy about it! And the professor has also helped me out quite a bit and lets me take some of the quizzes just for practice (not tests though...). So if you have a local university, talk with one of the Professors about just sitting in on their class, it can really benefit you! :)

So far these are all the things I have tried for learning Spanish and they have all helped me tremendously! I would definitely try them! :)