Have you ever used the phrase: "I understand it more than I speak it"? or "I can read it but can't really write it"? Well, we just touched upon the four basic skills in Spanish that need to be developed when we learn any language: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Studies have shown this is the actual order in which they are acquired, that's why they are also called LSRW skills in Spanish. Learning Spanish online is not an exception.
Before we go into the specifics of this set of abilities, because we have to look at them like that -as a set- let's take more than a couple of steps back and analyze human communication itself. We, as social beings, have the innate ability to develop different forms of language that help us connect with those around us. These variants include spoken, written, and sign language, but also more abstract kinds like visual language, and the complexity increases if we talk, let's say, about body language.
Starting off from this understanding, we could define language as a system of communication that can involve symbols, non-verbal sounds, or actions; the term should not be limited to a tongue or dialect, which is the stock of available words, sounds, and symbols used by the people of a particular region.
We are born with a clean slate and the capability to comprehend and reproduce the sounds around us. Later in life, we acquire the ability to translate those sounds into the correspondent graphical representations. In other words, as babies, it takes us a couple of months, but we manage to understand the words our parents pronounce, and then we learn to utter them ourselves. Later in life, usually in school, we obtain the tools to read and write. See? Listening, speaking, reading and writing: LSRW skills in Spanish.
Once we are set to learn Spanish online, the process is identical. The steps are in the same order and need to be followed exactly like that. Thankfully, our brain already knows this and prioritizes what needs to be learned first and what can be left for later. Again, take a moment to remember how long it took you to master all four skills of your native language. That is why it's necessary to acquire as many tools as possible to help us with this process. Spanish55 provides you with a series of tips and valuable information that you can use in your daily activities, as well as amazing online professors that can guide you around your own schedule, who use technology and properly designed lesson plans to make sure your language goals are reached. With all of these, it will take no time to become fluent or, better yet, bilingual.
Let's take it one step -or, rather, skill- at a time.
Listening, studies have confirmed, is the first skill in Spanish that we develop. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense for this particular one to come before the rest. This is a passive skill. We begin by consuming Spanish, not producing it.
The best way to take on this task is to immerse ourselves in the target language as much as we can, watch a movie or learning Spanish through song, make it part of our everyday activities and become an active listener. Now, it's imperative that we understand that we are not going to magically absorb the words coming from the speakers, but the sound won't be so strange when our professor brings the topic up during our Skype Spanish lessons
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Speaking is a productive skill in Spanish, which means it's going to take a bit more effort than the previous one. It's scary, we know. There is always that doubt in the back of our heads wondering if what we said is actually what we were trying to, and the stress increases if we are talking to a native speaker. What if we say something wrong and end up offending the person? But, honestly, chances are that you won't. And, if in any case, you do, it's very likely that no offense will be taken!
Recording yourself and listening back is an amazing tool to improve. Granted, nobody likes the sound of their own voice on record, but the more familiar you become with your pronunciation, the easier it will be to recognize and correct your mistakes.
Reading is the other passive skill in Spanish, since it doesn't require our brains to produce, yet it does demand great amounts of reproduction. What does this mean? It's all related to the connection between our eyes and our brain.
Picture the brain as a huge library. In there you can find the images of everything you have ever seen: places, faces, objects, and, yes, written words In Spanish. Our eyes see the different letters strung together forming a word, make said word travel all the way to the specific area in the library containing the written language, and find the right compartment in Spanish, which might take a minute. The more we read, be it books, comics or cereal boxes, the easier it will be for our brain to identify the right route. Soon, the graphic signs will be traveling in an expressway of written language.
Writing could easily be called the hardest skill of the four, mainly because it has so many rules and norms that need to be followed. On top of that, the guidelines vary from language to language, and more often than not, the criteria changes within the language itself depending on the area it resides in. Spanish, for example, has a lot of synonyms, homophones, homonyms, and complex grammar and spelling rules.
