Guide To The Spanish Language
An introduction to Spanish without the grammar - A new and fresh perspective with some interesting items on
language and the similarities between Spanish and English
The art of memory known as Loci or Mnemotechnics is a technique for remembering that has been practiced since ancient Greek and Roman times.
It is a kind of mnemonic link system based on places (Latin word loci, or locations). Imagine walking through a building and associating items you can
vividly see inside the building with words, this is grouping them together. They can then be recalled from memory by closing your eyes and imagining walking through the same building and viewing the same objects.
Mnemonics; which is using words linked to strong, vibrant images is also a very valuable tool for remembering vocabulary. The more absurd the image
the more chance you have of remembering it. As an example let’s consider the Spanish word for CAT, which is Gato, now picture in your mind TOP CAT
from the 1960’s TV cartoon show; remember officer Charlie Dibble? Well
picture Top Cat down an alleyway getting stuck into a huge white sponge cake (GATEAU) covered in icing and cream which has been dumped beside
the dustbins, he turns and looks up at you and is a comical sight with cream covering his whiskers, nose and chin. Now fix that imagine in your mind and
when anyone asks you what is the Spanish word for CAT you can recall this image and picture Top Cat with GATEAU smudged all over his face. The
word GATEAU will remind you of GATO. Hey presto you will always remember the Spanish word for CAT.
Some useful tips for remembering your vocabulary list, use colour, lots of colour as it creates a bigger impression on your memory, use vivid and
absurd images, use mnemonics and mnemotechnics. Use thick coloured pencils to write the words down by hand on paper.
Another great tip is to use memory cards, buy some blank stationery/index cards about the size of your hand. Write in bold felt tip pen on one side of the
card a word in English and on the reverse side the equivalent word in Spanish. Get your partner to help you by having regular tests on your memory
cards. Get your partner to hold the card up so they can show you only one
side of the card and they can see the reverse side, then you have to tell them what’s on their side of the card.
Sing in Spanish. Group together Spanish words that have similar or rhythmic sounds then sing them out loud, preferably in private, maybe in the car as you
drive along; remember language is musical.
We have discussed some interesting aspects of language, well I hope you have found it interesting, we now need to consider the details of our plan to
learn Spanish and prepare to start work.
In summary I am suggesting that:
1. We forget about grammar (until we have grasped the basics)
2. We learn by heart the top 200 high frequency words – no shortcuts here
3. We then learn the next group of 500 words most commonly used – not by heart but become very familiar with them
4. We learn the top 100 basic phrases, clichés and metaphors
5. We learn the most common Spanish English cognates
6. We learn the shortcuts for changing many English words into Spanish words
7. We learn the shortcuts for changing some useful Spanish words into other Spanish words
8. We learn the critical elements of pronunciation – we sing the language
9. We use good learning techniques – mnemonics - memory cards - colour
10. We start using the language as soon as possible and we learn to “hear the language”– even if we make mistakes
Work Smart
If you were to analyse an everyday passage of Spanish text or record a typical Spanish conversation you would find that many words are used over
and over again. These high frequency words will be the core of our vocabulary. If we want to speak Spanish then we have to know something
about these high frequency words, we have to be familiar with them. We do not have to
analyse the grammatical structure but we do have to be familiar
with the sound, pronunciation and meaning of these key words. The good news is we have compiled this list for you so you just have to get to know
them.
