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Spanish Listening | Rosetta Stone®

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Listening in Spanish

Studying Spanish certainly helps you learn the language, but listening to Spanish is—and will always be—the crucial element in making it part of your life. What’s great about listening is that it can be a passive activity. Why not simply listen to Spanish radio or online streaming services? You’ll be amazed at how it helps advance your pronunciation and ability to separate words, as well as understand those that are spoken quickly.

Then there are movies. Whether originally produced in Spanish or those that are captioned in Spanish, they can be another entertaining way to pick up on the nuances of the language. In fact, among the most frequently suggested techniques for learning a new language quickly is to rewatch movies and TV shows you already know, overdubbed in Spanish. Because the plots and characters are already familiar, you can focus on the language and much more easily connect with what the characters are expressing in any given scene.

Getting comfortable with Spanish can take some time. But remember, you don’t have to tackle it all at once. As you move forward on your language journey, you’ll learn to distinguish the exact meaning of words and phrases in all types of contexts.

Learn Spanish Words and Phrases

When you start your language journey, there are some basic building blocks that are essential. These are Spanish words and phrases such as who, what, when, where, why, yes, no, please, and more. Mastering these basics can put you on the path to having everyday conversations in Spanish. Here’s a more complete list of the basic words and phrases:

¿Quién? / Who?

¿Qué? / What?

¿Por qué? / Why?

¿Dónde? / Where?

Hola / Hello

Sí / Yes

No / No

Me gusta / I like

No me gusta / I don’t like

Adiós / Goodbye

Por favor / Please

Gracias / Thank you

Lo siento / Sorry

Salud / Bless you

And here’s the good news: if you already speak another major European language, learning Spanish should go smoothly. Because English, just as Italian and French, has deep roots in Latin, and these languages all share thousands of words with contemporary Spanish. These shared words are called cognates and have significant similarities in spelling and/or pronunciation. That’s why you’ll notice that there are many English words and phrases like the word “generosity” that sound remarkably similar in French (générosité), Italian (generosità), and Spanish (generosidad).

To fine tune your pronunciation, you’ll want immediate feedback on your efforts. Rosetta Stone helps you dial in your pronunciation with our TruAccent™ speech-recognition engine. TruAccent compares your voice to native and non-native speakers—so you get the feedback you need for the most accurate pronunciation. It’s also adjustable, which allows you to tweak your accent as needed. TruAccent is a powerful tool for helping you learn and speak the Spanish language.

After you have learned to pronounce basic words and short phrases, it’s a natural transition to move to the longer phrases that make up so much of everyday conversation. Rosetta Stone’s short, 10-minute lessons are built in just this way—first teaching the basics, then tackling the longer phrases. This approach helps you acquire the skills to speak Spanish with confidence.

Try Our Award-Winning App

Surround yourself with Spanish (Latin America) whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app.

Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation.

The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.

Spanish (Latin America)