With advanced level Spanish knowledge, you’ll learn how to use the Spanish language more

richly and poetically, forming layered sentence constructions that contain sentences and
phrases embedded inside one another and using relative pronouns like lo que and lo cual
(“that which”).
You’ll also grow your Spanish vocabulary greatly. The types of Spanish vocabulary you’ll learn
in the advanced Spanish path vary, and because there can be so much to learn, you can tailor
your Spanish vocabulary to your interests and fill in the gaps where you want more words. This
could include Spanish for business or the medical profession. Or perhaps you like talking
about sports, the entertainment industry or politics. You can create your own specialized
vocabulary depending on what’s important to you in your learning journey.
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Learn Spanish For Beginners: Basic Spanish Lessons

Spanish Vocabulary

Spanish is a member of the Romance language family, which means that it (along with Italian,
French and Portuguese, among others) derived from Vulgar Latin, the Latin variety spoken
colloquially in the Roman Empire. That means if you know one Romance language (or if you’ve
studied Latin), you’re bound to find plenty of words you recognize across the languages.
English is technically a Germanic language, meaning it shares a common linguistic ancestor
with languages like German and Dutch. But over centuries English has adopted so many words
from Latin and languages like French that derived from Latin that you’ll find countless
cognates, or words that sound the same and have the same meaning across both languages,
in both Spanish and English. You probably don’t need to consult a dictionary to know the
English translations of words like el animal, la celebración or público.
You might be surprised to learn that the second largest influence on Spanish vocabulary after
Latin comes from Arabic. Many nouns beginning with al- in Spanish, like la almohada (“the
pillow”), la alfombra (“the rug”), or el algodón (“the cotton”) trace their etymological origins
back to Arabic — a reflection of the Moors’ conquest of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th
century. In fact, there are about 4,000 modern Spanish words that come from Arabic,
evidence of a lasting legacy imprinted on the language today from hundreds of years ago in
history.

Spanish Pronunciation And Tips How To Improve

Spanish pronunciation can be a bit tricky for beginner Spanish learners, but with enough
practice, it’s fairly straightforward. Many of the same sounds exist in English and Spanish, with
a few exceptions. One of the most notable unfamiliar sounds is the double-r (doble erre) or rr
sound, which is a “rolling” sound made with the tongue that appears in words like arriba (“up”
or “above”) and correo (“mail”). You also roll the r when it’s at the beginning of a word like rojo
(“red”) or after the n sound like in sonrisa (“smile”). To improve your Spanish pronunciation of
the rr sound, practice flapping your tongue against the roof of your mouth and running it
back along your palate as you force air outwards. It should sound like the purr of a cat!
 

8 Spanish Words You'll Struggle To Pronounce (If Yo…

Yo…
 
Another confusing sound for English speakers learning Spanish is the j sound, which sounds
like a throatier English h (as in “hand”) and appears in words like jardín (“garden”) and rojo
(“red”). What makes it all the more confusing is that the letter h — in words like hotel (“hotel”)
and hombre (“man”) — isn’t pronounced at all!
Another notoriously troublesome letter-sound pairing is the double-l or ll sound, found in
words like llamar (“to call”) and amarillo (“yellow”). This combination is typically pronounced as
the English y sound (like in “yes”), though most Spanish speakers in Argentina would
pronounce it as the sh sound in “sheep.” Most people in Spain even pronounce it like the
English j sound, like in “jump.”

If you see an accent mark over a vowel in Spanish, don’t fret; it only means that you emphasize
or stress that specific syllable. So the word algodón (“cotton”) is pronounced al-go-DOHN.
Another mark you’ll see in Spanish is the squiggly tilde over the letter ñ in words like año
(“year”). This sound is a combination of the English n and y sounds, giving us ahn-yo.

The good thing about Spanish pronunciation and the Spanish alphabet is that each letter
typically only has one or two sounds associated with it, and these sounds stay consistent
across all the words in the Spanish language. That means it’s very easy to read a Spanish word
and know how it’s pronounced on your first try. In that sense, it’s remarkably easier to master
Spanish pronunciation than it is to grasp that of English, in which many words look nothing
like they’re spelled (think about how a non-English speaker might struggle with words like
“cough,” “colonel” and “knight”).

Don’t worry if you can’t master a typical Spanish accent or Spanish pronunciation right away;
it takes time and practice! The best way to remember these rules is just to practice over and
over, especially by reading texts out loud. Watching Spanish TV and movies or listening to
Spanish podcasts, radio and film can certainly help you master Spanish pronunciation and
sound like a native Spanish speaker.

Basic Spanish Phrases For Conversational Spanish

To speak Spanish like a native speaker, there are certain must-know expressions that will help
you navigate your way through a conversation.
The best place to start, of course, is with “hello”! There are many common greetings in
Spanish to choose from, the most popular of which include buenos días (“good morning,” or
literally “good days”), or if it’s later in the day, buenas tardes (“good afternoon”) or buenas
noches (“good evening” or “good night”). And of course, in casual situations there’s always the
classic hola!
You’ll get familiar with basic Spanish phrases like ¿Cómo estás? (“How are you?”) or ¿Cómo
está usted? if you’re speaking to someone more formally. Estoy bien means “I’m doing well,”