07 Aug Ideas how you could do Spanish language immersion at home

Learning a new language is an activity that requires effort, dedication and discipline. Although there are different methods for learning the Spanish language, most experts agree that Spanish language immersion is one of the best ways.

However, since this involves traveling to surround yourself with people who speak this language, those who cannot travel may become discouraged and give up.

The immersion method holds that you must immerse yourself in the language you will be learning, in this case, Spanish. Whether you are practicing your lessons, or relaxing at home, you should do as much as possible in Spanish.

Although certainly the easiest way to achieve full immersion is to study or live abroad, it is possible to do a Spanish language immersion at home, it only takes a little effort.

How do you create a Spanish immersion environment at home?

Living abroad, you are forced to communicate in the language you want to learn in order to buy your groceries or talk to your neighbors. This helps you learn and improve your Spanish faster.

However, since you do not have the possibility to travel, resorting to the alternative at home can be a bigger effort. But, it is important to know that it is not impossible to achieve.

There are certain recommendations that you can follow to improve your Spanish from home. All you need is a lot of dedication and effort to create your immersion bubble.

You will have to dedicate an incredible amount of time to your learning process, however, the results will be worth it because you will be able to speak Spanish in a short time. Some of these recommendations are:

1. Use your devices. Today, we are in the digital age. Many of us spend an enormous amount of time using our phones, computers and tablets.Because of this, it is advisable that you change the league of your devices.

   Just go to the settings and change the language of your device to Spanish, you should also change the language of your browsers and applications.

   This way, you will learn new words and be exposed to the language constantly.

2. Use a monolingual dictionary. If you’ve been practicing your lessons using a bilingual dictionary (English-Spanish; French-Spanish; Italian-Spanish), it’s time to switch to a monolingual dictionary.This is the type of dictionary that native speakers of the language use to look up definitions of words.  Since, your goal is to surround yourself with Spanish as much as possible, this is a great option to achieve it.You may find it a bit complicated at first, because the definitions may be mined from complex words.   However, in a short period of time, you will find it easier and easier to expand your vocabulary.
3. Create an area that is only in Spanish. The idea is that you are completely surrounded by this language to stimulate your learning. But, if you are overwhelmed by the idea of being completely surrounded by Spanish, you can designate a space or area in your home dedicated to this.You can also choose to designate a time of day to devote to Spanish immersion, rather than selecting a physical space. Keep in mind that the more time and space you spend on Spanish, the more effective the process will be.Fill your home with books, movies and music in Spanish and spend at least two hours a day practicing the language. It will be a little difficult at first, but you will get used to it.
4. Read in Spanish. If you are the type of person who picks up a book or magazine in your spare time, then you need to start reading in Spanish. Whether you exchange the books you have at home for the Spanish version, or start acquiring new books in this language.It doesn’t matter if you buy these books in physical or electronic form, the important thing is that you start reading in Spanish to expand your vocabulary and improve your level of understanding of the language.It is recommended that you start this process with children’s books, as well as successful novels that you have already read in your native language. Also, subscribe to Spanish language magazines and newspapers, the more exposure you have to this language, the faster you will succeed in learning it.
5. Turn off the subtitles. Are you a movie fan? You can also use the movies to improve your Spanish. All you have to do is change the language of the movies to Spanish and turn off the subtitles in your native language.You can choose to watch any movie in Spanish, using the Spanish subtitles, or if you prefer, turn them off completely. This will prepare you to understand real-world conversations and start processing spoken Spanish more effectively.
6. Learn with your friends. Learning a new language is always more fun if it is done with friends. You can start the Spanish immersion process with someone who also wants to learn the language, or you can practice what you are learning with a Spanish speaking friend.If you don’t have any friends who speak this language or are studying it, don’t worry, there are online exchange programs where you can get in touch with native speakers of the language.You can even use online tutors to help you complement your learning process. There are forums dedicated to helping connect people who want to practice a language they are learning. Just browse through the many options you’ll find online.
7. Take notes in Spanish. It is normal to find ourselves taking notes during the day, either on our mobile phone or with pen and paper. Instead of taking these notes in your native language, you should start writing them in Spanish.It doesn’t matter if it’s your grocery list, an event you don’t want to forget or notes on any topic, do it in Spanish. You can find the words you don’t know in the monolingual dictionary and you will gradually learn new words.This will be the best possible complement to your reading and speaking practice. You don’t have to write long texts in another language to make the learning process effective.
8. Label everything in your home. This is another quite fun and effective method to learn more words in Spanish. All you have to do is make a couple of notes and paste them all over your house.Label all the appliances, furniture and objects you have in each room with their names in Spanish.   This way, you will get used to these words and they will be easier to remember.  You can also paste a vocabulary list wherever you like to study it for a few minutes each day.You can also leave random words in different places in your house, this will help you expand your vocabulary and continue practicing daily, even without realizing it.
9. Listen to everything in Spanish. This is another step in the process of immersing yourself in Spanish at home that will be quite useful. Listening to Spanish audios will allow you to improve your level in the language even without realizing it, because you will be exposed to it daily.Whether you play music in Spanish, or listen to a podcast. You can even listen to audio books in this language. If you leave some Spanish audio as background noise in your house, you will be even more immersed in this language.Not only will you improve your listening comprehension skills, but you will also be able to hear the correct pronunciation of some words, helping you to learn much more in a fun way.
10. Think Spanish. Once you have conditioned your home, you must take the next step. Thinking in Spanish is up to you, in some cases it can take a lot of effort, however, many people start to think in Spanish almost without realizing it.When thoughts are translated, there are often problems with communication, which limits your fluency. That’s why you should start thinking in Spanish instead of translating your thoughts from your native language into Spanish.You can start by practicing a few minutes a day, in the morning, plan your day in Spanish, in the evenings, think about how your day was, also in Spanish. After a short time, you will notice how thinking in another language becomes easier and easier.

Learn Spanish faster with Spanish immersion

By following these recommendations, you will be able to improve your level of Spanish in a short time. No matter if you are a complete beginner in the language, or have some knowledge, these techniques will help you to expand your vocabulary, improve your oral and written comprehension, as well as develop your pronunciation.

You don’t have to worry about traveling thousands of miles, because Spanish language immersion is also possible at home. It is only necessary to take a few hours out of your day and be constant in the learning process. In a short time, you will be able to speak a new language as well as a native. What are you waiting for to start learning to speak Spanish from home?