XPress: Spanish in 40 Hours

Spanish in 40 hours is a way for beginners to quickly achieve functional fluency in Spanish.

During these 40 hours, you will learn: a) key vocabulary (around 500 words); b) pronunciation strategies and c) basic grammatical concepts.

Each vocabulary topic contains a table with English and Spanish columns that can be hidden to move from comprehension to production. After initial exposure to words via English/Spanish translation, you can listen to a word, then write it out. For example:

English Images Spanish Listen and Repeat
Write
the dog el perro  

Each section also contains a series of interactive, vocabulary-building exercises and a game. Here's a preview:

  • my dog =
Play the game!

At the end of each section, you will find a grammar point and simple translation tasks to check with our Grammar Checker (SpanishChecker.com). Further grammatical explanations and exercises can be found in our comprehensive Grammar Guide.

Linguistic principles

Spanish in 40 hours is different from other language learning programs because it is guided by the following linguistic principles:

a) Deep lexical learning ©

b) Learning through feedback

c) Learning through producing

d) Learning through noticing

Deep lexical learning © is an approach that allows you to do more than recognize a Spanish word. You will know its meaning in English, be able to produce it in various ways and be able to do so spontaneously.

In terms of feedback, you will be able to immediately confirm your vocabulary knowledge by translating between English and Spanish and by doing simple exercises to reinforce acquisition.

Importantly, you will learn to produce sentences with the words you learn and receive real-time feedback.In our view, the best approach is one that starts with the acquisition of core vocabulary, which is then used as a starting point to learn about Spanish grammar.

As you build sentences, you will notice and improve lexical and grammatical gaps in your knowledge.

You should spend two hours on each category. At the end, we suggest you review for an hour, then do the final exam.

How to move through the course

In order to thoroughly learn the vocabulary from each category, the following steps should be followed:

Step 1: Study each Spanish word alongside the English one, listen AND pronounce the Spanish word (20 minutes)

Step 2: Hide the English column, listen to and pronounce the Spanish word; think of the definition (20 minutes)

Step 3: Hide the Spanish (show English if needed), listen to words randomly, pronounce (imitate) and write the Spanish word in the box (30 minutes)

Step 4: Do the exercises at the bottom of the page (10 minutes)

Step 5: Play the game; this is a way to see if you can come up with the word spontaneously (10 minutes)

Step 6: Read the grammar point, and access more detailed explanations if desired (5 - 10 minutes)

Step 7: Do the translations and check grammar on SpanishChecker (20 minutes)

Step 8: Write down any new words you learn in a notebook (and review from time to time) (5 minutes)

The order you follow while moving through the guide can vary. The important thing is that you spend time on all the categories and do all the exercises.

Once you are ready to build sentences with your vocabulary, you can make use of SpanishChecker's Grammar Guide and Grammar Checker (including a verb conjugator, dictionary and thesaurus).

Let's get started!


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