Learning Spanish II: How to Understand and Speak a New Language

To build conversational skill, practice the present tense with verbs ending in "ar," "er," and "ir." Then learn some vital irregular verbs and how to use them. Continue with prepositional pronouns (as in "near me" or "next to her"), and some new prepositions (such as "beneath" and "behind"). Finish with a look at the four-part structure of the course, and how to get the most from it.

Here, tackle a variety of new material. Start with a thorough look at indirect object pronouns (as in "to/for you" or "to/for us"), and verbs that use them. Work with a highly useful verb, gustar, which expresses what someone likes or doesn't like, and with other verbs which function similarly. Then explore the geography of the Spanish-speaking world, and adjectives of nationality.

Look at ways to develop excellent pronunciation in Spanish. In particular, practice Spanish consonant sounds that don't exist in English, focusing on the Spanish "r." Investigate reflexive verbs, and how to use them in conversational speech. Last, study reciprocal verbs, which describe actions done by people to each other, and observe how they work within a romantic story spoken in Spanish.

First, learn useful vocabulary relating to the kitchen and cooking. Then study grammatical constructions that use the present tense to talk about the past. Delve deeply into the preterite tense, which expresses past actions that are viewed as completed or ended. Sharpen your command of the preterite with key verbs such as tener (to have), ver (to see), dar (to give), and ir (to go).

Explore important vocabulary regarding time, and how to use it conversationally. Then work with the imperfect tense, which expresses ongoing actions in the past, conditions or characteristics in the past, time or age in the past, and habitual past actions. Practice forming the imperfect with all categories of verbs, and grasp how the imperfect is used in Spanish compared with English.