How to learn Spanish on-line

In preparation for my first trip to Latin America, I am learning Spanish on-line. If my busy schedule allows, I’ll find a Spanish tutor, but for now, youtube videos will need to suffice.

There are many forms, dialects and accents in Spanish. There are differences between Spanish in Spain, and Spanish in Latin America, just as there are differences between North American English and British English. There are also a lot of differences between different Latin American countries. Argentinian, Chilean, Cuban and the Dominican Spanish sound very distinct from each other.

On youtube, I mostly use videos from two sources, Why not Spanish and Spanish with Paul. Both of these Spanish teachers have multiple videos on-line for free on Youtube, and the ability to subscribe for more.

Why not Spanish

Created by a Spanish teacher from Columbia and her husband from Tennessee

Excellent for improving listening comprehension

Good for  correcting common errors that English speakers make in Spanish

Good for exposing yourself to different accents in Spanish

Each video ends with a quiz to check your listening skills

Spanish with Paul

Excellent for building and practicing sentence structure

What do you mean:

Asking:  What does it mean? What does he/she mean? What do you mean? Adding the phrase “lo que”, and other small words.