Websites such as Study Spanish and Spanish Romance offer structured language lessons for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners of Spanish. The resources available include pronunciation tutorials to help you master the five important Spanish vowel sounds, as well as grammar tutorials covering key topics such as the gender of nouns, regular verbs and adjectives. Spanish Romance also provides comprehensive lists of Spanish vocabulary, organized into themes such as "body," "food" and "clothing." By choosing a course and following the lessons in a logical order, beginners should be able to achieve a good level of competency in Spanish with these resources.
Access to a good dictionary is important when learning Spanish to help you check your understanding of the new words you encounter and look up translations of English words you want to use. SpanishDict is one example of a completely free bilingual dictionary that provides users with detailed translations of both Spanish and English words that are entered into its search function. The dictionary includes free audio tracks to help beginners master the pronunciation of the words, as well as examples of real life phrases that show how the words would be used in context.
Listening to podcasts is a fun way to improve your Spanish, increasing your exposure to the sound of the spoken language and teaching you new vocabulary and phrases. Notes in Spanish is one website that offers free Spanish audio and video for beginners. The tracks available contain authentic Spanish conversations about real life issues, and they can be downloaded to your iPod or other MP3 player as a podcast. Sample topics covered include "shopping and money," "music" and "soccer." For more advanced learners of Spanish, the website Audira also provides daily podcasts entirely in Spanish, complete with written exercises and tests.
Many Spanish-language television channels now broadcast programs for free over the Internet. Depending on whether you are trying to learn European or Latin American Spanish, you can watch television stations broadcasting from Spain, Mexico, Chile and even Cuba. Watching Spanish television is an enjoyable way to experience the language being used in context and develop your listening comprehension skills. It will also help to increase your understanding of Spanish life and culture. An alternative way to practice your Spanish listening skills for free is to review your existing DVD collection for titles that can be played in Spanish. Many DVDs come with audio tracks in several languages, and you may be able to change the settings to watch some of your favorite films in Spanish with English subtitles.