Word after word after word – how many more?! We don’t want to put a dampener on your learning curve, but the average Spanish speaker’s vocabulary has around 20,000 words to hand. But we do have good news… it’s possibly to be a pretty good communicator with just 1,000 Spanish words (and if you want to get to a level where you understand 80% of all written and spoken Spanish in a native setting, the magic figure is 2,000). Now for the even better news – we’ve got some pretty savvy memory tricks and remembering tips right here for you that’ll make those first 1000 a breeze.

1. Begin with Cognates

Cognates are Spanish words that have a similar sound, meaning and spelling to their English equivalents. While starting with cognates is an excellent way to expand your vocabulary (rapidly) you need to be aware of so-called ‘false friends’, which are words that seem to be cognates but are actually anything but. Take “éxito” as an example, you may think this word is Spanish for “exit”, but it actually means “success”.

2. Repeat after Me: Repeating Spanish Words Is One of The Most Effective

Here’s the thing… for all the innovative courses in the world, and the most interactive of learning materials, repetition is always going to be one of the most effective techniques, but it needn’t be boring. A tool such as Anki can help (it’s free, too). Anki records your responses to various flashcards. The longer you pause on a card, the more often you’ll see the card repeated.

3. Dive into Audio

Music, films and audio can mix up your Spanish learning and help train your brain as to the subtle nuances between accents and the differences between the rhythms of the Spanish language from different regions around the world. Start over on our blog about Miriam Cruz – a Dominican Merengue artist, where you can find her original song alongside a version that’s 30% slower, as well as a downloadable lyric sheet.

4. Learn Spanish in your sleep

OK, we know this is a little controversial – but listening to Spanish in any form while you fall asleep and throughout your snooze could help you absorb the language. This is backed up by a recent study undertaken by Swiss researchers, which tested the learning of a foreign language during the REM stages of sleep. This study was based on audio of word pairs – words spoken in English, then in their foreign alternative. While it would never be a replacement for good ol’ fashioned learning techniques, we offer the full rundown of how you can add sleepy Spanish into your learning routine in our blog: Zzzzzzzz – I learned Spanish (in my sleep).

5. Learn Spanish Through Mnemonics

If you’re thinking “what the heck are Mnemonics?!” we hear you. We know that you probably haven’t heard of this learning tactic, but you certainly want to try it out. This technique has been proven to boost the speed of learning of a foreign language by 47%. The concept relies on images that are used to link to words, and works for articles that are phonemes that hold no specific meaning. Real Fast Spanish provides the perfect example of ‘acudieron’, which is the past preterite third person plural of ‘acudir’ – this term sounds pretty close to ‘a suit deer’ (roughly translated to mean ‘to attend’). The learner in question then conjures up a very formal looking, suited and booted deer. If you haven’t already guessed, key to this learning tactic is imagery that is as bizarre as possible.