It surprises me that a lot of people have come to me and asked how to learn English, and then how to learn Spanish the “easiest” or “fastest” or “most efficient” way. They question me how I could learn languages in such a short time, like English in 1 year and Spanish in 3 months, both started from ABC. My answer is usually “You must REALLY REALLY want to learn it”. Learning a language is all about memorizing: memorizing words, grammar and prounciation. The most important things are that you must spend time on it and be tenacious. The first time you learn a word you might forget it. But if you keep on reading it for the 2 or more times, you’ll finally remember it. Read a lot!!
It angers me that people who ask me in the first place then give me excuses such as “I don’t have time” or “I don’t have money to buy books or register for a course or find a teacher or whatever”. Yet I still give them social answers. But today, as I was going through all my old stuffs, I found something that I want to share, something that reminds me of the hard old days studying.
This is the manual copy of the book “How to live without Fear & worry” that I hand-copied. Yes I copied a 60-page book, by hand, when I was 15. This wasn’t the only book I hand-copied, and surely it wasn’t the thickest one.
Why??
Because I needed books to read, to learn English and I was so fucking poor that I couldn’t afford buying a book or even photocopy!!!
During my grade 10, I went to school in the morning, went to work in the afternoon and spent the rest of day and weekends studying English. I slept only 4 or 5 hours a day. I borrowed books from my friends, then hand-copied them so that I could read them over and over again until I remembered all new words. The words that get red-highlights are words that I had to focus on.
So you fucking lazy bastards, there is no “easiest” or “fastest” or whatever -est way to do anything. All you can do is to work hard. And stop using excuses!!! The only reason for that you don’t do something is that you don’t want to do it badly enough.
P/S:
1. Both my English & Spanish aren’t very good. But given the time span I spent on them, I’m quite proud of myself.
2. Stop telling me that I’m lucky or smart. My memory is really bad that I can’t remember anything for more than 1 day.
Hoy es domingo, el clima es bueno, hace sol pero no hace mucho calor. Una de mi amigas me dijo que no le encantaba domingo porque el día que sigue es lunes y tiene que volver al trabajo. Yo tampoco jajaja.
Hace más de una semana que estudio español. Debo admitir que mi español es muy malo todavía. No puedo recordar o distinguir tiempos e modos gramatícos. Me enloquecen =.= No sé si podría tomor el examen el comienzo de noviembre. ¡Suspirar!
Tengo un amigo tico 
Es de Costa Rica, pero la gente costarricense usa “ico” y “cico” mucho, así les llaman “ticos”. Suena lindo, ¿no? La cosa asombrosisima es su inglés es muy malo, y mi español no es mejor, pero nos chalamos casi cada día, y él me ha ensenado mucho 
Ay, la noticia más chocante de esta semana es el fallecimiento del “Rey de Pop” Michael Jackson. ¡Inconcebible! He escuchado la música de Michael Jackson desde que tenía tres años. Sus ritmos son una parte de mi vida. ¡Que Dios te bendiga, Michael!
Este es mi primera escritura en español. No duden en corregirme si me equivoqué. Muchas gracias!
Today I decided to take a challenge: To speak Spanish fluently in 3 months, and I will study Spanish all by myself (Ofcourse I can still consult other Spanish speakers). I know, I’ve heard a lot of stories about people who can master a language in less than 1 month, but I’m not that talented. I’ve tried to have a look at some Spanish papers, but I’ve never officially studied Spanish before so today can be considered as my first day. I don’t want to lose my money (or I don’t have money to lose), so most resources I use will be free ones.
1. StudySpanish.com - Believe me, this site is awesome to learn Spanish grammar.
2. About Spanish - A great library about Spanish grammar, vocabulary, culture, etc.
3. 575+ Spanish Verbs - Webster’s New World
4. Spanish for Dummies (Thanks @epi_longo)
5. Livemocha - Submit your writing & speaking and get comments from other Spanish speakers.
6. Spanish Music/ Stories (esp. short stories for children)
7. Practice Practice Practice
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Updated:
8. WordReference - Wow, the best online dictionary you can find 
Thanks Duy Linh.
I will update my resources once I find a new one.
I will take a test on November 7 with listening. Let’s see what I can get! Wish me luck!
