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Strategies for learning a foreign language
(and lots of other things, too)

Flashcards:
1.  Basic vocabulary:  foreign term on one side with translation on the other

la casa

 the house
2.  Better vocabulary:  foreign term and related picture (drawings, cut-outs from magazines, clipart, etc.) on one side with  foreign term, translation, related words/expressions, and sample sentence on the other
el libro el libro - the book
el libro de espaņol - the Spanish book  
Leo muchos libros interesantes.

3.  For sentence structure:  Use cards with words on them to construct sentences.  Vocabulary cards will be useful, but some "little words" cards will be necessary as well.  Another option would be to look into those magnet sets that have words on them.
el libro de espaņol es muy interesante

also becomes
el espaņol es interesante
4.  For Verb Tenses:  You'll need 5x8 cards for these.  Include on side 1 of your card the tense name, the regular endings, all possible translations with examples.  On the back list all the irregular verbs and their irregularities.
PRESENT INDICATIVE - current actions or habits           
I speak, I do speak, I am speaking Spanish in class. = Hablo espanol en la clase.
-AR           
hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablais, hablan
-ER
como, comes, come, comemos, comeis, comen
-IR
asisto, asistes, asiste, asistimos, asistis, asisten
IRREGULARS
ir - voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
ser - soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
estar - estoy, estas, esta, estamos, estais, estan
tener - tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, teneis, tienen
decir           

etc., etc.
5.  Color coded:  Use blue cards for masculine nouns, pink for feminine nouns.  Put other parts of speech on different color cards.  Use different color inks to highlight different aspects of vocabulary.
Verbalizing.  Never underestimate the power of talking to yourself!  Express vocabulary, correct sentence structure, mnemonics, etc aloud.  Try to do so while seeing the item or situation or sentence
Write it down! Many people learn by 'manipulating' the words on paper.  Copy the vocabulary.  Make new sentences out of it.  Highlight the words you know.  Study the ones left unhighlighted.
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last updated:  09/19/2003