6 Easy Tips To Help You Learn Spanish While You're At Work

  • Jada Lòpez
    Written byJada Lòpez
    Jada LòpezSpanish teacher, translator
    🎓 B.A., Translation and Interpreting English and Spanish, Universidad de Granada
    🎓 M.A., Formación de Profesores de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE), Universidad Pablo de Olavide

    Passionate language teacher and translator. Wife, mother of 3 and amateur surfer.
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6 Easy Tips To Help You Learn Spanish While You're At Work

One of the most common excuses given for not finding time to learn Spanish is that work hours take up most of your time.

If you’re struggling to fit the hours in and finding it difficult to practice, it’s a good idea to find opportunities at work to squeeze in Spanish study and practice. For many industries, improving your Spanish will help advance your career as well.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:

“During the work day I just don’t have the time. There’s no way I can fit the Spanish language into my schedule.”

Every situation is different, but in my experience, most people have the ability to incorporate it somehow.

You can learn Spanish at work.

At the very least, you can find ways to make small, productive steps.

Tips for learning Spanish at work

As I said, every situation is different.

Some of these tips may be suitable in your workplace, others not at all.

Learn Spanish At Work:

  1. Create a plan (and sticking to it).
  2. Schedule time to listen to Spanish podcasts.
  3. Choose your favourite Spanish songs and listening to them.
  4. Use an app to practice.
  5. Listen to audiobooks/podcasts.
  6. Do verb exercises on your lunch break.

These are the actionable tips to make learning Spanish at work simpler.

Let’s take a look at these tips in more detail.

Creating a plan (and sticking to it)

It might seem like an arbitrary point to mention this, but to achieve a goal you need a plan.

You need a schedule to set aside time to practice, and the best way to do this is to plan ahead and think about what you need to study and which times you will study the Spanish content required.

For example, is your commute particularly long?

Perhaps you could incorporate this commuting time into your plan and set aside a period specifically to perfect a certain Spanish skillset, such as listening.

Do you have an extended lunch break on certain days?

If so, consider ways to fit your Spanish language learning into this timeframe and, again, incorporate the perfection of particular skill sets, such as vocabulary building, into your plan.

Listen to Spanish podcasts

Along with speaking, reading, vocabulary building, and writing, listening is a critical Spanish skill that you will need to master.

One of the perfect and most easy ways to practice this once you have cleared the threshold A2 level is to listen to Spanish podcasts. It can really facilitate the process of learning Spanish at work.

What you should keep in mind is that there is a vast range of Spanish podcasts to choose from, so check out the link just above to see some of the best ones.

Choosing the right time to listen to Spanish podcasts is important.

For instance, if you’re commuting to work, or are on a lunch break this is most likely the optimum moment to concentrate on the content of the podcast.

Listening to Spanish songs

Again, since listening is a critical Spanish language skill, you’ll want to maximise the amount of listening practice you get each day.

Listening to Spanish songs can help with this, particularly if you have reached the B1 level.

The more frequently you practice, the better. You might choose to listen to Spanish songs when you’re commuting, when you’re on your lunch break, or when you’re completing a task that isn’t too taxing.

Choosing a Spanish song to listen to can be challenging, simply because some songs might have an instrumental background that seems to overpower the lyrics.

Because of this, you might want to select several songs that don’t have such overpowering instrumentals.

Select songs that you can understand as this will help you progress.

Use an app to practice your Spanish vocabulary and verbs

Your lunch break is the perfect time to practice your Spanish vocabulary and verb tenses, and there’s no better method or approach to take than studying with a Spanish app, of which there is a vast range to choose from.

Spanish apps can help you round out your vocabulary, particularly apps like Babbel and Memrise.

They also ensure that you continue learning, thanks to their gamified styles, so you’ll even become captivated by the Spanish language and remain inspired when learning Spanish at work.

Listen to audiobooks to enhance vocabulary and listening skills

Combining your auditory comprehension with a broader vocabulary is crucial for learning Spanish, and listening to audiobooks is an ideal way to do this.

Audiobooks will also help you bolster the knowledge you already have and ensure you have a thorough understanding of the vocabulary you have already learned.

Again, as with the podcasts and Spanish songs that you start listening to, you can listen to audiobooks as you commute.

And remember to always choose an audio speed that you feel comfortable listening to. For instance, if you’re a beginner, select a slow speed.

If you’re an intermediate learner, choose a medium speed.

Practice verb exercises on your lunch break

Don’t forget about those troublesome Spanish verbs!

When you practice on your lunch break, you’ll soon realise that they’re not as troublesome as you first thought.

The internet has a vast selection of Spanish verb drills and exercises which is ideal for you to test your knowledge.

Dedicate a little bit of time to practice your verb conjugation, as this can be one of the more challenging parts of learning Spanish.

Don’t waste work time - use it to learn Spanish

There you have it. Six actionable steps that you can use to learn Spanish at work.

Remember that when honing your listening skills, it’s important to select audios, audiobooks, podcasts, and Spanish songs that are suitable for your level.

You might choose to back up your learning by reading Spanish novels, especially if you have reached the B1 level. This also helps you to build your vocabulary.

And don’t forget to practice your verbs to master the Spanish language with ease, which you can achieve by using an online Spanish course, and completing Spanish exercises on your lunch break.


Got any other tips for learning Spanish at work?

Write your comment in the section just below!

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