Languages.Org.Au - Spanish

Why learn Spanish

Spanish is spoken by more than 570 million people, including more than 470 million who speak the language with native competence. It is a Romance language and shares its Latin origins with several other European languages, including French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. It is the official language in more than 20 countries and is spoken as the main language throughout South America, except in Brazil, where the official language is Portuguese. Spanish is also spoken by a growing number of people in North America, particularly in the United States, where some have speculated it may become the majority language later in the 21st century. There is a large community of Spanish speakers in Australia and in Canberra, where more than 4,000 speak the language at home, according to the 2021 Census. For data based on the 2016 Australian Census, see the summary for language spoken at home in the ACT on the ".id - the population experts" website (select Show all under the table).

Links to Languages.Org.Au Spanish resources

Guides, online courses and tutorial resources for learners of Spanish

These are listed alphabetically.

BBC Languages - Spanish – There is a note on the main page of this BBC site to say that "This page has been archived and is no longer updated". Two advantages of this: it is free for access; and geolocation restrictions do not lock you out of the audio-visual content, as they sometimes do on sites (including some BBC sites) that are currently being updated.
Coffee-break Spanish – a podcast and website for practising Spanish listening. Coffee Break Languages offers free access to podcasts in seven languages. It also offers the option of signing up to Coffee Break Academy for paid access to lessons. Prices for these are listed in UK pounds.
CultureAlly
Duolingo – Learn Spanish, for speakers of English. On the page at this URL, select "Learn" at the top, then either choose "Intro" or "Placement test" to get started. You can choose a profile to enable Duolingo to track your progress and keep you advised on your learning progression, but it's not required in order to access the learning resources.
Easy Spanish – YouTube channel
FluentU is a great resource for seeing vocabulary and language in context. It uses YouTube videos and explains vocabulary in context. The free version is less interactive than the paid version. This can be used as an app or a website.
Mango Languages – Start learning Latin American Spanish. You will need to create an account and choose a password. This is used to log in and access the learning resources. It doesn't require payment. If you would like a higher level of access, you can use your ACT library membership information.
Mango Languages – Start learning Castillian Spanish. See notes about account setup in the previous item above.