This is probably the most important advice that I can give you about learning Spanish or any other foreign language. More than anything else, your habits will determine how quickly you learn Spanish. In fact, your habits will determine if you actually learn the language or not.

Of course it helps if you have a language learning aptitude. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a language learning aptitude. In fact, I couldn’t speak English until I was four years old despite the fact that English was my first language and the only language spoken in my home as a child. However, my desire to learn Spanish was strong enough for me to develop the necessary habits for learning Spanish.

Out of habit, every time I turned on my television it was tuned to Unvision, Telefutura or HBO Latino. Out of habit, every time I got in my car the radio dial was set to the Latino radio station Latino Mix. If not, then a CD or cassette from a Spanish course was playing.

Out of habit, if I went out to a club it was a Salsa or Merengue club. If I went out to a restaurant, it was probably a Latin American restaurant. Not that Latino food “es mi plato favorito.” But if I go get a steak at Outback, I am probably not going to get a chance to practice my Spanish with the waiter.

In fact, if I was dating someone, she was either a native of a Spanish speaking country or she learned Spanish as her first language here in the U.S.

If you develop and cultivate these habits, you will learn Spanish extremely fast.