If you plan on moving to Spain and would love to be at least partially fluent in the language before you get there, you will be pleased to know it is possible to learn Spanish free online.
In fact, with so many resources available nowadays for anyone that wants to learn Spanish without spending a fortune on classes, it can be a little overwhelming choosing the right sites for your needs.
That’s why we have waded through many of the places where you can learn Spanish free online and come up with the best ones for you to start on.
As Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the world, by starting out on these six sites offering you the resources to learn Spanish free online, you can easily get yourself prepared to move to Spain or to one of the other 20 countries whose population speaks it.
After all, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to speak Spanish well enough you could actually have a conversation with your neighbors?
Duolingo
I have studied Thai, German and Spanish online via Duolingo and I have to say it is the best resource for anyone wanting to take the first steps towards learning a new language, but who does not have a huge amount of money to spend.
At Duolingo, you can start right at the very basic level of Spanish by learning simple words like madre (mother), padre (father), el niño (the boy) and la niña (the girl).
By the time you hit Level 25, you should understand enough Spanish to have conversations, and to be able to understand a big chunk of Spanish television and even read a Spanish novel.
You can study at your own pace, with Duolingo teaching a mixture of gamification to keep you coming back and repetition to drum that vocabulary and grammar into your head.
You can learn Spanish free on Duolingo either via your computer or via the Duolingo app (Android and iOS).
They also have a paid version if you do not want to deal with the ads.
Practical Spanish
This excellent website may look a little old-fashioned, but it offers Spanish levels from beginner right up to advanced, and a huge amount of information about vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and listening.
You can start at any level and work your way up using self-guided lessons, and then use the quizzes to test how well you are doing.
They also sell eBooks if you want to take your learning even further.
While SpanishPod101 has a paid course you can take, there are also enough free resources on the site to keep you busy for many months.
These resources include tens of hours of audio and video lessons, PDF lesson notes, flashcards, and even an app you can learn through.
The app only allows you to download basic podcasts if you are doing the free course, but I found there to be plenty of podcasts I could listen to while on my daily walks.
To make it even easier, SpanishPod101 has also uploaded many of their beginners videos to their YouTube channel so you do not even have to register on their site to access their superb information if you do not want to.
You can kick off your study of Spanish for beginners with a 4-hour video that covers all the basics you will need to be able to communicate in basic Spanish.
You can watch that video below.
The very first website I began with when I started to teach myself Spanish, Notes in Spanish has been put together by Brit Ben Curtis and his Spanish girlfriend Marina Diez.
The site has been around since 2005, and now has more than 200 podcasts recorded by native speakers. Podcasts that will really help you improve your Spanish listening skills, whether you are at beginner level, intermediate or advanced.
Notes in Spanish also sells a variety of ‘learning packs’ if you want to get your level up to advanced as quickly as possible.
Their best current deal is what they call ‘The Whole Enchilada‘, and is every one of their podcasts plus transcripts/notes and phrase books.
Enough resources for learning Spanish to keep you busy for months and all for only $250.
Easy Spanish on YouTube
The Easy Spanish on YouTube channel has over 155 short videos in Spanish in topics ranging from What to Read When Learning Spanish, to Do You Exercise?, What Does Freedom Mean to You? and 5 Mistakes Spanish Learners Make.
More are added every week.
Some videos are conversations with native speakers, while others go over vocabulary and verb tenses.
Each video has subtitles in both Spanish and English, so you can read both languages as you hear the Spanish spoken. You can also re-watch and play videos slower so you can really figure out what is being said.
Most videos are less than 10 minutes, and you get to learn a lot about Spanish culture while you are listening.
StudySpanish.com
A site I have been using for years (it has been online since 1998), StudySpanish.com offers two options for learning the language.
The first allows you to learn Spanish free online, with access to most lessons. This level of learning is limited in that you can only take certain quizzes, and you cannot record your grades on most tests and quizzes.
The other option is the paid version of StudySpanish.com, and that allows you access to everything — all lessons, all quizzes and tests, and the ability to record all your grades. It even gives you access to Camino, the site’s full Spanish course. (continue reading below…)
The paid option is also affordable for everyone, as you can either pay a one-time fee of $119, which will give you lifetime access to their courses or, if you do not have that amount of disposable income, you can opt for the $9.99 a month option.
These six sites where you can learn Spanish free online are places where you can begin your Spanish self-study. There are hundreds more.
But, even with just 15-30 minutes of Spanish learning every day for six months at any of these sites, you should easily be able to hold a conversation and understand a large percentage of what is being said around you once you move to Spain.