Spanish is natively spoken by approximately 487 million people worldwide, primarily in Spain and Latin America, with growing communities in the United States. It is integral to Spanish cultural identity, known for its literature (including works by Cervantes and García Lorca), flamenco music and dance, and diverse cuisines. Written in the Latin alphabet, Spanish grammar features a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, gendered nouns, and a system of verb conjugations that indicate tense, mood, and aspect.
Stats
Language Family: Indo-European
Writing System: Latin
Writing System Type: Alphabet
Writing Direction: L to R
Tones / Pitch Accent: N
Morphology: Fusional
Cases: 0
Grammatical Gender / Noun Class: 2
Number of Verb Tenses: 16
Word Order: SVO
Number of Vowels (Monophthongs): 5
Number of Consonants: 17 - 19
Areas Where Spoken
Andorra (44.6%) (36 k)
Argentina (official) (96.0%) (44.4 mil)
Aruba (Netherlands) (13.7%) (15 k)
Belize (46.0%) (186 k)
Bolivia (official) (60.7%) (7.42 mil)
Brazil (official) (93.2%) (201 mil)
Caribbean Netherlands (Netherlands) (11.8%) (3 k)
Chile (official) (89.7%) (17.6 mil)
Colombia (official) (99.0%) (51.4 mil)
Costa Rica (official) (97.5%) (5.05 mil)
Cuba (official) (100.0%) (11.2 mil)
Dominican Republic (official) (98.0%) (11.0 mil)
Ecuador (official) (93.0%) (16.7 mil)
El Salvador (official) (96.0%) (6.08 mil)
Equatorial Guinea (official) (61.6%) (1.03 mil)
Guatemala (official) (69.9%) (12.1 mil)
Honduras (official) (94.4%) (9.85 mil)
Mexico (official) (90.0%) (115 mil)
Nicaragua (official) (95.3%) (6.62 mil)
Panama (official) (69.2%) (3.05 mil)
Paraguay (official) (55.1%) (3.74 mil)
Peru (official) (84.1%) (28.6 mil)
Puerto Rico (United States of America) (official) (94.3%) (3.04 mil)
Spain (official) (74.0%) (35.4 mil)
United States of America (10.7%) (35.7 mil)
Uruguay (official) (95.7%) (3.28 mil)
US Virgin Islands (16.8%) (18 k)
Venezuela (official) (96.9%) (27.4 mil)
Western Sahara (20.0%) (130 k)
Resources
Apps
Anki
Complete Spanish Step-by-Step: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/321756443 Ultimate Spanish Conjugation Deck: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/638411848
Conjugato: Tool for practicing conjugation: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/conjugato-spanish-verbs/id1388189747
Moon+ reader (Android only): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyersoft.moonreader&hl=en_US&gl=US : Get free graded reader books directly from project gutenberg; long press for definition or select text for translation
Palabras Cruzadas en Español: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/palabras-cruzadas-en-español/id951447237?l=es : Crossword puzzles
Sopa de Palabras: Word search: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sopa-de-palabras/id1581677528?l=es
Words of Wonders: Crucigramas: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/words-of-wonders-crucigramas/id1369521645?l=es: That word cross game where you have x amount of letters and drag your finger around to make new words
Spanish lessons i started making myself but then got bored and maybe i will return to them one day: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nhUD4q9dC64RzwRVApgYINguErOxCZQCLeTHsjhGoBY/edit?usp=sharing
Read manga in Spanish for free: https://www.leercapitulo.com/
Books
Practice Makes Perfect Complete Spanish Grammar: https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Makes-Perfect-Complete-Spanish/dp/1259584194: Grammar book for advanced beginner, lots of exercises
Public site that has a book series similar to one that I used when I studied abroad in Spain. I know some people don’t really know where to start with learning so I hope this helps: http://audiolang.info/en/aula-internacional/ “Libro del alumno” is student book “Libro del profesor” is teacher book You just click download on the one you one and a zip file will start downloading (I just tested it out and didn’t die so it’s perfectly safe)
Children's Stories to read, from the Government of Spain(I think) https://maguare.gov.co/
Documents
“Spanish Starter Pack” that Camilo made: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WKCSrYqCMhBLftOhh-y8Eb4zqNcYCpW8vYtzvxbCCgo/edit#gid=2025088010
Browser Extension
Toucan - Language Learning: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/toucan-language-learning/lokjgaehpcnlmkebpmjiofccpklbmoci?hl=en: Get new vocab while browsing the web as this translates random words on webpages into Spanish
Videos
YouTube Channels for Fun
Alberto Benitez Tutor: https://www.youtube.com/@albertobeniteztutor4430: Slow Spanish videos, vlogs and vocabulary
Aprendemos Juntos 2030: https://www.youtube.com/c/AprendemosJuntos/featured: Various speakers talk about making a more sustainable environment/future
Cocina Con Cholita Julia: https://www.youtube.com/c/CocinaConCholitaJulia: Cooks local Peru food outside
La Ruina: https://www.youtube.com/c/LaRuinaShow/featured: Hosts comment on and judge the worst anecdote of the people who come to the program from the public
Renovando la limpieza: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1-F3a4FRStbc3TJxWx0c8Q: Full episodes of Limpiadores compulsivos
Marca Claro: https://www.youtube.com/c/marcaclaro/featured: Covers the athletes in the Olympics
Petit: https://www.youtube.com/c/PetitIsabel: Lifestyle videos/vlogs
Spanish After Hours (Spain Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfG2VhlQgy5bHGmkpeKcjVA/about: Fun and engaging comprehensible input. Videos can range from beginner to intermediate
suenaconmigofans: https://www.youtube.com/user/suenaconmigofans/featured: Has episodes of Sueña Conmigo in parts
TED-Ed en Español: https://www.youtube.com/c/TEDEspanol: TED talks in spanish
Telemadrid: https://www.youtube.com/user/telemadrid: Short news clips
Tres Espías Sin Límite - Totally Spies: https://www.youtube.com/c/TresEspíasSinLímiteTotallySpies/featured: Has clips and full episodes of Totally Spies dubbed in Spanish
TVPerú: https://www.youtube.com/c/tvperu/featured: TV station news channel/various TV shows and game shows from Peru
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana - UPB: https://www.youtube.com/c/UniversidadPontificiaBolivarianaUPB/featured: University news and lectures from guest speakers
Xataka TV: https://www.youtube.com/c/XatakaTV/featured: Reviews about technology/videos about social media
YouTube Channels for Study
Dreaming Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/c/DreamingSpanish: Comprehensible input for all levels (yes, even beginner!)
Hola Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/c/HolaSpanish
mindful SPANISH with Sergio: https://www.youtube.com/c/mindfulSPANISHwithSergio
YouTube Videos/Playlists for Fun
Speak Spanish Faster: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpeakSpanishFaster
Movies / TV Shows
Chicas del Cable: https://www.netflix.com/title/80100929?source=35:Netflix (Spain Spanish) - Setting is pre-WWII Spain, Madrid, in and surrounding the telephone company. The protagonists are women from various walks of life who meet as co-workers at the telephone company, where they work as switchboard operators. The series contains lots of dramatical elements (crime, passion, love, hate, rivalry, self-doubt, desperation, self-discovery) as well as societal criticism. CW for sex/nudity, violence/DV, war, possible child loss, psychological abuse, gender/body dysmorphia (hope I didn't forget any triggers). I really enjoyed the whole show. Fair warning, you may need tissues for some episodes as topics can get very emotional. Extra tip: Watch with your finger on the space bar to pause as needed as they speak fairly fast. The rewind function is gold, as is the option to switch to different subs for core scenes if you have trouble understanding what is going on. I think with pausing and rewinding, I needed about an hour per episode XD But well worth it!
Daughter From Another Mother: https://www.netflix.com/title/81002483?source=35: Netflix (Mexican Spanish) - Plays around with the switch at birth trope which forms an unconventional family. Modern setting and content so it's not as over the top as other spanish shows and quite progressive (one of the main characters is bi, believes a child should be able to decide on her own baptism when she's older, explores sexuality a bit, women's place in the workplace and sexism etc). Only one season so far and not yet renewed. Warning: Ends with a cliffhanger
Websites
https://www.wordreference.com/ Forums and dictionary are both very good
http://www.hispanoteca.eu/ (More for German-Spanish relationship)
https://rimar.io/ (Reverse dictionary)
Cervantes Escuela Internacional: https://www.cervantes.to/es/test_inicial.html: Grammar test that goes by level and you have to pass one level to go to the next one
Instituto Cervantes: https://pruebadenivel.cervantes.es/exam.php?id=17: Have to take the entire test and then it gives you a grade
Lingolia: https://espanol.lingolia.com/es/
Menéame: https://www.meneame.net/: Spanish version of Reddit
Spanishdict (also an app): https://www.spanishdict.com/: useful resource for vocab (has SRS tool for this too) and grammar
The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona courses on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/uab
ViX: https://vix.com/es-es/canales: TV shows and movies in Spanish (it offers some stuff for free but there is also a paid subscription service)
Takes the radio ambulante podcasts and has transcripts that follow along with what’s being spoken https://app.jiveworld.com/app/learn/es/home
https://www.dreamingspanish.com/ is the website to Dreaming Spanish
spanish urban dictionary (slang and idioms) https://jergozo.com/
Dialectos del español https://www.inesem.es/revistadigital/idiomas/sabes-cuales-son-los-dialectos-del-espanol/
https://studyspanish.com/ conjugation practice tests, more tenses iirc
medical interpreting https://www.medicalspanish.com/medical-vocabulary.html • Medical dictionary/vocabulary hotspot, includes Spanish dialogues with hypothetical patients with audio.
https://www.languagetransfer.org/complete-spanish Free language learning audio courses where each lesson is mostly about 10 minutes or less.
https://www.practicingspanish.com/index.html Old looking website, but it has in depth dialogues about things like asthma and leukemia with audio. Lots of tips about grammar and how to practice.
https://www.hcinlearn.org/pluginfile.php/1717/course/section/82/WordsWeDontWanttoForget2008.pdf Medical dictionary for highly specific operations, conditions, etc. Organized by first letter in English
https://www.wakeahec.org/spanish.htm • BASIC Spanish OBGYN and Pharmaceutical cards
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ltc/documents/MedicalSpanishBooklet.pdf Medical Spanish practice test, asks for English comprehension and Spanish comprehension, vocabulary, and a glossary of words to look into in English toward the end
https://commongroundinternational.com/category/medical-spanish/ • Free blog posts providing vocabulary and videos about specific topics and situations in Spanish, such as how to instruct collecting urine samples or screening for potential child abuse.
https://www.spanish.academy/blog/emergency-vocabulary-your-first-aid-kit-in-spanish/ • First-Aid vocabulary blog post, including a long list of verbs
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/wp-content/uploads/sites/190/2018/05/mfwc_dictionaryengspan.pdf • Dictionary of medical terms organized by topic
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/wp-content/uploads/sites/190/2018/05/vitalstationspa1.pdf • Basic level interpreting blood sugar/glucose levels in Spanish, very very basic but it'll get the job done