How To Learn Spanish Fluently

Learn Spanish, step by step! Welcome to LearnCraft Spanish, a proven system that will teach you how to learn Spanish fluently. Starting with a foundation of core Spanish grammar and the most common Spanish vocabulary, Timothy will guide you through the essential steps to speaking and understanding fluent Spanish like a native speaker. If you're a serious Spanish learner and you want to make deep, personal connections with the native Spanish speakers in your life, the LearnCraft Spanish podcast is for you. Join us on a rigorous, fulfilling journey to Spanish fluency.

Core Spanish Grammar for Fluency

What’s the key to speaking Spanish fluently, spontaneously, and effortlessly? Mastering core Spanish grammar. To learn how to speak Spanish fluently, we need to start by mastering the structures and elements that make Spanish different from English. Today we’ll learn some essential Spanish grammar and do some spoken grammar exercises to make it stick. After this foundational work, Spanish grammar will get easier and easier — and Spanish fluency will be all downhill!

The Spanish words that will make you fluent

To become fluent in Spanish, you have to learn connecting words! Today we’re talking about conjunctions, particularly the words que and y, and how they help hold the whole Spanish language together and create fluent flow. We’ll also learn why conjunctions are even more important in Spanish than in English, based on a special rule about Spanish verbs. After this episode, you’ll know how to use the most common word in the Spanish language, getting you one step closer to thinking in Spanish.

Learn These 3 Spanish Words To Start Thinking in Spanish

Some Spanish words are more important than others! Today we’ll talk about how you can start *thinking* in Spanish by choosing the right words to work on. We will focus on some of the highest-leverage words in the language — three words that comprise 8% of the Spanish language by themselves. After we practice with these words, you’ll soon be able to start forming sentences like a native Spanish speaker.

Spanish Quizzing and the Testing Effect

Time to practice your Spanish out loud! Today we’ll learn about the number one way to solidify a new language in your brain — and we’ll get to put it into practice right away. If you follow this one tip, you’ll be fluent in Spanish faster than you ever thought possible. Let’s put everything we’ve learned so far into Spanish practice, out loud.

Spanish Pronunciation Tips

To learn fluent Spanish, you can’t just memorize words — you also have to master Spanish pronunciation. Today I present my top tips for pronouncing Spanish sounds authentically. Here’s the first tip: To develop your own “Spanish voice”, make sure to do the pronunciation exercises, out loud, throughout this episode!

What does “lo” mean in Spanish?

The Spanish word “lo” is usually a HUGE headache for English speakers — but it won’t be for you! You’ll be using “lo” and “la” correctly after listening to this episode. Let’s get some good, active practice with the words for “him” and “her” in Spanish.

Spanish Pronouns and Memory Palaces

Why are Spanish direct object pronouns different from other pronouns? And how can you keep from mixing up all the different Spanish pronouns? Let’s use a memory palace to keep all of our Spanish pronouns straight. We’ll work on the Spanish pronouns for “him”, “her”, “me”, and “you”, and then we’ll put it all into practice with real sentences.

Por vs Para

Let’s learn por and para. These words tend to be very hard to master when learning Spanish as a second language, but today we’ll learn a simple framework that you can use to decide between these two words in almost any context.

How to say “them” in Spanish

The word “them” may seem like a basic word, but it has multiple translations in Spanish! Today we’ll learn two Spanish words for “them”, as well as the word for “what”. We’ll also get lots of spoken practice with all of our essential Spanish vocabulary.

How to express concepts in Spanish

Learn Spanish faster by starting with the hard stuff — like expressing concepts! In this episode, we’ll lay the groundwork for expressing abstract ideas, concepts, and thoughts in fluent Spanish… and it all starts by mastering the #1 most important word in the Spanish language.

What Is “Is” in Spanish?

How do you say “is” in Spanish? It MIGHT be the word “es”... and it might not! Let’s learn our first conjugation of Ser, and we’ll explore when you might use this word. This is the most common verb in Spanish, and the most common conjugation (by far). Today we’ll get some practice with “es” in a lot of sentence contexts.

How to conjugate Ser

Spanish Conjugations can be tough… but they don’t have to be! Let’s learn the present tense forms of Ser using a memory palace.

Why do Spanish subject pronouns “disappear”?

Why does Spanish let you start a sentence with “soy” or “son” — without “yo” or “ellos”? And how can you tell when you should include the subject pronoun or leave it out? Let’s practice the skill of choosing whether or not to use subject pronouns with Spanish verbs.

Practice Ser (and everything else!)

Let’s practice our present-tense conjugations of Ser, as well as everything we’ve learned in this podcast so far! Quiz the Spanish out loud to help make all of this grammar second-nature.

Why Ser is so common

The Spanish verb Ser doesn’t strictly mean “to be”; it means something much more specific. But it’s used in a wide variety of ways! Let’s learn how to think in Spanish by “thinking in Ser”, and using Ser to express identity in many different ways.

Spanish subject pronouns

Learn Spanish subject pronouns, such as él, ella, nosotros, and yo, using a memory palace! After learning how to say the Spanish words for “he”, “she”, “I”, etc., you’ll be able to form a lot of sentences entirely in Spanish.

Ser, past tense conjugations

Let’s learn the past-tense forms of Ser, using a memory palace! Today we’ll also discuss our 3-step method for learning Spanish verb conjugations so that you can use them fluently.

Ser: Advanced Use as a Linking Verb

The verb Ser is used in a lot of complex ways. Let’s practice some new sentence templates for this linking verb as we become more and more fluent with our present and past conjugations of Ser.

Spanish fluency, after a lifetime of trying!

Mike became fluent in Spanish after a lifetime of trying — in this episode we’ll talk about how he did it, and we’ll practice all of the Spanish skills we’ve learned up to this point with a comprehensive quiz.

How to use “usted” in Spanish

Usted vs tú: Why are there two words for “you” in Spanish? Today we’ll learn how to use usted and practice it in a bunch of Spanish sentence contexts.

Estar (and the magic wands)

Learn the Spanish verb Estar, using a memory palace! We’ll also talk about some ways you can use this “to be” verb, in contrast with how we’ve been using Ser.

Estar’s stabby past tense

Time for the past tense of Estar! Learn and practice estaba, estabas, and the other imperfect past forms of Estar. We’ll also work on some advanced uses of Estar, including how to use this linking verb at the end of a sentence.

Ser vs Estar Spanish Practice

Ser and Estar both translate as “to be” in English, but as you now know, the translation isn’t perfect! Let’s practice choosing the right verb, and the right conjugation, using some serious Spanish quizzing.

Practice Ser and Estar

How To Use Subjunctives in Spanish

Spanish subjunctives don’t have to be hard! Let’s learn the most common uses of Spanish subjunctives to indicate intention. We’ll get lots of practice using the subjunctives of Ser and Estar in a variety of sentences.

Using Subjunctive to Express Concepts in Spanish

Spanish subjunctives are often used to express abstract concepts such as intentions and emotions. Let’s learn some sentence templates for this, and we’ll practice them using the subjunctives of Ser and Estar.

Mi, tu, su: Spanish possessive adjectives

Let’s learn how to use “mi”, “su”, “tu”, and “nuestro” before Spanish nouns. We’ll also get some practice with new conjunctions, including “pero” and “cuando”.

El que, lo que, and la que

How do you use “lo que” in Spanish, without confusing it with “el que” and “la que”? And when should you use “qué” instead? Let’s dive into all the ways you can say “what” and “the one that” in Spanish. We’ll also learn how to use bueno and bien.

How Eric became fluent in Spanish

Eric has wanted to learn Spanish his whole life. And now, with a Spanish-speaking partner and plans to move to Spain, Spanish fluency is no longer optional! Here is his story.

Spanish Preterite vs Imperfect Past

Why does Spanish have two past tenses — the preterite and the imperfect? And how do you know which one to use in real life? Let’s explore the preterite and imperfect tenses, and we’ll also get some great practice using estaba, estuve, and estuvo.

Será, Sería, Sido, Siendo

Let’s learn the last of our important conjugations of Ser, and we’ll get some good practice with the unconjugated forms ser, sido, and siendo.

Estar, our last few forms!

Let’s wrap up learning Estar by working on estará, estaría, estarían, estarías, estaríamos, and estado.

This thing, that thing // Do all Spanish nouns have a gender?

Esta, esto, este… esa, eso, and ese… let’s learn all the words for “this” and “that”. We’ll also talk about why some pronouns don’t have a grammatical gender, even though all nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine.

Practicing Ser and Estar, in all tenses

Let’s get lots of quizzing practice with Ser and Estar, in every commonly used tense and mood! We’ll also learn the prepositions del and al.

Haber

Let’s learn the verb haber so that we can use he, ha, has, han, and hemos to put other verbs in the past, using their participles.

Algo, nada, todo, and les

Let’s learn a lot more Spanish pronouns, including indirect objects, as well as the words for “something”, “nothing”, and “everything”.

Hacer, hecho, and haciendo

Let’s learn how to use the words hacer, hecho, and haciendo in Spanish.

Ya vs ahora

How do you say “now” in Spanish? Today we’ll explore a bunch of Spanish adverbs, including the words “ahora” and “ya”, the two different ways you can say “now”. We’ll also talk about some of the many ways “ya” can be translated into English.

Conmigo, contigo, and Spanish prepositional pronouns

Prepositional pronouns let us do a lot of creative things in Spanish! Let’s learn how to say things like “with him”, “with her”, “for them”, and “from us” in Spanish.

Spanish complex tenses

The past of the past? The continuous future? What is the purpose of complex verb phrases such as habías hecho and estará haciendo? Let’s learn how to do fun, complex things with verb tenses.

Ir

Let’s learn how to say “go” in Spanish! We’ll learn the present-tense conjugations of Ir (voy, va, vas, van, and vamos), using a memory palace.

How to put any Spanish verb in the future

Let’s learn how to use Ir to mean “going to”. This is how we can put any verb in the future, simply by using our conjugations of Ir along with an infinitive.

How to conjugate Ir in Spanish

The verb Ir is one of the most irregular verbs in Spanish. Let’s learn its many conjugations, including the preterite, the subjunctive, and the future tense, using a memory palace.

Practice Ir Out Loud

Use this quiz to practice using the Spanish verb Ir in all kinds of different ways — the present, the preterite, the imperfect, the future, and the subjunctive. Try to predict each Spanish sentence and speak out loud!

Reflexive pronouns and Irse

Spanish reflexive pronouns are tricky, and they have many different uses! Let’s learn how to use se, me, te, and nos, especially when they turn Ir (“to go”) into Irse (“to leave”).

Señor, verdad, and vida

Let’s learn 10 common Spanish nouns — including the words for “life”, “truth”, “woman”, and “man”, as well as the idioms for “actually” and “really”.

Hay and greetings

Buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches! In this episode we’ll cover some essential greetings and polite terms in Spanish, such as gracias and de nada. We’ll also discuss how to use Haber to talk about existence, using words like hay and había.

Spanish Adverbs

Where, when, how, and how much? Let’s learn how to ask some common questions in Spanish, as well as the adverbs you can use to answer them!

Idioms

Sometimes words don’t mean what they seem to mean! Let’s use our Spanish vocabulary to create new meanings by combining them into non-literal phrases we call idioms — such as ya que and ya está.

Tener

Tener and Haber are the two ways to say “have” in Spanish. Let’s start learning Tener and practice using the present tense conjugations (tengo, tiene, tienes, tienen, and tenemos).

How to say “had” in Spanish

The Spanish verb Tener has a lot of conjugations — let’s learn the many ways this verb is used, including the preterite, imperfect past tense, future, and subjunctive. We’ll also get a lot of spoken practice using Tener in context.

How to express obligation in Spanish

How do you use Tener and Haber to talk about obligations, such as “I had to do that” and “someone needs to do it”? Let’s explore the Tener + que and Haber + que constructions that Spanish uses to express obligation.

Spanish imperatives

Spanish imperatives can be tricky, especially some of the most-used imperatives such as ve, ten, and váyase. Let’s learn both the positive and negative imperatives of Ir, Irse, and Tener — and get lots of practice using them in context.

Spanish Imperative Practice

Let’s practice using Spanish imperatives out loud! Here’s a spoken quiz to give you a variety of ways to practice imperative terms such as vete, váyase, ten, and tenga

The Spanish personal “a”

Why does the Spanish preposition “a” appear right before some direct objects? Let’s practice using the personal “a” in Spanish sentences. We’ll also learn a couple of new idioms involving other Spanish prepositions.

Ser, the preterite tense

How do you use fui, fue, fuiste, fueron, and fuimos as forms of Ser? Let’s learn how to use Ser’s preterite tense — which looks and sounds exactly like the preterite tense of Ir!

Fuera and other past tense subjunctives

Why does Spanish have a past tense subjunctive — and will you ever need it? Let’s learn how to use fuera, estuviera, and tuviera.

Porque and Hasta

What’s the difference between “because” and “because of” in Spanish? Let’s talk about porque versus por, as well as the several different meanings of hasta.

Practice fue, fui, and fuera

Today we’ll get lots of out-loud practice with some of the trickiest forms of Ser and Ir, such as fue, fui, fuiste, fueron, fuimos, and fuera. We’ll also learn some new ways that you can use todo.

Hacer - “to do” or “to make”

The Spanish verb Hacer means both “to do” and “to make”. Let’s practice its present-tense forms, hago, hace, haces, hacen, and hacemos, as well as the unconjugated forms. We’ll also practice Hacerse, which roughly means “to become”.

How to conjugate Hacer

Let’s learn the rest of the essential forms of Hacer, including the imperfect past (such as hacía), the preterite (such as hice), the future (such as haré), and the subjunctive (such as haga). We’ll also explore verb contractions, such as hacerlo and hazlo.

Redundant Indirect Objects

Why does Spanish use the phrases “se lo” and “se la” so often? And when does le turn into se? Let’s explore some advanced uses of Spanish indirect objects. We’ll also get lots of practice using the “redundant a” and putting our object pronouns in the right order in Spanish sentences.

Problema, trabajo, razón, and idea

The most common Spanish nouns aren’t physical objects — they’re abstract ideas, such as problema, trabajo, razón, and idea. Let’s learn and practice several Spanish abstract nouns.

Practice Hacer

Let’s get some good spoken practice with all the conjugations of Hacer, along with all the other Spanish we’ve learned recently on the podcast. Try to answer all the quiz questions out loud!

Poder

How do you say “can” in Spanish? Today we’ll explore the verb Poder and start using it to say “can”, “can’t”, and “might” in Spanish.

How to say “could” in Spanish

Let’s learn the rest of the essential conjugations of Poder, including the past tense, the future tense, and the subjunctive, so that we can say “was able”, “will be able”, “would be able”, and “could”.

Spanish adjectives: Feliz, mismo, seguro

Today we’ll learn some Spanish adjectives, including feliz, mismo, seguro, and claro. These are very frequent adjectives that you’ll encounter in just about every Spanish conversation.

Hora, minuto, semana, y mes

Spanish has a lot of nouns for time. Let’s learn the words for “hour”, “minute”, “week”, “month”, and many more. We’ll also learn how to talk about clock time in Spanish, such as how to say “one o’clock” or “three o’clock”.

Practice Poder

Let’s practice saying things like “can”, “can’t”, “could”, and “couldn’t” in Spanish, in real-life contexts. Quiz and speak along!

Querer: “want” and “love”

Let’s learn the Spanish verb Querer, which means “to want” and “to love”. We’ll practice using the unconjugated forms (querer and querido), along with all the present-tense forms (quiero, quiere, quieres, quieren, and queremos).

Spanish for “loved” and “wanted”

Let’s conjugate Querer in the past! We’ll learn how to say “wanted”, “loved”, and a version of the word “meant” in Spanish. We’ll also work on Querer’s many subjunctive forms, which are more common than you might expect.

Spanish adjectives: Nuevo, menos, muerto, vivo

Let’s learn some essential Spanish adjectives, such as nuevo, menos, muerto, and vivo. We’ll get lots of practice with these, including the nuances of when to use adjectives with Ser versus with Estar.

Nombre, tipo, historia, and other Spanish abstract nouns

Let’s practice some common Spanish abstract nouns, including nombre, tipo, historia, and poco.

Practice Querer out loud

In this episode we’ll practice the verb Querer, in all of its essential conjugations, with an extensive quiz. Practice along out loud!

Saber

The Spanish verb Saber means “to know”. Let’s learn saber, sabido, sé, sabe, sabes, saben, and sabemos. We’ll also get lots of practice using this verb out loud.

Supe, sabrá, haya, and hubiera

Let’s learn the rest of our conjugations of Saber, as well as a few new conjugations of Haber, including the subjunctive and the preterite.

Desde, sin, sobre, and hace

Let’s learn the last of our essential pronouns, including sin, sobre, desde, hace, and contra. We’ll also practice the possessive pronouns mío, tuyo, and suyo.

How to talk about family in Spanish

Let’s learn the most common Spanish words for family members, including, “brother”, “sister”, “mother”, and “father”. We’ll also get lots of spoken practice with all these words.

Practice Saber

Let’s get lots of spoken practice with the Spanish verb Saber, in all its conjugations and nuanced uses!

Decir

Let’s learn the Spanish verb Decir, which means “to say” or “to tell”. We’ll get lots of practice using Decir out loud in a variety of sentences, with both direct and indirect objects!

Decir in the past

Let’s conjugate Decir in the past, as well as learn Decir’s imperatives, so that we can say things like “I said it”, “she will say something”, and “tell him this”.

Hoy, mañana, ayer

Let’s learn some adverbs related to time, including the words for “today”, “tomorrow”, “yesterday”, and “still”.

Ayuda, camino, pregunta

Let’s learn some abstract nouns in Spanish, including the words for “question”, “help”, and “opportunity”.

Practice using the Spanish verb Decir

Here’s a quiz to practice Decir, out loud, in a wide variety of sentence contexts.

Dar

The Spanish verb Dar means “to give”. Let’s practice the present tense and unconjugated forms (dar, dado, and dando).

Di, dio, daré

Let’s keep working on Dar — we’ll practice the preterite (di, dio, dieron, etc.) as well as the subjunctive forms, imperatives, and contractions.

Aunque, cual, pues

Spanish connecting words can be tricky, but we’ll get lots of practice with them in today’s episode! Let’s work on the words aunque, cual, pues, mientras, and several others, and quiz them in lots of spoken practice.

Cuerpo, manos, ojos, and cabeza

Let’s learn some body parts in Spanish! The most commonly mention parts of the body include “hands”, “head”, “heart”, “eyes”. Let’s learn these and several more Spanish nouns, and we’ll also get lots of spoken practice with them in context.

Practice Dar

Practice the Spanish verb Dar out loud, in a variety of sentence contexts, by speaking along with today’s episode.

Poner

Let’s work on the verb Poner, which means “to put”, and Ponerse, which can be used in a variety of ways. We’ll get lots of spoken practice with poner, puesto, pongo, pone, pones, ponen, and ponemos.

¡Ponte feliz!

Let’s keep working on Poner and Ponerse. We’ll practice the preterite (puse, puso, pusiste, etc.) as well as the subjunctive forms, imperatives, and contractions.

Casi, igual, quizás, and other Spanish adverbs

There are a lot of Spanish adverbs that talk about whether or not something is true — or whether it *might* be true. Let’s learn words for “maybe”, “almost”, “really”, and several more.

Clase, paz, amor, and Suponer

Let’s learn how to say “I guess” in Spanish, as well as several essential nouns, including the words for “class”, “love”, “fear”, and “peace.

Practice Poner and Suponer

Let’s practice Poner and Suponer, including Suponerse and the idiom por supuesto, using a big quiz. Speak along to practice out loud!

Ver

How do you talk about “seeing” things in Spanish? Let’s learn the verb Ver and all of its essential conjugations, so we can say things like “I see”, “they saw”, and “let’s see”.

Venir

The Spanish verb Venir means “to come”. Let’s learn Venir and all of its essential conjugations, so we can say things like “come here”, “they came yesterday”, and “she wants to come to my party”.

Indefinite Adjectives

Alguno, ninguno, suficiente, demasiado… let’s learn and practice Spanish indefinite adjectives so that we can say things like “some”, “none”, “enough”, “too much”, and “each”.

Agua, dinero, auto

Let’s learn some fun Spanish nouns, including words for “water”, “money”, “car”, and “light”. We’ll also get lots of good spoken practice with these new words.

No more Spanglish!

Let’s practice our Spanish, including our new verbs Ver and Venir and our new nouns. All of today’s sentence examples will be entirely in Spanish, as will all of our Spanish practice on the rest of this podcast!