I Will Teach You A Language is the source for a group of courses produced by Olly Richards and his team. Some of the courses are about HOW to go about learning a language in an effective way that will get you speaking it quickly and there are also courses at beginner, intermediate and advanced level for learning all of the major languages, including Sanish of course.
The key to learning a language quickly is to ruthlessly focus on the study activities that get you the fastest results with the least effort and time. In fact, the difference between making no progress and progressing so fast you won’t believe it often comes down to doing less, not more.
That’s why some people can learn many languages to a high level in a short space of time… While others spend years on one language without getting anywhere. Same people. Different strategies. I Will Teach You A Language courses and books follow this approach to ensure you make fast progress and avoid blockages in your language learning.
The trick is to know the learning strategies and apply them so that you get the best out of your learning time and materials.
Use the techniques applied by successful language learners by knowing what to focus on, how to study, and how to make the best use of your limited time. And have fun doing it! You will also need learning, study and practice materials that have been designed to work in these effective ways and are suitable for your level of learning.
I Will Teach You A Language was created by Olly Richards to bring all this experience and content together to make your learning a fun and effective experience and get you talking with the locals as soon as possible.
How to go about learning a language
Language Learning Foundations
The exact techniques and routines you need to learn a new language and start speaking fluently, rolled into a step-by-step, easy-to-follow video course. Over 2.5 hours of training, delivered in 10 easy-to-follow video modules. It took Olly and his team 14 years and a lot of trial and error to learn this stuff and now it has been packaged into a series of practical, actionable videos for you to start learning from right away – today! It doesn’t try to overwhelm you with every technique under the sun. Instead, it offers you the simplest, most practical and easy-to-follow guide available to exactly how to study every day to become fluent in a new language quickly.
Find out more about the Language Learning Foundations course
Make Words Stick
Find out about a powerful system for using flashcards to quickly memorise large amounts of vocabulary in a new language…and not forget it! It’s simple enough that anyone can use it (even if you hate technology!) with as little as 5 minutes a day, but so powerful that you will start to learn more vocabulary than ever before and find yourself better able to speak your target language fluently.
The beauty of this system is in the simplicity, and this awesome new guide shows you exactly how to do it. You may have experimented with flashcards before, but this is different. You can eliminate 99% of the things that often cause confusion, and use this proven formula for memorising vocabulary in a crystal clear, step-by-step way that anyone can follow!
Find out more about the Make Words Stick Ebook and get your copy
Learning Spanish
Spanish Uncovered (beginners)
Learn Spanish through the power of story, an exciting new programme for complete beginners to learn Spanish the right way, fuelled by your imagination! The story of El Hombre Del Sombrero (the man in the hat) is told over 20 chapters and the course is structured so that each teaching module is based on one chapter of the story.
At every stage of the course, you’ll be immersed in real Spanish – both the written story and the audiobook. This means that by the time you finish the course, not only will you have read an entire book in Spanish, but you’ll have a large vocabulary, so you can express yourself fully in conversations. You will also have had many hours of listening practice, so that following spoken Spanish will be effortless.
Find out more about Spanish Uncovered and how you can start using it
3 Proven Shortcuts to Conversational Spanish.
90% of Spanish learners make three specific mistakes that stop them speaking Spanish with confidence. In this free educational series, Olly Richards will reveal these mistakes, and teach you the urgent techniques you can use to become conversational in Spanish as quickly as possible.
Register to receive Olly’s free email course
Fluent Spanish Academy (intermediates)
From failure To fluency… What every “intermediate” student ought to know about becoming fluent in Spanish – Olly says…
“The reason you’re stuck at the intermediate plateau is because you’re still studying like a beginner. You’re taking classes, studying with textbooks… classroom-based learning. Am I right? “To become fluent in Spanish, you have to start behaving like a fluent Spanish speaker!”
You need to put the textbooks away, and stop learning the way you did at school. Instead, you need to start spending lots of time immersed in real Spanish – by listening and reading. In the Academy, you’ll learn the simple (yet counterintuitive) study methods that can transform your Spanish in a matter of weeks, get custom-made material designed for intermediate learners and join an intimate community of like-minded Spanish learners to help drive your success.
The Fluent Spanish Academy is an online learning environment with storybooks, text, audio and video lessons that will reinforce your intermediate Spanish and take you towards fluency in a fun and intuitive way.
Find out more and get access to the Fluent Spanish Academy
Grammar Hero – Spanish (intermediates)
Tired of translating in your head when you speak Spanish? The Grammar Hero course helps you internalise Spanish grammar, speak with authenticity & communicate with freedom!
As with the other courses, the power of learning grammar through stories and listening to the audio at the same time helps you retain more than you could by reading alone. You will discover that you don’t need to learn every single grammar rule in the language to enjoy the stories if they are written at the right level for you and that through “controlled immersion” you can very quickly learn and internalise how the grammar works.
Once you start to see “grammar in action”, the same way a native speaker would, you develop an instinctive feel for which situations require what grammar, and even which verb conjugations “sound right”. Before long, you can quickly and accurately pick the correct verb tense, conjugation or preposition when you’re speaking and without having to rely on English thought patterns to express yourself.
Find out more abour Grammar Hero for Spanish
Conversations in Spanish (intermediates)
Ever felt frustrated listening to fast Spanish and not understanding much of it? Conversations helps you understand real Spanish & transform your listening and comprehension skills in less than 90 Days.
If you want to improve your listening skills, you need to find material that bridges the gap between “too easy” and “super advanced”. “comprehensible input” means using learning materials that you can understand just enough that you can follow along with the gist of the conversation…even if there are some unknown words, but also stretches you. Think of Comprehensible Input as: “Your current level +1”
As well as being at the right level, you need material that is interesting and compelling, the right length and based on real conversations, including common slang and expressions so you can learn how people actually talk. You need to listen to native Spanish speakers and also have a full transcript of all the audio so you follow along as you improve your listening speed.
In Conversations, you find yourself transported to Spain, in the middle of an intriguing story, told in 20 parts. You follow every twist and turn of the story through in-depth conversations in Spanish between the six characters. The actors in Conversations speak with a variety of accents, so you learn to understand different accents and avoid nasty surprises out in the real world when you hear a new accent for the first time!
More information on the Conversations in Spanish course
Spanish Learning Books
As well as the online language learning courses, Olly has written some excellent books for I Will Teach You A Language that you will also find very helpful as you learn Spanish.
Short stories in Spanish for beginners
This book has been written especially for students from beginner to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, and most importantly – enjoyment! Make reading fun while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary.
* Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller
* Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently
* Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability
* Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way
Short stories in Spanish for beginners Volume 2
Featuring 8 brand new stories with realistic amounts of new vocabulary so that you’re not overwhelmed by complex words.
* Carefully written Spanish using straightforward grammar that is comprehensible for beginner level learners
* Regular plot summaries, comprehension questions and word reference lists
* A five-step plan for reading the stories in this book the smart way.
Short stories in Spanish for intermediates
An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for intermediate learners of Spanish. With intriguing plots that will spark your imagination and keep you reading, Short Stories in Spanish for Intermediate Learners will take your grasp of Spanish to the next level with key features to support and consolidate your progress, including:
* A glossary for bolded words in each text
* A bilingual word list
* Full plot summary
* Comprehension questions after each chapter.
101 Conversations in Simple Spanish
Real Spanish people don’t speak like your textbook… so it’s no wonder you feel unprepared when it’s your turn to speak!This book fixes that. For the first time, you’ll learn to move beyond beginner level, and speak Spanish in the real world! With 101 authentic conversations in intermediate Spanish, you’ll become confident in the words, phrases and expressions you need to communicate like a local.
101 Conversations in Intermediate Spanish transports you into a real-world story that unfolds between six Spanish characters, told by the people themselves. Over 15,000 words of real Spanish, you’ll immerse yourself in a gripping Spanish drama and get an education in natural Spanish in the process
101 Conversations in Intermediate Spanish
101 conversations in intermediate Spanish, so you can learn the real Spanish spoken in the street, understand spoken Spanish with ease, and have Spanish roll off your tongue more fluently.
* Over 15,000 words of dialogue in real, daily spoken Spanish
* Carefully written to be accessible for intermediate learners (B1-B2 on the CEFR)
* Word lists with English definitions in every chapter, so you can get instant translations of any difficult words.
* Summaries of each conversation which contextualise each dialogue, so you can easily follow the plot and enjoy the story without getting lost.
Find out more about I Will Teach You A Language and get access to their great Spanish learning resources
We can aslo recommend the courses at “Fluent in 3 Months” by Benny Lewis – find out more in our post.
