Let's face it: learning a foreign language is not easy.

I learned that the hard way after I received an opportunity to spend a year living in South America. Since I had taken Spanish for years in high school and college, I assumed that I would be meeting people and making friends in Spanish in no time.

Boy, was I wrong. After four months of living in South America, I was still barely able to have a basic conversation in Spanish. Although I could quote my grammar textbook's explanation of the use of the imperfect subjunctive by heart, I was useless when it came to actually conversing in Spanish.

Walking into stores or restaurants, I was mostly reduced to grunting and pointing at what I wanted. I was not able to make friends, talk to girls, or have any significant social interaction with the locals.

The most important thing I discovered was that in order to improve my ability to converse, I needed to spend most of my time speaking and listening. Once I replaced the time I was spending on flashcards and grammar drills with time actively listening and speaking in Spanish, I began to see dramatic improvement. 

My next big discovery was that I could get by in many conversations using relatively little grammar. It turned out that it didn't matter if I sometimes used the preterite where I should have used the imperfect, or if I used the indicative instead of the subjunctive -- people could still understand what I was trying to say. 

Changing my approach to account for these principles freed me from the "paralysis by analysis" that had been making my speech slow and stunted and finally allowed me to start speaking more fluently and more confidently.

One Month Spanish incorporates these principles into a step-by-step Spanish conversation course designed to get you speaking Spanish in the shortest time possible.

But first a warning: this approach is not for everyone. If you are looking for something that is "easy" and doesn't require much effort or attention, or if you want cute games or "apps" that require no more than clicking a mouse, then this isin't for you.

But if you are you are ready to finally learn how to speak (not just read) Spanish, and are willing to put in a bit of time and effort each day, read on to find out how you can quickly build your confidence and improve your ability to converse in Spanish.