Take Spanish lessons in Edinburgh with a private tutor

Finding the Perfect Spanish Tutor in Edinburgh

With nearly 500 million native speakers in Spain and the Americas, Spanish is the fourth most-spoken language in the world. Because of this, it's also becoming increasingly popular for students to study at school and for anyone outside of education to learn in their free time.

Whether you're interested in learning a new language for your studies, to further your career, or to use on your holidays, Edinburgh is home to many private Spanish language tutors.

If you still haven't made your mind up, let us show you the benefits of studying Spanish, the difficulties you may encounter, and how to find the perfect Spanish language tutor in Edinburgh.

Why it's Important to Study Spanish

Like with learning any new language, studying Spanish comes with plenty of benefits. You probably wouldn't think it, but studying Spanish can improve your understanding of English. After all, we don't tend to study our mother tongue in the way we study foreign languages so our knowledge of English can sometimes be lacking. By studying a foreign language, you'll learn more about grammar and the structure of language, all knowledge that can be applied to English, too.

Studies have also shown that by learning a new language, you can improve your cognitive abilities. Those who can speak a foreign language tend to be better decision-makers, perform better during cognitive tasks, and have improved memory.

Learning Spanish will also allow you to better understand Spanish-speaking cultures and countries. Furthermore, you'll be able to speak with all the locals and connect with more people from around the world.

Studying a new language can also improve your confidence. When learning Spanish, you'll regularly be forced to step outside of your comfort zone. While initially, this may be daunting at first, you'll stop worrying about making mistakes and as your level gets better, you'll gain more confidence in not just your Spanish abilities but yourself.

Challenges in Spanish

Much like with learning any new language, there are a few challenges that Spanish students will face. You won't gain fluency (or an advanced level) overnight and you might be surprised at just how many lessons, how much teaching, and how much practice it can take just to learn the basics. Put simply, the more you use your new language, the higher the level you'll achieve. Practise makes perfect, after all.

The amount of time required to learn a new language might make you think that university is the only option but even 3 or 4 years of study won't necessarily guarantee that you'll reach fluency. With limited contact time, you need to be practising Spanish every day.

The hardest thing about learning a new language (including Spanish) is the sheer amount of time you have to put into it. Ideally, you should be practising your Spanish every day either with a teacher, a private tutor, a Spanish-speaking friend or fellow student, or with the natives of a Spanish-speaking country.

Learning to speak Spanish can be very rewarding but there's no doubt that it can take years to get to a decent level.

Areas of Spanish Studied at School

It's hardly surprising that the fourth most-spoken language in the world is taught a lot in schools around the UK. In Edinburgh, students in secondary school will be able to study a Spanish National 5.

The course is broken down into the main parts of language: listening, reading, talking, writing, and grammar, which forms the foundation of any language. Classes at school will cover all of these topics but with so many students in a given class, sometimes the teaching isn't as effective as it could be.

If you do find yourself to be struggling, it may be worthwhile discussing with your teacher whether or not looking for a private tutor could help. There's a lot of learning to be done and even a teacher with a lot of experience can struggle to teach every student if each of them is at a different level and learns a language differently.

Private Tuition in Spanish

If you're interested in learning Spanish and are still young enough to be in school, then studying it there is the first thing you should be doing. A course like the aforementioned National 5 will give you the foundations to start using Spanish and you'll need to move onto the Spanish Higher before going to university to study it.

If you're finished with schooling or just don't fancy studying Spanish at a degree level, that's fine. There are plenty of ways to learn the language. As we mentioned, learning Spanish can take a lot of time so hiring a private tutor is one of the best ways to regularly practise and learn more about your new language.

Tutors can tailor their lessons to the student so they'll work with your strengths and weaknesses to ensure that the classes are effective and that your level improves (even if just by a little) with every session.

Finding a Spanish Tutor in Edinburgh

To find Spanish tutors in Edinburgh, you just need to search for them on Superprof. Many offer the first lesson for free so you can make sure that they're capable of teaching your level and that you get along with them.

As we said, learning a new language requires years of study and a lot of practice so you'll be speaking with your tutor a lot. It'd be awful if you didn't get along with them! Try several different tutors as what might be right for some students may not be right for others. Make sure that you're able to practise regularly and that you're learning during each lesson. Slowly but surely, your level will improve and you'll soon be able to show off what you've been learning to other Spanish speakers!

If you can't find any suitable Spanish language tutors in Edinburgh, don't forget that there are plenty offering lessons online so students can learn their new language from the comfort of their own home over video conferencing software.