Welcome to The Travelling Koala’s Spanish learning blog, where you can find articles about learning Spanish, study tips, language, and culture.

- Online Spanish Classesby adminOnline Spanish Classes: Advantages and Conditions for Optimal Learning Online Spanish classes have gained momentum particularly post-pandemic, and as technology has enabled us to communicate effectively from different parts of the world. It provides many advantages compared to traditional face-to-face learning, yet many people are still averse to them, and… Read more: Online Spanish Classes
- Four Reasons to Stop Learning Spanish Vocabularyby adminFour Reasons to Stop Learning Spanish Vocabulary Learning Spanish can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to memorise long lists of vocabulary. However, simply learning individual words in isolation might not be the most effective way to learn the language. Here are four reasons why you should stop learning Spanish… Read more: Four Reasons to Stop Learning Spanish Vocabulary
- Spanish group classes or private tuition ?by adminSpanish group classes or private tuition ? Welcome to another chapter of Spanish study tips. Our previous entry focussed on the translation of various media from one language to another. This blog entry will focus on Spanish group classes or private tuition, an age old discussion point amongst students of Spanish.… Read more: Spanish group classes or private tuition ?
- Fairy Tale, Film and Television Characters and Titles Translated to Spanishby adminWelcome to another blog entry on the Spanish language. In the last entry, we looked at learning Spanish with Children’s books. In this one, we’re going to be looking at Spanish and popular culture, and more specifically, fairy tale, film and television characters and titles translated to Spanish from English.… Read more: Fairy Tale, Film and Television Characters and Titles Translated to Spanish
- How to Study Spanish: Learning Spanish with Books for Childrenby adminWelcome to another blog entry on study methods for the Spanish language. Click on this link to read the last blog entry on the usefulness (or lack thereof?) of incorporating grammar into a study routine. This week we are going to be looking at… Learning Spanish with Books for Children… Read more: How to Study Spanish: Learning Spanish with Books for Children
- How to Study Spanish: Is Spanish Grammar Necessary?by adminWelcome to another blog entry on study methods for the Spanish language. Click on this link to read the last blog entry on ways that you can incorporate studying into your everyday activities. This week we are going to be looking at… The G word! Everyone seems scared of this… Read more: How to Study Spanish: Is Spanish Grammar Necessary?
- How to Study Spanish: Everyday Ways to Improve your Spanishby adminWelcome to another chapter of Spanish study tips. Our previous entry focussed on something that doesn’t come easy to all of us, and which is often hard for the most enthusiastic aficionado at times – finding motivation to study. Have you ever wondered what you can do semi-passively to create… Read more: How to Study Spanish: Everyday Ways to Improve your Spanish
- How to Study Spanish: Motivation to Study Spanishby adminWelcome to another entry on how to study the Spanish language! We’ve just finished looking at the various methods we can employ in a study program spaced out over the course of a week. Click on this link to read the last entry (and the ones previous to that). In… Read more: How to Study Spanish: Motivation to Study Spanish
- How to Study Spanish: Spanish Reading and Listeningby adminWelcome to the Travelling Koala ‘How to Study Spanish’ Series. This article deals with Spanish reading and listening. So far we’ve run with the attitude that many people should approach it with a regular, relatively fixed program and a dedication to sitting down (or standing up, I guess) and doing it. We’ve… Read more: How to Study Spanish: Spanish Reading and Listening
- Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne: The Great 90’s Latin Music Scene in Melbourneby adminWelcome to another Episode of a look at the Latin Music Scene in Melbourne We’ve been looking at the origins Melbourne’s Latin music, with a focus on Salsa, and now it’s time to look right at the greatness of the Latin music scene in Melbourne. The last entry focussed on… Read more: Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne: The Great 90’s Latin Music Scene in Melbourne
- Hispanic Culture & Language: Ordering Food in Spanishby adminWelcome to the final chapter on food in the Hispanic world. We’ve covered the history of Hispanic foods, from their journey from Latin America to Spain, and vice versa. We’ve explored street food around the globe and reflected on rituals and customs from the everyday to the religious and sacred.… Read more: Hispanic Culture & Language: Ordering Food in Spanish
- Hispanic Culture & Language: Food Customs in the Hispanic Worldby adminFood Customs in the Hispanic World Everyday food in the Hispanic world So here we go with the third of a four-part look at food in the Hispanic world. Missed the last one? Not to worry – you can check it out here! A lot of customs revolving around food… Read more: Hispanic Culture & Language: Food Customs in the Hispanic World
- How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Write in Spanishby adminHow to write in Spanish and incorporate it into your study sessions: In our last entry on Spanish study sessions, we covered the topic of speaking, and how it is one of the most valuable things you can do as part of a program. We also mentioned that writing… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Write in Spanish
- Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne : Salsa Dancing Lands !by adminSalsa dancing lands in Melbourne! For the fourth chapter on Salsa and Latin music in Melbourne, 1970 – 2008, we look at Latin music and Salsa as an identifiable phenomenon. To read about what led up to the events discussed in this blog entry, check out the previous post. Salsa Dancing… Read more: Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne : Salsa Dancing Lands !
- How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Speak Spanish!by adminLearning how to speak Spanish, or any language for that matter is a tremendous task. Our previous blog entries have attempted to mount the argument that learning a language is a holistic approach, and that there is no one single way of going about it. We’ve briefly introduced the… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Speak Spanish!
- Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne: Multiculturalism in the 1970s and 1980sby adminMulticulturalism in the 1970s and 1980s takes on a new flavour This is the third part on Salsa and Latin music in Melbourne, 1970 – 2008. To read about what led up to the events discussed in this blog entry, have a look at the previous post. With a sizeable… Read more: Salsa & Latin Music in Melbourne: Multiculturalism in the 1970s and 1980s
- Hispanic Culture & Language: Typical Spanish and Latin American Foodby adminWelcome to part two on Spanish and Latin American Culture and Language. Last time, we briefly discussed the history of Spanish and Latin American food around the world. In this entry, we’re going to focus more on the present, with an exploration of typical Spanish and Latin American food. Traditional and… Read more: Hispanic Culture & Language: Typical Spanish and Latin American Food
- How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Learn Spanish Grammarby adminOur previous topic was the first in outlining the study sessions that we’ll need in order to study Spanish properly. “How to learn Spanish grammar” is going to be our second session. Session 2: One hour of grammar. Learn one major rule or two… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Learn Spanish Grammar
- Salsa in Melbourne 1970-2008: Setting the Scene for Latin Musicby adminSowing the Seeds for Latin Music in Melbourne Welcome to another exploration of Salsa and Latin music in Melbourne. You can find the previous entry by clicking on this link. Post-War Globalisation Salsa and other Latin music weren’t always as popular as they are in Melbourne today.In fact, Melbourne… Read more: Salsa in Melbourne 1970-2008: Setting the Scene for Latin Music
- How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Learn Spanish Vocabularyby adminWe left off last on the topic of how to create a study plan or program, and the value of creating a fixed study schedule of several one hour sessions per week. While the order (whether it’s vocabulary-building, conversation, grammar exercises etc.) is not too important, but since we’ve already established… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 2: How to Learn Spanish Vocabulary
- How to Study Spanish pt 2: Making a Study Planby adminIn this second part of the series on how to approach the Spanish language (check out the previous entry!) we are going to tackle the issue of making a study plan! “What?” you say… “Making a study program is easy! Motivation is the hard part!” We’ll address the issue of… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 2: Making a Study Plan
- Salsa in Melbourne 1970 – 2008: An Introductionby adminThe Early Origins of Salsa in Melbourne The 1980s were a decade which marked the arrival of salsa in Melbourne as an identifiable music ‘scene’. Yet there had existed an era when such popular cultural movements could not have been celebrated as they came to be, neither by those who had… Read more: Salsa in Melbourne 1970 – 2008: An Introduction
- How to Study Spanish pt 1: A Final Word on Materials & Some Fun Ways to Study Spanishby adminLet’s start with a final note on materials and a brief look at some fun ways to study spanish. Go buy yourself some flash cards, which are essentially just pieces of cardboard which you write words on in order to memorise them (more on these and ways to use them… Read more: How to Study Spanish pt 1: A Final Word on Materials & Some Fun Ways to Study Spanish
- Spanish and Latin American Culture and Languageby adminOver the next few weeks we are going to be uploading several articles on Spanish and Latin American culture, which will include insights for the intrepid traveller. We’ll also include pieces on travel Spanish and how they relate to cultural interactions! First up is an article relating to the title of… Read more: Spanish and Latin American Culture and Language
- How to Study Spanish Part 1: A Continuation of the Materialsby adminThe Importance of Physical and Online Materials In the second entry on Spanish study methods, we looked at books. This third entry will focus on the importance of a dictionary, and we can’t stress enough the importance of it! Don’t buy one of those micro dictionaries unless you want to… Read more: How to Study Spanish Part 1: A Continuation of the Materials
