How to Learn Spanish in Your Sleep
Would it be a dream come true for you to learn Spanish in your sleep?
Well, good news! Your dreamland can double as a learning landscape with just a few tips and tricks. Read on to find out how to turn your unconscious hours into learning opportunities!
Can You Really Learn Spanish in Your Sleep?
Did you know your brain compartmentalizes vast amounts of information while you’re fast asleep? That’s right, while you are snoring and cozy in bed, your brain is still actively working!
The same areas in your brain that are used for language learning when you’re awake can be activated in your sleep! This Insider article explains that the brain’s memory regulating structures don’t care about your state of consciousness.
Compartmentalizing works by deciding which information is important to remember and what is okay to forget. There simply isn’t enough room for everything! That’s why it’s important to reinforce what you learn in Spanish in your sleep. You’re basically sending a message to your brain that says, “Hey, don’t forget this!”
It’s best to use sounds and words that you’ve heard before to learn Spanish in your sleep. Unknown words or phrases won’t really compute with your unconscious brain and are likely to be deemed unimportant.
On the other hand, a new study from the Decoding Sleep Interfaculty Research Cooperation at the University of Bern, Switzerland hints that it might be possible to learn new information while we sleep, too!
Why You Should Try to Learn Spanish in Your Sleep
The best reason to learn Spanish in your sleep is that it takes absolutely zero effort to do so! You’re going to spend hours sleeping anyway, so you might as well make them productive.
Similarly, if you don’t pick up as much as you hoped to during the night, there’s no need to worry! You didn’t actually waste any time listening to Spanish in your sleep. You would have spent those hours sleeping either way—so why not try to use them in an educational manner?
Although you won’t become fluent overnight, listening to Spanish in your sleep can only improve your language performance.
The Best Way to Learn Spanish in Your Sleep
Cerebral Cortex explains a few tricks you’ll have to use to get the maximum benefits of learning Spanish in your sleep.
The first is to be sure the audio you play while sleeping is of foreign words you’ve heard before. Listen to vocabulary you just learned in your sleep to help retain the new information.
Additionally, you’ll want to focus on the hour right before and after you fall asleep. The idea here is to get the learning in during your first stage of sleep. After you’ve passed the first sleep stage, you probably won’t pick up much.
The second step is to recall the information as soon as you wake up. Give yourself a little quiz to see if you were able to learn in your sleep!
What to Listen to While You’re Sleeping
Switch up your nightly routine with Spanish podcasts, audiobooks, and YouTube videos! Start your preferred medium an hour or two before you go to sleep. By practicing right before bed, your brain will automatically upload the new information while you sleep. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to listen again once you’re off in dreamland!
Podcasts
Podcasts are a great language learning tool. The speaker talks in a clear and easy-to-follow manner. Additionally, there are hundreds of topics to choose from! Here are just a few of the many Spanish podcasts out there.
Audiria
Audiria is an engaging podcast for students at any level! Immerse yourself in the Spanish language and culture with over 820 episodes to choose from. This podcast is entirely in Spanish.
With cooking lessons, film reviews, and much more, you can pick an episode that interests you to help you learn Spanish in your sleep.
- Podcasts in Spanish with transcripts
- Organized by difficulty level
- Exercises with each podcast
- Brief grammatical lessons in podcast format
- Free
- App Store | website
Coffee Break Spanish
Coffee Break Spanish features 233 fun episodes relating to Spanish history, culture, and—of course—coffee!
The podcast is broken down into 4 levels, so they have something for everyone! The host, Mark, is an experienced language teacher who helps you build your Spanish episode by episode.
- 15-20 minute episodes
- Travel diaries
- Audio magazine
- Espresso section
- iTunes | Google Play | Spotify | website
Audiobooks
Improve your Spanish comprehension and vocabulary as you listen to a story in your sleep.
Rapid Spanish
Rapid Spanish combines its accelerated learning technique with music for speedy acquisition. Have you ever gotten a catchy song stuck into your head? This audiobook uses rhyming to your advantage so you can quickly pick up Spanish words and phrases.
- Author: Earworms Learning
- Accelerated technique
- Melodies composed with vocabulary repetition
- No previous Spanish knowledge required
- Amazon
Short Stories in Spanish for Intermediate Learners
If you love the idea of listening to authentic short stories, or cuentos, in Spanish then this is the podcast for you. Each collection provides you with 8 short stories, ranging from science fiction to history.
- By: Olly Richards
- Narrated by: Javier Marzan
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Audible
Youtube
There are hundreds of Youtube channels to help you learn Spanish in your sleep! Find a channel with simple lessons and playlists that you can listen to on your way to dreamland.
Spanish Academy TV
Join Spanish Academy TV on a journey into language acquisition through our short, compact and goofy videos about all things Spanish! We have dozens of playlists you can put on in the background during the night for effortless studying.
- High-quality educational Spanish videos
- Hundreds of jam-packed learning lessons
- Geared toward learners of all ages and levels
- Youtube Channel
Butterfly Spanish
Learn alongside Ana on this fun and engaging Spanish channel! Ana is a native Spanish-speaker and will guide you to fluency with her enthusiasm and linguistic knowledge.
- Grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and culture
- Geared toward all Spanish levels
- Youtube Channel
Learn Spanish During the Day, Too!
Learning Spanish in your sleep is a great way to start off your language journey, but this method alone won’t get you to fluency. Private classes will motivate you to speak Spanish right away and provide you with continual feedback on your pronunciation and grammar. That’s why Homeschool Spanish Academy offers language classes with certified native speakers. Want to try it out for yourself? Schedule a free trial class today—and start speaking Spanish after just one class!
Want more free Spanish lessons, fun content, and easy learning strategies? Check these out!
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- How to Use the Pomodoro Study Technique to Master Spanish Fluency
- Back to School: Setting School Year Goals for Your Spanish Classroom
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- Most Common Mistakes in Spanish Pronunciation
- How To Use a Spaced Repetition Schedule To Learn Spanish Faster
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