Practice your Spanish
No matter your level of Spanish, we strongly recommend that you practice before coming to Ecuador. We hope that the following resources will help!
Online Spanish Lessons and Practice
You can take a short Spanish course online at a site called Livemocha. The course includes listening and writing exercises, and will pair you with other online students who can be your “language partners” if you want to practice Spanish with a real person. You can even have your reading and writing submissions scored by native speakers.
If you would like to explore livemocha, we have created an account for The Village Education Project. Our account is enrolled in Livemocha’s free, introductory Spanish course. However, we strongly recommend that you create your own account and sign-up for a program that suits your skill level.
To sign in to The Village Education Project account, click “Login” in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Then, log in using the following:
email: VEPvolunteer@gmail.com
password: volunteerinecuador
To register for your own account, click Register in the top right-hand corner of the screen. You will be asked a series of questions, including basic personal information and your Spanish skill level. When asked which course you would like, we recommend you select a basic free course. If you select the free course, Livemocha will try to prompt you to buy an enhanced course–just click the fine print under the ad to continue on to the free course.
Spanish Language Books
It is always a good idea to buy a pocket dictionary you can carry on hand. If you have an I-Pod Touch or I-Phone, you may also be able to buy a Spanish Dictionary App. Don’t worry about buying anything too extensive; the hostel has lots of big dictionaries you can use. However, before you leave, we advise that you write down a few basic vocabulary words you might use in the airport, in the classroom, and around the house.
In addition to a good pocket dictionary, consider buying 501 Spanish Verbs, or checking it out from the library. Not only does this book walk you through all of the basic conjugation rules in Spanish, it provides the full conjugation for 501 of the most commonly used Spanish verbs.
