OpenCourser brand icon
Sign in
We may earn an affiliate commission when you visit our partners.
Course image
Udemy logo

3 Minute Spanish - Course 1

Language lessons for beginners

4.8 Filled star Filled star Filled star Filled star Half star
Based on 3,826 ratings
see reviews
Kieran Ball

Hola y bienvenidos :-)(Hello and welcome)

There is nothing more thrilling than being able to speak to the locals in their own language when you visit a foreign country. Well, now you can experience that amazing feeling too.

My name is Kieran Ball and I’ve been teaching foreign languages in my hometown for over fifteen years. I love languages, I love learning and I love teaching. I also love chocolate, but this isn’t really the place to discuss my chocoholism.

Read more

Hola y bienvenidos :-)(Hello and welcome)

There is nothing more thrilling than being able to speak to the locals in their own language when you visit a foreign country. Well, now you can experience that amazing feeling too.

My name is Kieran Ball and I’ve been teaching foreign languages in my hometown for over fifteen years. I love languages, I love learning and I love teaching. I also love chocolate, but this isn’t really the place to discuss my chocoholism.

I created 3 Minute Spanish as a way to make learning Spanish easier than ever before and accessible to anybody, especially people who have tried and failed in the past. My course is perfect for the complete beginner as I break down the Spanish language into tiny chunks that I show you how to build back together again in a logical, simple to understand way. You can go from knowing no Spanish at all to putting together your own sentences in just a few minutes. Watch the free preview lessons below and you’ll see what I mean.

If nothing else, I just want you to see how easy it is to learn Spanish.

As the name suggests, each lesson in this course lasts just three minutes (more or less. ). In each lesson, you learn a tiny chunk of Spanish that you can use to build sentences. As you work through the course, you learn more and more little chunks and your sentences will gradually get longer and longer.

The chunks that you learn in the first lessons are carried through to the last lessons. This means you don’t have to worry about trying to remember everything; you will get so much opportunity for practice that you will find the words and phrases just sink into your brain.

The lessons in this course are focused, practical and effective, and you will build language skills that you can use straight away in real-world situations. You will be able to speak Spanish comfortably and with confidence whenever you’re in a Spanish speaking country.

When you begin learning something new, you tend to start off with lots of excitement and motivation. You might spend a few hours on the first day learning, but then the next day, you can only manage one hour, and then that goes down to half an hour, and then you get bored and you give up. Well, the reason behind the very short lessons is that it helps you to stay motivated and it also enhances the learning process.

By keeping your learning to short chunks, you will find three wonderful things start to happen:

1. You will maintain enthusiasm

If you want to learn anything, you have to maintain enthusiasm or else you won’t continue. If you limit your study time to just three minutes, you’ll keep Spanish fresh and exciting and you’ll be eager to learn. If you spend hours studying, very quickly you’ll get bored with Spanish and it’ll turn into a chore.

2. You will study more consistently

It’s much better to study for just three minutes once a day than to study for three hours once a week. A spare three minutes is relatively easy to find even in the most hectic of schedules. If you make sure you complete at least one three-minute study session every day, it’ll quickly become a habit that you’ll do without thinking. It’s much easier to fit in a daily three-minute habit than a weekly one-hour habit. By doing this, you’ll become a much more consistent learner, and consistency is the key to success.

3. You will remember things better

This is my favourite reason as to why you should limit your study to just three-minute chunks. If you study something for just three minutes every day, you’ll trick your brain into memorising the information more quickly than if it were to see the information for hours each day. It’ll think, “I see this information every day so it must be important, but I don’t see it for very long, so I’d better hold onto it and make it into a memory fast. ” You’ll be amazed at how much more easily things tend to stay in your brain if you limit yourself to just three minutes a day.

So, that’s why I keep the lessons to just three minutes.

It still amazes me when I get an email from somebody on the other side of the world telling me how much they have enjoyed learning Spanish with me. Apart from the thrill it gives me to find out people are listening to my voice in places like Mongolia, Peru and even Fiji, it also confirms to me that the 3 Minute Languages courses work.

So, if you want a course that teaches you to speak Spanish you can use in everyday situations using a simple and fun method, then sign up to 3 Minute Spanish today.

Gracias :-)

Kieran

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Speak spanish confidently and comfortably in everyday situations
  • Understand what's being said back to you
  • Be more than just an average tourist when travelling to spanish speaking countries
  • Go from complete beginner to building your own sentences after the very first lesson
  • Build a solid base vocabulary of words and phrases you can use straight away in the real world
  • Understand and use grammatical and linguistic features of the spanish language with ease
  • Understand the structure of the spanish language
  • Give your opinions in spanish
  • Give descriptions of things in spanish
  • Greet the locals when you are in a spanish speaking country
  • Order food and drinks in spanish
  • Get to grips with spanish pronunciation
  • Show more
  • Show less

Syllabus

Here is a brief introduction as to why three minutes is key to effective learning.

Find out how you can learn to speak a new language quickly and easily, even if you only have a few minutes spare each day.

Read more

Here you have your first few words in Spanish that you can use to start building sentences. I'll also show you what an accent on top of a Spanish word means.

In this lesson, you'll learn a new word as well as the negative version of "es".

Now you've got a few Spanish words and phrases under your belt, let's practise building some sentences with them

I'm going to say some sentences in Spanish using the words we've been learning, and you have to work out what they mean in English.

Here are some tips to show you what you can do in between lessons to keep the learning process going

You've probably noticed that a lot of Spanish words look very similar to English. Here's another one to add to your collection

Here are two more adjectives, plus I will explain to two different ways you might hear the letter C pronounced in "delicioso"

In this lesson, I'll show you the two meanings of the very useful phrase "para mí"

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 2. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Let's do some translations that incorporate words and phrases we learnt in lesson 1.

We'll start with some Spanish to English recap translations, and then we'll have a full vocabulary recap.

We'll learn a new adverb in this lesson, giving us plenty of new sentences to build.

We'll learn how to be a bit more polite in Spanish and we'll also look at a useful joining word.

We'll learn another adjective (a descriptive word) and an adverb.

We'll look at how to say "that" and "that is" in Spanish.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 3. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Let's do some translations that incorporate words and phrases we learnt in lessons 1 and 2.

In this lesson, we'll look at the pronunciation of LL in Spanish.

We'll add two new Spanish words in this lesson.

Let's add your first noun in this lesson, and look at how to use it with "es" and "no es".

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 4. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Let's do some translations that incorporate words and phrases we learnt in lessons 1, 2 and 3.

Now let's do some Spanish to English recap translations.

We'll have a full recap of all the words and phrases that we've learnt so far in this course.

We'll look at two more Spanish food-related nouns.

We've now seen two different ways to say "the" in Spanish, but what's the difference?

Let's look at a quick definition of what a noun is and how Spanish adjectives change depending on whether the noun they're describing is masculine or feminine.

Let's look at a quick definition of what an adjective is in English and in Spanish.

We'll have a quick look at the masculine and feminine versions of the adjectives we've learnt so far.

We'll learn a new adjective in this lesson, one which doesn't have a different feminine version.

I'll let you know about your first Vocabulary Expansion Sheet and how it will boost your Spanish.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 5. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Let's do some translations that incorporate words and phrases we learnt in previous lessons.

In this lesson, we'll look at how to say "my" and also the pronunciation of the letter H.

We'll learn two new useful Spanish words in this lesson; the words for "everybody" and "nice".

We'll use this lesson to build some sentences with the new words we've been learning.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 6. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

We've seen how to say "the" and "my", so now let's look at the two ways to say "a" in Spanish.

We learnt "coffee" in the last lesson, but what about "tea"? And we'll also add another word to make us sound more polite.

We'll look at a very useful phrase in Spanish in this lesson.

In this lesson, we'll look at two new nouns, one of them in the plural.

I'll let you know about your second Vocabulary Expansion Sheet; this one is all about numbers in Spanish.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 7. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Let's learn a very handy linking word and add another noun to our collection.

Let's add two more words in this lesson; an adverb and a verb.

In this lesson, we'll look at how to make nouns plural in Spanish, and we'll add two more ways to say "the".

See if you can work out how to turn these singular nouns into plural nouns - be careful with the word for "the".

We've already seen that adjectives in Spanish change when describing feminine nouns, but they also change when the noun is plural.

Every adjective in Spanish has four versions, so let's look at the adjectives we've learnt so far in the masculine, feminine, singular and plural.

Let's add a random feminine noun and a random masculine noun to our collection, and we can use them to make the singular-plural rules clearer.

It will probably not surprise you that there is a plural way to say "me" in Spanish.

Let me share with you a little bit of advice about all these language rules we've been learning in this lesson.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 8. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

After such a complicated last lesson, I thought I would make this lesson a lot simpler.

Here are some more greetings words for you in Spanish.

Let's look at the last lot of Spanish greetings words and phrases.

It's time now to practise what we've been learning in lesson 9. How do you say these sentences in Spanish?

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Breaks down the Spanish language into small, manageable segments, which is ideal for learners who are new to the language or have struggled with it in the past
Focuses on practical language skills for real-world situations, which is useful for those planning to visit Spanish-speaking countries and want to communicate effectively
Emphasizes consistent, short study sessions, which helps learners maintain enthusiasm and improve memorization, making language learning feel less like a chore
Builds a solid base vocabulary of words and phrases, which allows learners to start constructing their own sentences from the very first lesson
Teaches grammatical and linguistic features of the Spanish language with ease, which helps learners understand the structure of the language
Includes vocabulary expansion sheets, which may require learners to have access to a printer in order to make the most of the course

Save this course

Create your own learning path. Save this course to your list so you can find it easily later.
Save

Reviews summary

Bite-sized spanish for absolute beginners

According to learners, neutral3 Minute Spanish - Course 1neutral is a positivehighly accessible starting pointpositive for positiveabsolute beginnerspositive. The positiveshort, bite-sized lessonspositive are particularly praised as being positiveeasy to fit into a busy daypositive and helping with positivequick learning and retentionpositive of positivepractical, everyday Spanishpositive. It builds a positivesolid foundationpositive for communication, especially for travel. However, students note that as neutralCourse 1neutral, it only covers the neutralbasicsneutral and offers warninglimited depthwarning in areas like grammar or extensive vocabulary, requiring follow-up courses for further progress.
Basic guidance on Spanish sounds
"The course includes some tips on Spanish pronunciation rules."
"I learned about specific letter sounds like 'C' and 'LL'."
"It gives you a helpful start on sounding more natural when speaking."
Clear, simple, and motivating style
"The instructor's style made learning fun and simple."
"He explains things very clearly and makes it easy to follow along."
"Kieran makes learning Spanish feel approachable and boosts confidence."
Useful for travel and basic chat
"I learned phrases I could actually use on my trip."
"The focus on everyday situations was really helpful."
"It teaches words and phrases you can apply right away in real life."
Great starting point, not overwhelming
"As someone with zero Spanish, this course was perfect for me."
"It breaks everything down simply for a complete beginner."
"I didn't feel lost or overwhelmed like I have with other language courses."
Easy to fit into daily routine
"I could easily squeeze in a lesson during a coffee break."
"The 3-minute format kept me motivated every day."
"Learning in small chunks really helped me remember things better."
Needs follow-up courses for fluency
"It's a great introduction, but you definitely need Course 2 and beyond for more depth."
"Don't expect fluency from just this first course alone."
"It gives you the basics, but you'll need more study for advanced topics."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in 3 Minute Spanish - Course 1 | Language lessons for beginners with these activities:
Review Basic Spanish Grammar
Reinforce your understanding of basic Spanish grammar concepts before starting the course. This will make it easier to grasp new concepts and build a solid foundation.
Browse courses on Spanish Grammar
Show steps
  • Review articles and nouns.
  • Study basic verb conjugations.
  • Practice sentence construction.
Read 'Spanish for Dummies'
Supplement the course with a beginner-friendly guide to Spanish. This book can help reinforce concepts and provide additional examples.
View Spanish For Dummies, Enhanced Edition on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the chapters on basic grammar.
  • Practice the exercises in the book.
  • Review vocabulary lists.
Duolingo Spanish Practice
Practice basic Spanish vocabulary and grammar through Duolingo. This will reinforce the concepts taught in the course and improve retention.
Show steps
  • Complete the first few modules.
  • Focus on pronunciation exercises.
  • Review learned vocabulary daily.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Create Spanish Flashcards
Create flashcards with Spanish words and phrases learned in the course. This will help with memorization and vocabulary retention.
Show steps
  • Write Spanish words on one side.
  • Write English translations on the other.
  • Review flashcards regularly.
Explore 'Easy Spanish Step-by-Step'
Use a step-by-step guide to reinforce Spanish grammar and vocabulary. This book provides a structured approach to learning.
View Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, Premium Second... on Amazon
Show steps
  • Work through the chapters sequentially.
  • Complete the exercises at the end of each chapter.
  • Review grammar explanations.
Write a Short Spanish Diary Entry
Practice writing in Spanish by keeping a short daily diary. This will help improve your writing skills and reinforce vocabulary and grammar.
Show steps
  • Write a few sentences about your day.
  • Use vocabulary learned in the course.
  • Focus on correct grammar.
Watch Spanish Language Videos
Watch short Spanish language videos on YouTube or other platforms. This will improve your listening comprehension and expose you to different accents and speaking styles.
Show steps
  • Find videos for Spanish learners.
  • Watch with subtitles initially.
  • Try watching without subtitles.

Career center

Learners who complete 3 Minute Spanish - Course 1 | Language lessons for beginners will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Tour Guide
A tour guide leads groups of people on excursions, providing information about the locations they visit. For tour guides working in Spanish-speaking regions, a solid grasp of the language is essential for communicating with local people and offering a more immersive experience. This course is extremely useful for a tour guide, because it helps build confidence in speaking and understanding the Spanish language, and it is designed to be practical and applicable to real-world interactions. The method of learning is convenient for someone with a busy schedule, as lessons are designed to be short and efficient. A tour guide can develop strong language skills with this course.
See salaries and explore the career path for Tour Guide
Travel Agent
A travel agent helps clients plan and book trips, often to international destinations. This role requires strong communication skills, and familiarity with the culture and language of the places they serve. This course, which emphasizes practical Spanish for everyday situations, is highly relevant for a travel agent. It allows them to more effectively communicate with clients and vendors in Spanish-speaking countries. The course's focus on building sentences, vocabulary, and understanding basic grammar provides a helpful foundation for anyone wishing to work in this field.
See salaries and explore the career path for Travel Agent
Hotel Concierge
A hotel concierge provides guests with information about the hotel and the surrounding area, and they also arrange for various services. Knowledge of multiple languages can be a major asset. This course is very useful for a hotel concierge, as it provides practical Spanish language skills for everyday situations. The course teaches basic vocabulary and phrases that a concierge can use while assisting guests. It emphasizes quick learning with short lessons. This allows a concierge to develop the ability to communicate effectively with guests from Spanish-speaking countries.
See salaries and explore the career path for Hotel Concierge
Restaurant Server
Restaurant servers interact with customers, take orders, and serve food. In many areas, learning to communicate in multiple languages can help better serve a diverse clientele. This course is particularly useful for a restaurant server. The course teaches basic Spanish vocabulary and phrases related to ordering food and drinks, which is highly relevant for front-of-house staff. It also emphasizes practical skills for real-world situations. This course may help a server develop the language skills to communicate well with their customers.
See salaries and explore the career path for Restaurant Server
Cultural Liaison
A cultural liaison acts as a bridge between different cultures, improving understanding and communication. This role requires strong interpersonal skills and a knowledge of various languages and customs. This course is beneficial for a cultural liaison working with Spanish speaking communities. This course teaches the basics of the Spanish language, and it includes practical phrases useful in everyday interactions. This can significantly enhance a cultural liaison's ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with those who speak Spanish.
See salaries and explore the career path for Cultural Liaison
International Aid Worker
An international aid worker provides support and assistance to people in need, often in foreign countries. This role requires significant communication skills, as well as the ability to connect with people from diverse cultures. This course is helpful for an international aid worker. This course teaches the basics of the Spanish language. This can help a worker communicate effectively with people in Spanish-speaking countries. The course also helps build confidence in speaking and understanding the language.
See salaries and explore the career path for International Aid Worker
International Sales Representative
An international sales representative is responsible for selling products or services to clients in other countries. To be successful, this role demands excellent communication skills and cultural sensitivity. This course is helpful for anyone wishing to become an international sales representative. The course teaches practical Spanish skills that can be used in everyday situations. This helps build confidence in speaking and understanding the language. By focusing on structure and vocabulary, this course can help international sales representatives better serve their Spanish speaking clients.
See salaries and explore the career path for International Sales Representative
Flight Attendant
Flight attendants ensure the safety and comfort of passengers on an airplane. As part of their role, they communicate with passengers from diverse backgrounds and may need to converse in multiple languages. This course may be helpful for any flight attendant who wishes to interact with Spanish speaking passengers. This course teaches basic Spanish vocabulary and phrases that can be applied in real-world situations. It helps build a foundation in the language, especially important for those who need to communicate quickly and efficiently with passengers. The course's focus on practical skills can be very valuable.
See salaries and explore the career path for Flight Attendant
Immigration Officer
An immigration officer reviews and processes applications for people who want to enter a country. In many cases, these individuals come from various backgrounds and speak many languages. This course is helpful for an immigration officer who works with people from Spanish-speaking countries. The course focuses on building practical language skills that can be applied in real-world situations, such as everyday conversations. It may help immigration officers to better understand and communicate with individuals who speak Spanish.
See salaries and explore the career path for Immigration Officer
Customer Service Representative
Customer service representatives assist customers with their inquiries and resolve issues. In many industries, these roles require multilingual capabilities. This course may be very useful for a customer service representative, because it helps develop conversational skills and an understanding of basic Spanish. It teaches practical phrases and vocabulary, which are helpful for interacting with Spanish-speaking customers. The course's focus on building sentences and practicing real-world scenarios can help them become more confident and effective in their customer interactions.
See salaries and explore the career path for Customer Service Representative
Interpreter
Interpreters facilitate communication between people who speak different languages in real-time. An interpreter working with Spanish must have a solid foundation in the language, as well as the ability to translate between two languages very quickly. This course may help an aspiring interpreter. It introduces practical Spanish phrases in the context of conversation. It teaches basic sentence construction and vocabulary, which are essential skills for an interpreter. The course material may help build a foundation of basic language skills, in preparation for more advanced study.
See salaries and explore the career path for Interpreter
Social Worker
A social worker helps individuals, families, and communities cope with problems, and they provide support and resources. Many social workers must effectively communicate with people from diverse backgrounds. This course may be useful for a social worker, because it provides a basic foundation in Spanish. It contains vocabulary and phrases that are useful for everyday conversations. This course may help build confidence while communicating with Spanish speaking clients. The lessons emphasize building sentences, and that may help a social worker communicate more clearly.
See salaries and explore the career path for Social Worker
Translator
A translator converts written text from one language into another, ensuring accuracy and cultural relevance. While advanced proficiency is often required for this role, this course can be a valuable starting point for anyone interested in this field. A translator who works with the Spanish language has to build a strong foundation of skills including building sentences and using proper grammar. This course may be useful to someone working as a translator, because it introduces basic Spanish sentence structures, vocabulary, and grammatical features. It may help develop the skills to transition into roles requiring higher proficiency and experience.
See salaries and explore the career path for Translator
Bilingual Educator
A bilingual educator works with students who speak more than one language, and they provide instruction in both languages. While this role typically requires advanced language proficiency, this course is helpful as a starting point. A bilingual educator who works with Spanish-speaking children must be able to communicate in a way that enhances learning. This course introduces basic Spanish sentence structures, vocabulary, and grammatical features, which are helpful for building a foundation. It may be useful for those who wish to develop a career in bilingual education.
See salaries and explore the career path for Bilingual Educator
Language Tutor
A language tutor provides individual or small group instruction to help students learn a new language. While this role often requires a higher level of proficiency than what is provided by this course, it is still highly relevant. This course teaches basic Spanish sentence construction and vocabulary, which are important skills for tutoring. It may be particularly useful for a language tutor who is teaching beginners and wants to ensure they have a solid foundation of knowledge. This course can help an aspiring tutor better understand the needs of beginner students.
See salaries and explore the career path for Language Tutor

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in 3 Minute Spanish - Course 1 | Language lessons for beginners.
Cover image
Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, Premium Second...
Save
Offers a structured approach to learning Spanish, breaking down complex topics into manageable steps. It's particularly useful for students who prefer a more systematic learning style. The book provides ample practice opportunities and reinforces grammar concepts covered in the course, making it a valuable supplementary resource.
Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, Premium Second...
Paperback
$$
(Español) Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, Premium Second...
Kindle Edition
$$
Cover image
Spanish For Dummies, Enhanced Edition
Save
Provides a comprehensive introduction to the Spanish language, covering essential grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. It's a great resource for beginners who want to build a solid foundation before or during the course. While not a substitute for focused lessons, it serves as a helpful reference and provides additional context.
Spanish For Dummies, Enhanced Edition
Paperback
Check
Spanish For Dummies, Enhanced Edition
Kindle Edition
Check

Share

Help others find this course page by sharing it with your friends and followers:
Facebook
LinkedIn
Reddit
X
Link
Email

Similar courses

Similar courses are unavailable at this time. Please try again later.
Course image
Rating
4.8 Filled star Filled star Filled star Filled star Half star
Effort
5.5 total hours
Via
Udemy
Instructor
Kieran Ball
Language
English
Traffic lights
Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Breaks down the Spanish language into small, manageable segments, which is ideal for learners who are new to the language or have struggled with it in the past
Focuses on practical language skills for real-world situations, which is useful for those planning to visit Spanish-speaking countries and want to communicate effectively
Emphasizes consistent, short study sessions, which helps learners maintain enthusiasm and improve memorization, making language learning feel less like a chore
Builds a solid base vocabulary of words and phrases, which allows learners to start constructing their own sentences from the very first lesson
Teaches grammatical and linguistic features of the Spanish language with ease, which helps learners understand the structure of the language
Includes vocabulary expansion sheets, which may require learners to have access to a printer in order to make the most of the course
Share this
Share to help others discover this course.
Facebook LinkedIn X Reddit Link Email
Begin learning today
Enroll now to gain full access to 3 Minute Spanish - Course 1.
Enroll now
Save for later
Add this course to your list. Find it anytime.
Save
Our mission

OpenCourser helps millions of learners each year. People visit us to learn workspace skills, ace their exams, and nurture their curiosity.

Our extensive catalog contains over 50,000 courses and twice as many books. Browse by search, by topic, or even by career interests. We'll match you to the right resources quickly.

Find this site helpful? Tell a friend about us.

Affiliate disclosure

We're supported by our community of learners. When you purchase or subscribe to courses and programs or purchase books, we may earn a commission from our partners.

Your purchases help us maintain our catalog and keep our servers humming without ads.

Thank you for supporting OpenCourser.

© 2016 - 2025 OpenCourser