Answer: If you are starting out, a pocket dictionary is good enough. But you need to invest in a decent dictionary, a big hardcover dictionary if possible, as you go up in your class level. El Diccionario de la Lengua Espa ola is one of the best. One tip: Make it a habit to look things up. Soak up on their Spanish definitions rather than looking up for their simple translations. You learn from it. The same goes with language-learning. Language teachers would say that committing mistakes would show that you are indeed putting some effort into learning. You make mistakes in Spanish because you are participating in activities like conversation or writing. When conversing with a local or native Spanish speaker, they would often appreciate a person who tries to speak Spanish even with a lot of mistakes. Teens who have knowledge of foreign language show higher mean scores for their college applications according to the College Entrance Examination Board. Those who have knowledge of four or more years of another language would usually get higher scores on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (S. Articles Learn to use the commonly-needed articles (UN, UNA, EL, LA, LOS, LAS) in your sentences. Incorrectly using them will not keep you from being understood, but you will be marked as an awkward speaker. (If it s any consolation, this is the same problem of non-English speakers trying to use the articles A, AN and THE in their English sentences. Data from the Admission Testing Program of the College Board in the United States showed that those who have second language programs have higher mean scores in their SAT examinations compared to those who do not have any second language education. If you are already working, learning Spanish could even increase your marketability. Some people on the other hand think it helps them learn the language better because seeing a gender-specific attribute to a word automatically tells them the right qualifiers. Like most Latin-based languages (English included), Spanish makes the maleness or femaleness of man and animals (and some things) an inherent characteristic.