TPRS® method · live on Zoom · small groups

Learn to speak Spanish, not to study it.

No textbooks, no grammar drills, no quizzes. You acquire Spanish the way you acquired your first language: through stories, reading and a great deal of laughing. Twenty-five years of teaching say it works.

Find your level What is TPRS?
25 yrs
Teaching TPRS®
5 levels
Beginning I → Advanced
100%
Comprehensible input
Profe Linda Ward teaching a live Zoom class
Five levels, one path

Start where you actually are, not where a textbook says you should be.

Weekly 90-minute class on Zoom. Recorded for later viewing. Beginners are encouraged to take I & II back to back.

Level 01 · Start here

Beginning I

Pobre Ana novel cover, by Blaine Ray

Basic oral fluency in the present tense, built from comprehensible Spanish rather than grammar exercises, and a lot of fun while you get there.

Course description →
Level 02

Beginning II

Aventuras en el Día de los Muertos novel cover, by Eliana Peck, PhD and Laura Drury

Longer, more complex sentences and real comprehension of spoken Spanish, the point where you stop translating in your head.

Course description →
Level 03

Intermediate

Robo en la Noche novel cover, by Kristy Placido

The present indicative reviewed, then the past tense, all through stories and small-group talking. Prerequisite: Beginning I & II.

Course description →
Level 04

Advanced I

La Casa en Mango Street novel cover, by Sandra Cisneros, translated by Elena Poniatowska (25th anniversary edition)

Guided conversation entirely in Spanish across the past, present, future and subjunctive. First half of a two-part course that continues directly into Advanced II.

Course description →
Level 05

Advanced II

Vida o Muerte en el Cusco novel cover, by Lisa Ray Turner and Blaine Ray

The second half of Advanced I, back to back for consistency — though confident speakers can register with teacher approval even without Advanced I.

Course description →
Profe Linda Ward, instructor at Learn Spanish Fast hoy

Instructor & owner, Learn Spanish Fast hoy. Non-native bilingual, learned Spanish in Spain, teaches on California's Central Coast, and has been teaching Spanish through stories for 25 years.

Conoce a tu profe

Meet Linda Ward

Because I speak Spanish I have double the friends, double the travel and double the fun, and I can express myself in two languages, with all their nuances. You can too.

I'm a right-brained learner, so learning Spanish the old-fashioned grammar way was a real stretch for me. I empathise with my students as they acquire the language, and they tell me that makes the difference. In my classes I get to teach culture, art, history, music and economics, all of it in Spanish.

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world: 35 million speakers across 22 countries, and plenty of them right where you live. Everyone can learn a second language. It's good for the brain, it wards off senility, and it is genuinely fun.

After 25 years of teaching the communicative way, I pitched it overboard. I use TPRS® exclusively now, because the results are not comparable.

Profe Linda
The method

Teaching Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling

TPRS® is a brain-friendly method built on highly interactive stories, developed by my mentor Blaine Ray. Every minute of class is comprehensible: you understand what you hear, so your brain acquires it instead of memorising it.

It is not your high school or college Spanish class. Students end up speaking without translating in their heads first, and no textbook is required.

TPRS® works much better than anything out there.

Dr. Stephen Krashen, language acquisition researcher
01

Stories, not exercises

Class is built around highly interactive stories you help invent, so the language arrives attached to meaning.

02

100% comprehensible

You always understand what you're hearing. Nothing is thrown at you before you're ready for it.

03

Reading that sticks

A short Spanish novel per level teaches the highest-frequency vocabulary in context, not in lists.

04

No textbook, no grades

No quizzes and no GPA pressure, motivation comes from actually being able to say things.

In their words

What students say

You have helped me so much in my Spanish journey. I'm very excited to live in Quito this year to continue my Spanish, and hope to serve in the Peace Corps in Latin America afterwards. None of it would be possible without your support. Estoy agradecido.
JR, San Luis Obispo
This course far exceeded my expectations. I'd had boring grammar-textbook Spanish classes before and didn't know one could have so much fun acquiring Spanish. You can't study a language like you study biology, you acquire it through reading and stories.
Justin, Sacramento
I was concerned about taking the class over Zoom, thinking it couldn't possibly be as good as in person. I was wrong. As a former teacher myself, I know how many hours went into making it this outstanding and this comprehensible.
Meg, SF Bay Area
A good fit

This is for you if…

Classes are virtual, so you can learn Spanish from anywhere: one weekly session plus a little reading between classes.

Before you register

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Order the paperback as soon as you can, each class works through a short Spanish novel that teaches the highest-frequency phrases and top 100+ vocabulary. Then pay for and register the audio book on the registration page. Please don't print ebooks; copyright violations carry a $250,000 fine. Gracias.
Enrolment is open

Empieza hoy.

Tell me a little about where you are with Spanish and I'll point you to the right level, or you can take the placement quiz if you'd rather find out yourself.

Register for a class Know your Spanish level