Because you want to understand the dance instruction or shop for your everyday necessities. It wouldn't hurt to know one of the romance languages and the world’s 4th most spoken language after English, Hindi and Chinese (Statista, 2020).
Most learning options are in Spanish from Spain or Mexican Spanish. So you should consider the small changes in pronunciation depending on the country you are planning to visit in Latin America.
Here are my recommendations for the best free sources for Spanish Learners.
BBC Languages
Often overlooked is the BBC Languages site, that offers many free online sources, games, reading, TV, radio and just about anything where you could encounter a language. I found their news/tv & radio section particularly useful as it allowed me to hear Spanish from various parts of the world, and the options are just one click away. I usually sign into the Andalucía Radio in hopes of listening to some good Andalusian music.
Duolingo
How much you learn entirely depends on you. Duolingo is set up like a game where you go through levels, and you earn ingots(that you can use to save your learning fire streaks or open new exceptional levels, i.e. Idioms and Phrases or flirting phrases). The exercises for the levels usually involve listening, speaking, writing and reading. Each level has more information that relates to the grammar of certain exercises. If you want to get more in-depth information, I'd suggest you read them and better understand the exercises. Duolingo is the easiest to pick up as a new habit. Simply pop in the Duolingo's website, GoogleApp or PlayStore and do the level/s you have designated to keep your streak of the day.
Spanishdict
Spanishdict, is my new favorite. It's a blend of everything. Feels like a blog site which is simultaneously an Oxford dictionary and a regular language learning website. It is divided into multiple spheres that allow you to focus on the thing you need most; good addition if you are using BBC or Duolingo. I especially liked their grammar division as it helped fill in some gaps I had before I found out about Duolingo's additional grammar information and the user friendliness of using the translator and pronunciation mode. Pop in your word in English, and it gives you the Spanish equivalent with the added advantage of changing between Latin American (LATAM)or Spanish from Spain. A good option that differentiates between Spanish in Spain and – pronunciation of the word. Spanishdict is also accessible through GoogleApps or the AppStore.
Memrise
Memrise sends you straight to business; the first thing that pops out is your learning needs. For Spanish, there are two options Mexican and Spanish (Spain), unlike Duolingo. You choose your level of Spanish that you want to start, and you are ready to go. Ah! Wait, you need to sign in and then you are ready to go. The first thing that would pop on your mind is the Flashcard, but it uses a similar learning engine like Duolingo. To have it on the tips of your fingers here are the links for the PlayStore and AppStore.
Speechling
Personally I have yet to test this one. It has recently popped on my radar. Speechling prides themselves as a non-profit trying to offer free language tools, and there is a free 15-20 min monthly consultation for the more difficult tasks. This is the right choice if you want to use non-profit organizations and be guided by human touch.
Learning Spanish and taking Dance Lessons
Just like learning a language and volunteering, there are various offers out there. Depending on how you customize it (intensity, length, city you visit) the price can get substantial. Spanishstudyholidays has some reasonable offers in this regard; in multiple countries in Latin America and Spain. Another option is the Spanish Language Institute Cuernavaca (ASLI) in Mexico that offers Language learning and Salsa as a combination (you need to contact them). A slightly cheaper alternative, but not in LATAM, is offered by 'Not In The Guidebooks' holidays that have some holidays with learning Spanish and learning Latin dances in Spain's cities.
