If you've never studied Spanish before — or if you're just brushing up on what you've learned before — you're about to learn a skill and pick up some knowledge that will enrich your life.

This series of lessons is designed to help beginning Spanish students or any one else learning the language with the fundamentals needed for further learning and study. This series of lessons requires no supplementary material other than perhaps a dictionary for reinforcing vocabulary. But any other resources you can provide, especially some tapes or CDs to help you with pronunciation and intonation, as well as other lessons in books or in audio, will help you learn faster and better.

The format of this series is simple: Each lesson is brief, outlining the concept and providing examples. You probably will be able to read each lesson in 5 to 10 minutes. Each of the lessons is designed to stand alone.

Finally, make sure you take advantage of whatever opportunities you have to use what you're learning. If you travel to a Spanish-speaking area or have friends or acquaintances who speak Spanish, practice your conversational skills. Nearly always, you will find that Spanish speakers appreciate your efforts to learn their language.