The Fastest Way to Learn Colombian Spanish in 2026

To learn Colombian Spanish quickly, give most of your hours to Colombian Spanish you can mostly follow, which learners call comprehensible input. Find your level below to see what to use and how to divide an hour.

Choose the description that fits you. The bar under it shows one hour of study.

1. Level 1

   I'm just starting out or know only a few words.

   • Read and listen 35 min
   • Review 15 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Choose one of two ways to start. The easiest way is Bubblegum, where Poppy, your AI tutor, writes short Colombian Spanish lessons at your level about your interests and goals and explains the grammar as you go. The other way is a textbook. Get Colloquial Spanish of Latin America and work through one lesson at a time, reading each dialogue while you play its free audio from the Routledge website. Plan on a few weeks of hard study to learn the basic grammar before you start using apps.

   • Textbook: Colloquial Spanish of Latin America
   • Free audio for the textbook
2. Level 2

   I can read simple sentences.

   • Read and listen 40 min
   • Review 10 min
   • Speak 10 min

   If you use Bubblegum, read its Level 2 lessons with the translation hidden, and look up only the words that stop you. If you use a textbook, try Colloquial Spanish of Latin America 2, the second book in the series, and play its free audio from the Routledge website as you read. Listen to Colombian voices made for learners.

   • AudioELE
3. Level 3

   I can read short stories and messages.

   • Read and listen 40 min
   • Review 5 min
   • Speak 15 min

   At this level you need more words, so read and listen a lot. Bubblegum reuses the words you saved in new Level 3 lessons. Watch videos from a Colombian guide, then talk about one with a tutor from Colombia.

   • Dreaming Spanish
   • italki tutors
4. Level 4

   I can read longer texts about everyday life.

   • Listen and read 45 min
   • Review 5 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Listen to stories about life in Colombia, and replay the parts you missed. Read Bubblegum lessons at Level 4 about things you're into.

   • Spanish Colombiano
5. Level 5

   I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.

   • Watch and read 50 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Watch a Colombian series, and listen to a Colombian podcast or radio station. Retell a scene to your tutor. Poppy can write your Level 5 lessons about anything you're into.

   • RTVC Play
6. Level 6

   I can read almost anything.

   • Read and listen 50 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Read Colombian newspapers and novels, listen to live Colombian radio, and talk about them with Colombian friends. Read Bubblegum lessons at Level 6 about the things you care about too.

   • El Tiempo

These splits are only a rough plan. If a level's lessons feel light, go up a level, and if a scene loses you in the first few lines, go down.

For English-speaking students, the U.S. Foreign Service Institute lists Spanish among the languages closest to English, at about 30 weeks or 690 class hours. FSI gives that figure for Spanish as a whole. We found no published hours for Colombian Spanish specifically.

Because these are classroom hours, the table is a picture of the workload, not a self-study guarantee.

• 🗺️Expecting One Colombian AccentSpeech changes by region. Pick the city you will visit, and listen to people from there first.
• 🔇Reading Without Colombian AudioFew apps record Colombian voices. Add a Colombian podcast or video every week, so the sound feels familiar.
• 🗂️Word Lists AloneA word list gives meanings, but not when to use usted, tú or vos. Learn each word from a Colombian line with audio, and review that line.