For many of my students, building their Spanish vocabulary is the most fun part learning Spanish.  It can be tricky. For example, some words may be identical to their own native language (in English or French) but have a different meaning.

But overall it's entirely possible to achieve near-native or native proficiency in terms of your Spanish vocabulary. I always tell students that the key to success in language learning is practice.  

Here are some easy ways to get started.
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1. Improve your Spanish vocabulary with light reading.

A no-brainer way to improve your vocabulary is to read something in the target language every single day. It doesn’t have to be a 200-page book or a demanding college article.

My students often look for something that they like or find interesting and invest from 5 to 20 minutes of their time to read it. It is incredibly beneficial because they are learning without even noticing. I have seen students go from not knowing how to say good morning in Spanish to talking about their daily life in a matter of weeks.
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2. Study cognates.

Native speakers of any language with Latin roots (including English) already have a Spanish vocabulary "built-in" with thousands of cognates. These are words that have the same root. For example, nearly all words in English that end in -ion, al, ar, ant are just a few of many cognates.

These are spelled very similarly and have the same meaning (just different pronunciation) in Spanish.

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3. Learn 2 Spanish verbs every day.

For Spanish learners, learning one verb a day is too few; two is just right. Learn two Spanish verbs with their conjugations everyday and you’ll see the difference. This one started out as a silly suggestion, but I've marveled at how quickly students have improved their speaking and vocabulary skills by doing this.
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4. Try learning 1 Spanish expression every other day (or class).

Besides being able to grasp Spanish-speaking cultures a bit more, learning Spanish expressions will result in an improved vocabulary, and a better understanding of verb tenses. I often read Spanish sayings to my students and then ask them to guess what it means.

Some do guess what the phrase means, but some others just end up looking at me as though they were watching a horror movie. This, however, doesn’t keep me from achieving my goal. After explaining the phrase a couple of times, I proceed to give my students 1 or 2 more sayings for them to learn and explain to me the next class. It does wonders.
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5. Memorize Spanish words by using them actively.

Once again, practice makes perfect. Don’t sit around and expect your teacher to simply throw tons of words at you while you just wait for them as though you were playing baseball. I always tell my students to use a recently learned word at least 4 times and it will almost automatically be theirs.

Last year, during a Spanish conversation class I was really amazed to see how my students had, indeed, learned many words in this way and were using them correctly. Spanish doesn’t have to be a pain in your neck if you don’t want to.

Use these simple tips, apply them to your own learning process, and you will see the difference.

‍El español es una lengua hermosa y aprenderlo también debería serlo. ☺