Sharing more about how I work in Spanish for the last two years and what has helped me the most. SPOILER: Duolingo did nada for me.
Hi friends! What are you doing? I hope you have a wonderful morning. We did a water park and theme park yesterday, so I have a feeling today will be a little lower.
Now that we go to Spain’s 4th week, I thought I would make a little update on my Spanish trip and some of the things that helped me the most. I think as an adult, it’s so important to be a beginner * in things. To challenge your brain in a new way and try the hobbies and activities you’ve always wanted to do, even if you are not good at first. I know that many of my friends out there are intended to learn a new language, so I hope this post is useful! I would also like to hear any strategies that have worked for you.
My Spanish trip
A small background:
– Growing up, my family family side often spoke Spanish. Because of this, I have always been able to understand it, but I never spoke it. I would do the thing where my family would ask me something in Spanish, and I would answer in English. When people were talking Spanish around me, I knew what was going on, but didn’t contribute to the discussion.
– I took Spanish lessons in elementary and high school (super basic material) and made it to Spanish at College. I thought it would be my opportunity to feel absolutely confident and fluent in Spanish. I wrote essays, read novels, analyzed poetry, but maybe I spent 5% of the time in my Spanish college lessons that were really Spanish. So once again, it just solidated my understanding, it gave me the opportunity to write and read in Spanish, but it didn’t really take me to my goal of feeling sure I was talking.
– Two years ago, I decided that I was going to start practicing again and really hanging things. We like to travel, I like to be able to interact with people in different locations, so it became very important to me. Some of our closest friends are Colombians and have Spanish friends, so I wanted to be able to contribute and feel more comfortable with speech. Also, I would like to start working with IHP customers in Spanish starting early next year.
I tried some different things to refresh my skills and feel more confident.
Here is what has made a huge difference and here is what did absolutely nothing.
Learning Spanish as adults
Applications:
I haven’t found an application that is useful for real world situations. I tried both Duolingo and Babbel and was not impressed with both. I feel it is very matching and vocabulary, but a little understanding behind grammatical rules and how to use languages in real life. Also, most of the time, you don’t even remember what you did. Even using applications in an on for a while, I learned nothing new.
Virtual and Personal Teaching:
This was the greatest Gamechanger for me. I did a tone of research and met And it was my push for Spanish teaching. I have teaching at least once a week, but I also have the work throughout the week in reading, writing, fluency, speech and listening. I needed a little bit, but I found a teacher who pushes me (it’s actually a bit means hahah), but it takes me out of my comfort zone and to the next level. (If you want his information, please lmk and you’ll be happy to pass it!)
Spanish practice in Spain:
Last year, when we came to Spain for about two weeks, I was like, “Here’s we go. That’s my chance!” It was a nice little trust amplifier to feel like I could do it. I could order food in restaurants, ask and answer questions, order cabins, was really NBD. Last year, I felt that the locals were talking about English about us and were surprised by how many people in Seville spoke English. I feel like the opposite experience this time because of my determination to speak only Spanish while we are here. I am surprised by how easy and natural it feels, and they only have English-ed a couple of time. 😉
I also had the opportunity to work with a wonderful Spanish teacher twice a week while we’re here!
Most of my talks in the world were surface interactions: storage and restaurants. Buuut my deepest conversations were with taxi drivers! In Barcelona, we discussed many: economy, quality of life in the US, how much schools and groceries cost … I really liked it. I am excited to continue to deal with while we are here and returning home and maybe I will finally talk to Spanish with my many Spanish friends. 😉
So tell me friends: What are you a beginner in these days?
Do you work to find out a new instrument or language? I would love to hear that!
Xoxo
Tiger
