What School Didn’t Teach you in Spanish Class

“I took 3 years of Spanish, but I can’t speak any.”

That sound familiar?

I’m a native Spanish speaker, and when I’ve tried to get my friends to talk to me in Spanish, they could never do it!

The same thing happened with French. No matter how many years of a language they took in school, we could never get past a simple greeting.

First of all….

Grammar is boring!

Nobody likes learning grammar, and that’s a fact. In school, we were berated with grammar worksheet after worksheet going in depth into verb conjugations and tenses.

Although this is necessary, nobody should start out learning a language this way. Instead, follow these steps to have a fun and productive time learning a language!

1 – Create a personal bond with the language

In order to stay interested in learning a language, you must have some sort of personal bond with it. For me personally, listening to music and reading books are the best ways to do this. While learning French, I scoured the internet for the best French songs and added them to my playlist. These kept me interested in the language and helped me pick up some words that you wouldn’t learn traditionally.

Re-reading a book you already like is another great way to personalize a language. I read the Harry Potter series in French and since I read them many times in English, it was easy to guess the meaning of new words.

Another great option is watching your favorite shows in the language you want to learn with english subtitles. LingoPie is a great website for this!

2 – Find a way to implement the language in your life

In order to truly learn a language, you must use it daily. This doesn’t have to be something huge, just something everyday that gets you thinking in the language you want to learn.

Instead of listening to music on your drive to work in the morning, put on a podcast! While learning French I listened to the InnerFrench podcast which really helped me improve my understanding of spoken french.

There are many beginner friendly podcasts for basically every language.

3 – Make friends that speak the language you’re trying to learn

You can listen and read all you want, but eventually you have to put yourself to the test and speak the language. If you know anybody that speaks the language you’re learning, try and have a conversation with them in said language.

Have fun with this and go at your own pace.

I bet your friend will love that you’re trying to speak to them in their language!

If you don’t happen to have a friend like this, consider using websites like Italkie that pair you virtually with a speaker of the language you want to learn for a very reasonable price

4 – Keep your head up!

Don’t stress! Learning a language takes a while and you should prioritize making the process enjoyable. If you follow all of these tips you’ll definitely improve in no time.

I hope this article was helpful and thank you so much for reading!