Memory, Ear, Intuition

I think once again, music has given me the right words to explain valuable aspects of learning Spanish. As you read in the title, the elements of the equation are memory, ear, and intuition.

These three ingredients are key to the mix, so let’s break each one down.

MEMORY

For many students, learning a language is all about having ‘a good memory’. They feel the only way to make progress is by memorizing rules, words and expressions.

Well, memory is an important element but certainly not the cornerstone. If you rely on your memory, soon enough you’ll run out of storage space and find yourself disappointed at how little you’ve kept after a few weeks (even days) into your learning.

Of course, memorization is essential for certain aspects, but it has to share the room with ear and also make room for intuition.

EAR

Fortunately, hearing is included in humans by design. You’ve probably heard the saying that since we have one mouth and two ears, we should listen at least twice as much as we speak. And this goes for life in general, not just language learning!

We tend to think that speaking is all that matters, when in reality, we rarely engage in monologues. More often than not, you’ll be interacting with someone else—probably someone who prefers talking over listening, but that’s another story—so it’s something to keep in mind.

Attentive listening will enable you to become familiar with ‘what sounds right’. The best part is you don’t even need to know why; sometimes you’ll be confident about saying the right thing without theoretical arguments!

And this is closely related to intuition.

INTUITION

You reach a certain point -a bit farther into your learning- when you can bet on the right choice of words or word order based on your accumulated passive exposure and ever evolving knowledge of your target language.

You won’t always know the right thing to say in every situation, but recognizing what works in a specific moment is something all language learners experience.

It’s common to recall hearing someone say something or having read something which is appropriate at a totally different moment, but you feel confident it’ll work.

There you go, this is for me a short and sweet recipe for success.

Hope you dig it!

Aappreciate you making it to the end,

You might also want to read these articles:

• On Huevos and Pelotas
  Rich metaphors await to those who dare to read this post.
• False expectations are deadly
  In language learning, false expectations can do real damage. Here’s why patience and perseverance win the race.
• Argentinian Spanish vs Mexican Spanish
  In the past, I compared Argentinian Spanish to Peninsular Spanish and Uruguayan Spanish. Here’s the long due AR / MX comparison.
• Cognates and False Friends
  Learn about cognates and false cognates so they don’t surprise further down in your Spanish learning journey.
• Cancherear
  Dive into the nuances of the word ‘canchero’ and how ‘cancherear’ can make or break a moment.
• Hacer una vaquita
  I’m not going to argue how ridiculous this phrase may sound at first. Let me just tell you what it means in Argentina.