I often find myself giving some of these pieces of advice to my students once they set off to learn Spanish, so I decided to make this list with them. Hope they help you thrive in your Spanish learning.
Think of Spanish as a wild animal
Languages have a life of their own, and we should learn to respect that. You want to tame it but not turn it into a Tamagotchi. It is indeed the beauty of ‘the wild’ what we are after. Don’t learn words out of their natural habitats, but rather concentrate on getting them in the environment where they thrive. Don’t go to the zoo (isolated words in a list), go on a safari.
Endure
Be patient. Patience, motivation and regularity are key factors in learning anything. Language is no exception!
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.
There are lots of opportunities to make mistakes. Mistakes are good, we love mistakes. But let’s not repeat them, shall we?
Ask questions
If you have a doubt, please ask it at once. Don’t stop to think how silly your question might be.
Questions lead our way through the target language (and life itself!). I like getting questions asked and, when I’m not able to answer on the spot, I will try to provide an answer later.
Remember it’s all about making sense of the things you learn in class
Try spotting new words or structures outside the classroom once you’ve officially learnt them.
Devote some time to practise on your own every day
Go over your class notes or class vocabulary and dig deeper. As little as 15 minutes can make a huge difference in your progress.
Look for topics you are interested to learn about.
Keep it meaningful to you. Choose wisely. Let me know what they are in case you feel we can work on them together.
Record yourself and listen to your own recordings.
This is a great way of assessing how far your real words are from the immaculate, silent words you hear in your mind.
Surround yourself with Spanish sounds so they become familiar to your ears
As a beginner, you could watch Netflix films and series in Spanish and with Spanish subtitles, even when you don’t understand most of it, or listen to music in Spanish following the lyrics. Ask me for advice. I can be your guru into the realm of Argentinian music! If your Spanish level is conversational, you could listen to podcasts. There are thousands out there. I have a few to recommend.
Value every goal you achieve
Regardless of what your ultimate goals are, recognize your achievements, however small.
Visualize yourself speaking Spanish well
As humans, not only do we have verbal language skills, but we also have the enormous power of imagination readily available for us to resort to. Picture yourself speaking good Spanish before you are really able to. Anticipate how you’ll feel when it becomes your reality. It will magicallyfoster your progress.
Happy Spanish learning!