Spanish and those damn verb conjugations!

 

Among language learners the joke is that Spanish is a very easy language to learn…except for those damn conjugations!

 

It’s true. Spanish is a phonetic language, which makes it very easy to pronounce.

Thanks to the millions of cognates, recognizing words in Spanish can be much easier than recognizing words in other languages.

In addition, Spanish has about 50% less words than English, so there is much less vocabulary to learn.

But then there are those damn conjugations!

 

So how do you learn them?

 

Many students will study them for hours, only to find that they can memorize the conjugations until they are blue in the face, but it doesn’t mean that they will easily conjugate correctly while speaking.

 

My recommendation is:

• attempt to conjugate while you’re speaking (without overthinking it)
• allow yourself to make mistakes
• allow your teacher to correct you
• repeat the verb (sentence) in its correct form before continuing with your conversation

This is how you learned to speak your native language, and this is the best way to learn to speak any other language.

Do NOT underestimate the power of learning a language from using it!

Attempt, get it right, keep going – OR –

Attempt, get it wrong, get corrected, repeat the correction, keep going.

Either way, the conjugations will start to come to you naturally after enough use.

 

It really does work!!!  (If you pay attention, listen, and learn from your mistakes)

 

Besos,
Caro

Overestimating & underestimating the language learning journey

 

I remember reading a quote a while back of Bill Gates, that really got my attention:  “Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

 

This quote is absolute perfection for someone learning a language.

 

It is not that we can’t learn a lot in a year, because we can. If I think about it, a year ago I could not speak any Italian at all, and now I can carry on a conversation about basic topics for over an hour. But imagine how much Italian I will know in nine more years? If I am consistent, I will be at an advanced level, maybe even fluent!

 

Right now 10 years seems like a very long time, but the reality is that 10 years goes by very quickly! And if we have learned anything so far in life, we know that it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

 

So the next time that you get discouraged, thinking that you’re not moving along fast enough in your language learning journey, take a moment to remember where you started and look forward to what is to come in the future!

 

Besos,
Caro

Spanish Subjunctive Tips

 

Two weeks ago we started working on the Subjunctive yet again.  This is a journey we take most years for a few weeks to keep the students terrified.  Just kidding :)

I started to think though, that there are several common rookie mistakes that many people don’t know about the subjunctive.  Here is a short list:

 

1 – The Subjunctive is not a tense; it is a mood consisting of 4 tenses: The Present Subjunctive, The Present Perfect Subjunctive, The Imperfect Subjunctive & the Past Perfect Subjunctive

 

2 – The Subjunctive is rarely used when both clauses refer to the same person.  Usually if you wish, doubt, or have an opinion about yourself, you would use 2 verbs in a row, without que, and without the subjunctive. For example:
(Yo) Espero ir mañana.  Subjunctive not needed – when 1 verb follows another, the 2nd verb is in the infinitive form.
(Yo) Espero que (tú) vayas.  Subjunctive needed because the 2 clauses refer to different people.

 

3 – The Subjunctive is ALWAYS used when a verb follows Ojalá, not matter who you are referring to.

 

4 – There are 3 components to learning the Subjunctive: 1) When you need to use it, 2) Which of the 4 tenses you need to use and 3) The conjugations.  

 

5 – There are several abbreviations used to teach the Subjunctive, a common one being WEIRDO.  

W = wishes, E = emotions, I = Impersonal expressions, R = recommendations, D = doubt/denial and O = ojalá.  

While I think it’s great to have these phrases to remember when to use it, they don’t always work and it gives you a lot to think about while you’re trying to talk.  I find it easier for the students to learn the trigger phrases instead.

 

These are just a few pointers, but the most important tip I can give you when you’re learning the Subjunctive, is to have a positive attitude.  It’s a lot to learn. Take it easy, learn some triggers and some common uses and go from there.  And also, remember how amazing you sound when you use it!  It’s impressive to native Spanish speakers :)

 

Besitos,

Caro

The single most important tip to improve your Spanish!

 

Yesterday someone asked me “what is the single most important tip you can give me to improve my Spanish?”

I find this question incredibly difficult, because I feel as though there is a different answer for each person. For example, if someone is a complete beginner and trying to become conversational, my recommendation to them would be completely different from an advanced student trying to reach fluency.

However, I realized that there is one recommendation I would give across the board, to anyone, studying any language, at any level, and that is (drum roll please) to be consistent.

 

If consistency is an issue for you, have you considered holding yourself to a minimum that you will do each day to improve your Spanish? You could dedicate three minutes to it or 30 minutes, it’s up to you; the important thing is to be consistent.

 

I for example have a minimum with Italian. Every day when I get out of the shower and I am getting dressed, I listen to one chapter of a short story audiobook.

Would I like to do more every day? Yes, of course.

Is it realistic that I do more than this every day? No. Absolutely not.

But even on the days that I don’t dedicate any more time to it, I can feel proud that I have committed a few minutes of my day to doing something in my target language, and know that I am slowly but surely getting better.

 

What is the minimum that you hold yourself to?

What do you do to be consistent with your language learning?

 

Besos,

Caro

“Dumbing it down” vs. Stepping up your Game

 

One of the things I hear from students that are just starting to study Spanish is that they can’t say what they want to say.  

For example, we might ask a student a simple question like “What did you do last weekend?”  

What they may want to say is “I was supposed to go to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant in Point Loma on Sunday night, but 3 of the 4 people that were going to go had the flu, so we had to postpone it for the time being.”

A beginner to Spanish may not be capable of saying all that quite yet.  What you don’t want is to get frustrated or to switch back to English.  What you do want is to find a way to say in shorter, more simple sentences.    

For example, you might say “I had dinner plans on Sunday.  3 of my friends were sick. We canceled the dinner.  We will reschedule soon.”  

This method will allow you to give the jist of the story in the words that you know, in short sentences.  Much easier and not frustrating!

 

Now one of the mistakes that intermediate level students sometimes make is the opposite.  They may continue using the same words they did when they were just starting out.  At some point (if you want to advance) you have to step up your game and tell more complex stories.  Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher for a more sophisticated way to say something….that is what we are here for!

 

Are you communicating thoughts at your level?  Or is it time to step up your game?  Something to think about…

 

Besos,

Caro