Working out vs. Learning Spanish

This week I had a conversation with a potential student that made me think about how much learning a language is like working out.

The student asked me if he could come to class every 3 to 4 weeks, because of his busy work schedule. The reality is that anyone can go to class as often or not often as they want, but the results will be directly related.

For example, do you know someone that has a rockin’ bod? How often do they go to the gym? 4-5-6 days a week? Do they work out for 30 minutes or do they work their butt off and come out dripping sweat? On the days that they are not in the gym, are they hiking, playing volleyball or rock climbing? I bet that most of their life revolves around some kind of physical activity to maintain that body.

The same holds true for your Spanish learning journey. The results for a student that comes to class every other week versus a student that comes three times a week is going to be quite different.
The results for a student who does their homework and makes an effort to speak Spanish outside of class, is going to be different from a student that doesn’t practice in between classes.

None of these options is right or wrong, it simply depends on what your goals are and how quickly you want to achieve them. The key is to make sure that the effort matches the goals.  Do your efforts directly match your goals?

Besos,
Caro

How to set the right size goal with native Spanish speakers

 

Every week I speak with students who have a Spanish-speaking significant other/coworker/friend, and yet they do not practice their Spanish with them.  There are a myriad of reasons for this, but I feel that the most common mistake is setting too big a goal.

 

Many students will say that every night at dinner they will speak Spanish the entire time, or for an hour after dinner, or all of Sunday for example. The reality is that most of us want to connect with our partners, friends, and coworkers. If we are learning a language we are not able to communicate as well as we would in our native language, which makes us not want to practice, but rather speak in a language that is easy, familiar, and that allows us to connect on deeper level with our loved ones.

 

So what am I suggesting? If you have a Spanish speaker in your life, I suggest that you set a very small goal. Here are a few examples:

• Speak Spanish together on a daily basis, but only for five minutes at a time
• Speak about three specific things that happened that day
• Repeat something that you just spoke about in English, but this time in Spanish

The goal is to take advantage of the fact that you have a Spanish speaker in your life, but to keep the conversations short and consistent.

 

Do you know someone that you could practice with for five minutes a day?

 

Besos,
Caro

Do it in Spanish!

Practically every language learner knows that the way to consistently improve their language skills is by incorporating their target language into their daily life.  However, what often occurs, is that we don’t take the time to figure out how to make this happen.

The easiest way to incorporate Spanish into your life is by doing some things in Spanish instead of (or in addition to) in your native language.

For example:

– Listen to music in Spanish
– Read or listen to the news in Spanish
– Watch a television show in Spanish
– Greet Spanish speakers in Spanish. You never know where the conversation could lead!
– Listen to podcasts in Spanish
– Journal in Spanish
– Read a book / magazine in Spanish

 

These are just a few recommendations, and they may seem obvious.  The important part of this post is not the examples, it’s the act of actually taking the time to figure out what will work for you.

The easiest way to figure out how YOU can work Spanish into YOUR daily life is by making a list of things that you do every single day, and then figuring out which ones you could do in Spanish instead of in English.

What does your list look like?

Besos,
Caro