Use these tips to prepare for your trip to Mexico and any other Spanish speaking countries that are on your list!
Do you feel like no matter how hard you try to get this language right you’re always stuck at the basics like buenos dias and como estas?
Well, it's most likely because you’re not forcing your mind to truly retain what you’ve been practicing. Be honest with yourself. Do you have a real reason for learning Spanish? Are you committed to it? What drives you to continue practicing when you’d rather be decompressing aka scrolling your life away on facebook or tiktok? See, without an imperative need for this skill, most of us need to find enjoyment and entertainment in the process to hold our attention. This is why I suggest a combination of self-guided study like reading short stories, using Duolingo, listening to podcasts, watching interesting Netflix series from Latin America, and for the heavy-hitter of the combo, downloading HelloTalk to connect with real people who are interested in doing language exchange! You may know that immersion is key, but until then, rely on these methods so you can hit the ground running when you land in Mexico. And oop, I have one more bonus strategy that may be a little more up your alley, so stick around until the end to hear about it!
Read Short Stories in Spanish
Finding simple short stories at the elementary level will familiarize you with how to read in Spanish. Often, free short stories online are of fables and tales that we already know so the context clues make them easier reads. And once you feel comfortable with those, continue to level up with every story that you read. I suggest these websites: The Spanish Experiment & Practical Spanish. I’ve read quite a few of these and love the ease of practice because they have options arranged on the site already. You can pay more to access more of them at The Fable Cottage or you can invest in your education by buying books from Amazon. I personally hadn’t bought any in all my years of study because I still have my Spanish textbook from college with excerpts and exercises in many of the sections. But on my last visit to Cali, Colombia I came across a book fair with literally endless options, so I figured why not give myself a challenge to read at a higher level. There was plenty of time to try it on my flight home, so there I was using Microsoft Translator offline to get through the passages. It took so much time to read just 10 pages because of all the vocabulary I hadn’t been exposed to yet, but that’s the whole purpose of this exercise! I hope you do the same and challenge yourself to explore these books at elementary and intermediate levels. Find your favorite topic and get started right away!
Download Duolingo for Quick Recall and Retention
Speaking of extensive vocabulary, Duolingo has been so fun to use for learning vocabulary and creating simple sentence structures. In each section they sprinkle in new words and keep you on top of having the proper pronouns (like el, la, los, etc.), all while simultaneously easing you into thinking in Spanish by translating each practice phrase. You see the same words over and over, and the category goes for a few lessons so that way you’re kind of stuck in the theme of let’s say: fruits and veggies, bedtime routine, clothes, and restaurants. It’s designed to help you gain speed in recall, is fairly simple, and is repetitive enough for you to want to advance further faster.
Feeling bored with repetition? Set your personal pace to answering questions like a game of rapid-fire, or if you work well under pressure imagine that getting the practices wrong could cost you thousands. I prefer a mix of both methods and always make my best effort because I hate to see my little lives go out after I’ve gotten too many wrong. Whatever it takes for retention you know? 😅
LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY!
Is learning vocabulary anybody else’s favorite part of learning a new language? I start to feel like a kid again, eager to see what was new every day in class. That exact, fresh mindset is what you'll need for the magnitude of the task - as we don't realize just how many words we know until we start to sputter and stumble through a foreign vocabulary, hoping the person on the receiving end is following along enough to fill in the blanks. The attention of our loving parents and preschool teachers molded us in the beginning, and all we have to do now is keep our minds open, ready to learn something new every day!
Podcasts Tune Your Ears to the Cadence of Spanish
Once your ears settle into hearing Spanish, the language won’t sound so…. foreign! Your mind will begin to pick up on words, phrases, and eventually the context clues will help you determine what direction a podcast is going for with the topic. Luckily there are podcasts just for learning Spanish like How to Spanish Lessons & Podcasts that provide a great range of topics and give a little teaser about it in preparation for the reading that is about to commence. Their tone is very easy to understand and will keep you coming back for more! Also, they keep the length of the podcast episodes to a minimum. I have a feeling that they know their students (aka audience) can only focus so long before zoning out at some point, but of course, not all of the listeners! Check the comments and you’ll see so many other motivated learners sharing how much they were able to understand and follow along all the way to the end.
MUSIC CONNECTS US ALL
If you want the opportunity to listen to Spanish with context like these stories, do karaoke in Spanish or listen to music and read what it’s about in English. With karaoke you already know the beat and the words; one of my best renditions is Hours & Hours by Muni Long, lol. She actually just released the Spanish version in January this year! And for the latter method, are you a Bad Bunny stan? Try one of your fave songs from "Un Verano Sin Ti" on Genius. It’ll be fun!
Binging International Series on Netflix Can Actually Be a Good Thing
Compiling this list of shows and movies I’ve binged “for study” and for fun just let me know that I may spend a bit too much time watching tv 😂 but the value of consuming the language balances it out, I swear! This method allows your mind to build a comprehensive understanding of Spanish; you hear the tone, which parts of words are stressed, and how their words align with the captions that are displayed. Another way is to listen in English and read in Spanish, making it easy to spot corresponding words and better understand connotations for when you begin to speak. This style of listening is good as it keeps you entertained, and in addition, you get to hear how pronunciations may vary among different Spanish-speaking countries. I have shows and movies from these countries as follows:
MEXICO
Dark Desire 😍
High Heat
Made in Mexico
House of Flowers
Honorable Mention: Queen of the South
COLOMBIA
The Marked Heart 😍
SPAIN
Money Heist 😍
Elite
Sky Rojo
Intimacy
😍 = best shows!
Make and Meet Friends from Mexico Using HelloTalk
HelloTalk is a social language learning platform that connects you with real people in the location of your choice. The app is free, but some charges do apply depending on the features you want to use. Download it, set your friend search to the city you’ll be in, then go ahead and spark up the conversation! It’s super easy to start and most people I’ve come across are eager to have the exchange. The chats have voice and video capability so I suggest using voice messages as your primary way of communicating. Your new friend speaking to you in Spanish forces you to put more attention toward the conversation than regular texts. That’s actually what has helped me most! Did I use translate to clear up parts I couldn’t catch at times? Yes, but it doesn’t take away from the process at all! Sometimes you just need to hear a word how it’s usually pronounced once to add it to your vocabulary. For example, we have our way of shortening and combining words, and so does everybody else in the world. How do you think saying “what did you think” compare with “wudyathink” to someone who’s a new learner? But anywho - further on using voice messages - often I’d find myself understanding some people’s way of speaking better than others, and that gives a realistic view of what you’ll be up against when you arrive. Word of advice, try to speak with a few people on a regular basis and do calls and video chats if you’re not shy!
Another way to get the most from the app is posting updates to your profile just like you do on Twitter and Facebook. Pose some topics you’ve been having trouble with and maybe share a pic of what you’re up to a few times a week. HelloTalk gives you every reason to use the app consistently. The features help you solidify retention, build relationships organically, and get comfortable speaking Spanish. Use it to your advantage to improve your skills, and what’s most fun is coming out with friends that you can connect with in real life. It sucks that there are billions of people in this world and we can only communicate with a small percentage!
I hope you use these methods to improve your Spanish! They’ve helped me a lot and I’ve been able to meet people through the app. It’s amazing what a little practice and consistency can do! And oh, don’t think I forgot about that extra way -
Is Dating Outside Your Culture Your Vibe?
If dating people from abroad interests you, then dating apps are a great way to keep up with your language learning! The aspect of romantic interest in dating adds another layer of motivation in that either party will be even more compelled to keep the conversation going. And wanting to learn about each other could expand your conversational ability in ways that exchanging formal greetings or basic likes and dislikes never could have. I don’t know about the restrictions on specific dating apps when it comes to you two speaking different languages, but if you set your "languages spoken" to English and Spanish on Bumble you'll see others who do. Now remember, when visiting or moving you’ll have more of an opportunity to pursue this fun way to learn Spanish, so until then enjoy learning and appreciate the cultural exchange in this process!
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