Best Ways For You To Learn Spanish!
So there are definitely pros and cons to a bunch of different methods. I have done every type of learning a second language that there is to offer. I have sat through classes, I have been tutored, I have done Rosetta Stone, I have done the audiobooks and podcasts, I have clearly lived in a different country. There are pros and cons to each and every one of those methods and some are just flat out terrible. Here are some of the ways to learn Spanish:
I would say second to immersion, tutoring is your best investment.
So there are definitely pros and cons to a bunch of different methods. I have done every type of learning a second language that there is to offer. I have sat through classes, I have been tutored, I have done Rosetta Stone, I have done the audiobooks and podcasts, I have clearly lived in a different country. There are pros and cons to each and every one of those methods and some are just flat out terrible. Here are some of the ways to learn Spanish:
Classes
I started with classes when I was in the third grade. I'm not gonna spell out the pro and cons of this time period because it wasn't very intense, but it is the basis for why I chose to study Spanish in high school. I already had that base from earlier.
In high school, I was in a classroom setting for Spanish. Most of us know how that turned out....none of us were fluent. But why? The thing is a classroom setting, especially a large classroom setting, has to move at the speed of the slowest learning, so to speak. Either that or at a predetermined speed. If the smartest or most motivated student can go at more of an advanced pace, they can't because they are waiting for the teacher to go on to the next lesson, next week.
Furthermore, one teacher can't focus that well on all of their students. The best way to get the information is through lecture, but what about checking up on it to see if the student has acquired that knowledge? It's not feasible, so the standards are low and going into in-depth subjects like "el subjuntivo" is just not an option. There are some pros for it though. A classroom setting allows for you to develop a basic start for your language learning. I would suggest that you don't start here, but most people do because they go to high school. So instead I suggest that you get the basics as quickly as possible and once you feel yourself stagnated quickly check out these other methods that I will be talking about.
Tutoring
So tutoring, in my opinion, is probably the optimal starting point to conversational fluency. One on One tutoring with a good tutor can push you as hard as you can go while not taking you TOO much out your comfort zone. You need to try and push trying to have full conversations in Spanish as quickly as possible but having someone that speaks your target language, as well as your native one, is great. The con to this is the price, some people just cannot afford this. So for that reason, they have apps like "HelloTalk" where you can do what they call "language exchanges"
Unless your tutor is actively pushing you out of your comfort zone it is very easy to become stagnant. Learning a language is like lifting weights. If you are stagnating then you need to up the intensity.
I would say second to immersion, tutoring is your best investment.
Rosetta Stone
So....Rosetta Stone. The "popular"program here in the United States that guarantees you "fluency". I'm gonna be frank with you....it doesn't. I am actually very biased with this program because I feel like I wasted a lot of time with this program. It makes you feel like you're learning a lot, but really? No. I am not trying to bash the program too much but what they advertise and what you get is just not the same thing. For that price, there are way more free resources that you can get twice the product for. For $180 dollars you can get 2 to 3 times more learning just with tutoring alone. Bottom line up front, I would say "no" to Rosetta Stone.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
So podcasts and audiobooks are amazing. These things are great to listen to in the car if you have a little bit of a commute. Or if you are sitting at your desk and doing some meaningless tasks. Podcasts alone have increased my listening ability tremendously (that and telenovelas, but that'll be for another post). I will say that podcasts and audiobooks are amazing for getting a 20-minute lesson in here and there but the "con" is that they are not to be relied on. They are not enough to be the main source of your language learning. They are more of a supplement to your main language learning. Good Podcasts are:
- Notes in Spanish
- News in Slow Spanish
- Spanish Obssessed
Immersion
So we get to "Language Immersion" this is the best and fastest method to learn a language and I am utterly convinced. The problem is most people just can't drop everything and move to another country. I get it. If it is possible for you to move to another country, you can learn a new language in less than a year. I know, I did it. There are still pros and cons to this though.
Cons
- If you are not a social person your language learning experience will take a longer time. You need to expose yourself to different social experiences to make the mistakes so that you can correct them. I spoke about this in my "ego" post, but this is more of getting over the social anxiety
Note: Putting myself out there in Spanish and being utterly embarrassed in front of people has made me way more confident in English.
- If you're an egotistical person who doesn't enjoy being wrong (like me) learning a new language where you are wrong "ALL THE TIME" is a whole new level of frustration.
- The frustration of not being able to express yourself fully or as fast as you want does build up.
- Like previously mentioned, immersion is like drinking water out of a fire hose.
PROS
- Living in a new country, meeting new people, experiencing new things, and eating new food is amazing.
- The language gets easier with time. Literally, every day you are there you are improving and learning something new.
- Instead of studying Spanish from Spain and Spanish from Puerto Rico and Spanish from Venezuela, you can now focus on a specific country's accent/dialect/slang.
- You're learning how a native speaker learns (more on that later).
- You cannot turn the language off. If you want to just relax and speak some English...good luck. You better call home because otherwise if you want a soda from the store on the corner you better walk in asking for a "gaseosa". This is good because you are forced to speak the language.
- You just cannot limp your way through the conversation. If you need something and you can't express what you need then you just won't get it.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
So podcasts and audiobooks are amazing. These things are great to listen to in the car if you have a little bit of a commute. Or if you are sitting at your desk and doing some meaningless tasks. Podcasts alone have increased my listening ability tremendously (that and telenovelas, but that'll be for another post). I will say that podcasts and audiobooks are amazing for getting a 20-minute lesson in here and there but the "con" is that they are not to be relied on. They are not enough to be the main source of your language learning. They are more of a supplement to your main language learning. Good Podcasts are:
- Notes in Spanish
- News in Slow Spanish
- Spanish Obssessed
Immersion
So we get to "Language Immersion" this is the best and fastest method to learn a language and I am utterly convinced. The problem is most people just can't drop everything and move to another country. I get it. If it is possible for you to move to another country, you can learn a new language in less than a year. I know, I did it. There are still pros and cons to this though.
Cons
- If you are not a social person your language learning experience will take a longer time. You need to expose yourself to different social experiences to make the mistakes so that you can correct them. I spoke about this in my "ego" post, but this is more of getting over the social anxiety
Note: Putting myself out there in Spanish and being utterly embarrassed in front of people has made me way more confident in English.
- If you're an egotistical person who doesn't enjoy being wrong (like me) learning a new language where you are wrong "ALL THE TIME" is a whole new level of frustration.
- The frustration of not being able to express yourself fully or as fast as you want does build up.
- Like previously mentioned, immersion is like drinking water out of a fire hose.
PROS
- Living in a new country, meeting new people, experiencing new things, and eating new food is amazing.
- The language gets easier with time. Literally, every day you are there you are improving and learning something new.
- Instead of studying Spanish from Spain and Spanish from Puerto Rico and Spanish from Venezuela, you can now focus on a specific country's accent/dialect/slang.
- You're learning how a native speaker learns (more on that later).
- You cannot turn the language off. If you want to just relax and speak some English...good luck. You better call home because otherwise if you want a soda from the store on the corner you better walk in asking for a "gaseosa". This is good because you are forced to speak the language.
- You just cannot limp your way through the conversation. If you need something and you can't express what you need then you just won't get it.
