Misspelled words in Spanish

SS #76: Spanish isn’t phonetic?

In classes, we often learn that Spanish is a phonetic language.  And it’s mostly true!  Especially compared to English, written Spanish is very close to spoken Spanish.  You can look at a word you’ve never seen and know with confidence how it’s pronounced.  But technically, it’s not 100% phonetic. Several common sounds can be represented by more than … Read More

Spanish comprehension challenges: wearing headphones with images of Spanish netflix in background

SS #75: Are you listening well?

I mentioned in a recent YouTube video that listening is the most important part of your learning process. But most of us — myself included — don’t do it very well most of the time. Listening well makes the difference between… ✓ Feeling noticeable progress ✗ Feeling like you’re blasting your ears with Spanish to no avail Today, I’ll … Read More

Prepare, speak, repeat

SS #52: An exercise that makes speaking Spanish easier

Have you ever been to a wedding where a toast goes on… and on… and on? Usually there’s one reason this happens: it wasn’t planned. They figured they could wing it. But it’s hard to speak off the cuff about something we’ve never talked about. I’m sure you’ve experienced this. The more you’ve spoken about … Read More

Confused man not understanding Spanish

SS #51: 17 journal prompts to build fluency

There’s a mistake most learners make that keeps them frustrated. It might be making you feel like your Spanish is worse than it is, and it’s something nearly everyone does. Let me explain: Picture Tom. Tom is from Canada and his wife is from Puerto Rico. He’s been learning Spanish for a while and has … Read More

SS #19: Can you learn Spanish from TV?

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You learn Spanish for several months (or even years), then decide it’s time to try your hand at a TV show. You turn on the show and it’s like you never even started learning Spanish. Everything runs together. If this has been the case for you, know that it’s … Read More

4 Spanish learning lessons

SS #18: 4 Language Learning Lessons From My 2022

Now that we’re in a new year, but not far enough in to have given up on our resolutions yet, I thought this would be a good time to discuss something I find helpful in language learning: reflection. Looking back at my own efforts over the past year (I’ve been learning German for a couple … Read More

Saturday Spanish #17: Make the progress you want in 2023

Learning Spanish — especially after the first few months — can feel amorphous. The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. And this gives many people the vague, unpleasant feeling of un-measurable progress. Today, I’m going to share a simple idea to help you feel more direction in your learning. This can … Read More

Saturday Spanish #16: Avoid these 7 False Cognates

English speakers learning Spanish are lucky in that the two languages share thousands of similar words (cognates). The problem is, not every word that looks like English means what we think it means (the most famous example being embarazada for pregnant rather than embarrassed). These are called false cognates or falsos amigos. When it comes … Read More