I know this sounds a little dramatic, but it’s true:
The WAY you learn Spanish can make or break whether or not you eventually become a “Spanish speaker”.
Now, there is no perfect way to learn.
But there ARE some things you can avoid. And avoiding them will help you not give up 18 months from now under the misbelief that you’re just “not good at languages.”
Today, I’m going to share 3 big mistakes to avoid if you want to be able to confidently use your Spanish soon-ish.
How do I know these problems exist?
Because the first 10 years I was learning Spanish, I had no clue what I was doing. This slowed down my progress and made me miss some really good learning opportunities.
So you should definitely not do what I did.
The mistakes below are ones I made for too long, that I hope you can avoid.
MISTAKE #1
The first time I spoke Spanish, I was terrified. I’d been in Guatemala for 7 days of a 10 day trip before I finally opened my mouth to start a conversation in Spanish.
That’s a week of near silence and awkward buenos dias-es in a Spanish-speaking country.
You don’t need to speak from day one (unless you want to). But don’t avoid speaking for too long like I did.
Force yourself to produce the language in different ways — writing, making short sentences, narrating your morning, chats with tutors, etc.
It’s more frustrating than absorbing the language by reading and listening. But it’s how you consolidate and reinforce what you learn.
If you’ve been around here for long, you’ll have heard how much I push the value of listening (in fact, mistake #3 relates to listening).
But take it from someone who put off speaking for way too long: using your Spanish is scary at first, but pretty quickly, it becomes a major source of motivation.
MISTAKE #2:
This mistake makes me think of a guy I know who rebuilt the engine on his Toyota Land Cruiser.
Cars are NOT my strength… so I had to know how he did it.
He replied, “Oh, I just read this”….
And grabbed a black-and-white manual thicker than my head, full of what looked like hieroglyphics and quantum physics to me.
Even with all the same tools as him, I would have had zero idea where to start.
But there was a key difference: he was already very familiar with cars in general.
He had a strong foundation of knowledge and hands-on experience… so he could reference the terrifying manual along the way without getting overwhelmed.
The mistake most Spanish learners make, and that I made, is starting with the manual.
It makes sense, because linear learning through charts, lists and chapters feels productive.
But before we can decipher anything in the manual, we need a frame of reference. In Spanish, we build that frame of reference through enormous amounts of exposure to the language itself (not just example sentences).
Once we’ve seen things in action, we can use the manual — and feel a little more like the mechanic than the guy who doesn’t know what gas his car takes.
MISTAKE #3:
This next mistake relates to the previous one.
You know the expression, “Una marea alta levanta todos los barcos”? (a rising tide lifts all boats).
Well, imagine your listening is the tide, and your speaking skills are the boats.
Listening is the limiting factor. It determines how high the speaking skills can get.
Because when we’re speaking, we’re primarily drawing off the things we’ve heard and read.
Imagine you wanted to get good at debating a certain topic in English. You probably wouldn’t make a bunch of flashcards.
Instead, you’d watch videos, listen to podcasts, and read books and papers from experts. You’d flood your brain with material on the topic.
Later, you might practice synthesizing and explaining your thoughts by writing and speaking aloud. But the first step would be to consume material on the topic.
If I could go back, I’d approach my Spanish this way. I would have developed a better vocabulary and more fluency with less pressure.
And I would have been able to reference the “engine manual” as needed to make sense of things, rather than trying to start there.
One thing I did do right was put myself in situations to hear authentic Spanish early on. Even when you can’t understand it, it’s (a) a motivating reminder of your end goal and (b) helpful as you start training your ear.
What now
You don’t need to “master” anything before you’re allowed to do the next step. In fact, mastery tends to wait til you have moved on to show up.
Most of you are learning Spanish because you want to, meaning there’s no exam.
You’re preparing for real, imperfect conversations with real people who won’t care if you say the wrong thing the wrong way.
So make sure you….
- have some regular speaking (even if it’s alone) and writing
- get more context before you try to study a new concept
- and make active listening a regular habit.
Apply this stuff and you will still be frustrated by the learning process at times (that’s inevitable).
BUT… you’ll avoid trying to walk with your shoes tied like I did.
Saludos,
Connor
