Buenos días,
In a recent survey to students and readers about their struggles with Spanish, I got some really interesting comments:
“Why does everything I do seem so disconnected? I feel like I am a box holding all of the pieces of a puzzle that my brain refuses to assemble.”
“When I try to communicate with a Spanish-speaking person, even to ask a basic question, I rehearse it in my head, wondering if there is a better way to say it or if I am about to say everything correctly.”
Can you relate to this?
I think every learner goes through some version of these frustrations.
It was definitely the case for me.
I wanted to learn Spanish so I could speak it with people…
But speaking can drag along so much baggage with it:
- Frustration at grasping for words we “should” know
- Discomfort at the feeling of being unable to express ourselves clearly
- Annoyance at not being able to be quick witted or spontaneous
- Held back by worries about how we’re perceived and if we’re understood
- Confusion at how to proactively get better when we’re not living or traveling in a Spanish speaking country
And plenty more.
So today, I’m sharing a simple exercise to help you build towards more comfortable, easy expression in Spanish.
After all — spontaneity, confidence and fluid speech don’t develop overnight or on their own.
They come from chipping away at things in bite-sized chunks.
So this is a bite-sized exercise that (compounded over time) makes your real interactions 10x easier.
Here’s the exercise:
It involves a couple free tools, but the most important part is the simple act of speaking.
- Ask: Ask an AI tool (ChatGPT works fine) to ask you 10 questions about yourself in Spanish
- Record: Pull up your phone’s recorder or go to https://vocaroo.com/
- Speak: Give yourself 1 minute for each of the 10 questions. Press record.
Answer as best you can.
When you don’t know a word, try to work around it, or jot it down in English and move on.
(Even if it’s totally incoherent, it’s okay — you’ve gotta start somewhere, and no one ever needs to hear your recording). - Transcribe: Get a free transcription of what you said by uploading your recording here: https://restream.io/tools/transcribe-audio-to-text (needs to be an MP3 file; if yours isn’t, just search “MP3 converter”.
You can also use https://voicenotes.com/ which is simpler, but the free version cuts you off right at 60 seconds. - Feedback: Plug your transcription into an AI tool to get feedback on it
Here’s a 2 min video I recorded to show you how it works:
(it’s mostly in Spanish, but you can copy+paste the transcript into DeepL for help understanding).
👉 Click here to watch
Here’s what you don’t want:
I used to go snowboarding now and then – maybe once a year (now a distant memory, unfortunately):
It always went like this:
- Spend the first two days catching up to where I’d been
- Spend the last day or two making progress I would quickly lose.
I know some learners who treat speaking Spanish kind of like that — a chat once in a blue moon.
If conversations are a priority, that’s no way to progress.
On the other hand, plenty of other learners speak with a tutor 3-4 times a month, which is excellent.
If you can do that, I recommend it.
But you don’t need to wait until you’re face-to-face with a Spanish speaker.
ESPECIALLY if you’re someone who feels a lot of pressure, stress or discomfort in those interactions.
Traveling, living abroad, and online tutors are all fantastic ways to get better at speaking.
But if you want your Spanish to feel effortless, it takes a lot of practice…
And solo speaking exercises like today’s are simple and flexible, meaning the “barrier to entry” is far lower on a daily basis…
Making it easier to get more practice.
Regular practice on your own makes your real-life conversations smoother, less stressful, and a lot more fun.
Give today’s exercise a shot.
It’ll probably feel awkward if you’ve never tried speaking to yourself before. Just focus on expressing yourself with whatever words you’ve got, and use your transcription & AI feedback to improve.
Buen fin de semana,
Connor
P.S. On Monday (Nov 4), I’m opening the doors to my brand new 30-day speaking challenge.
If you want to bridge the gap between what you know and what you can say, and start transforming your spoken Spanish, consider checking it out.
I’ve been working hard on it and I think you’re going to love it. Keep an eye out on Monday for an invite to join. (The doors will close again on Sunday, Nov 10, and won’t open until sometime in 2025).
