The “Weekly Fluency” Method for Better Spanish

Before we start:

I’ve been hard at work on a new intermediate course to help you build real conversation skills. It’s based on interviews with 8 Spanish speakers from different countries. Here’s a screenshot I took while editing this week’s chat with Jose from Madrid—which included stories about olive oil, eating barnacles, and a fiery celebration in Valencia. 

I’ll use these conversations to teach you Spanish as it’s actually spoken. I’m so excited about how it’s turning out, and I think you guys are going to love it. More info soon, launching late May/June.

Click here to join the waitlist for first access

Onto this week’s Saturday Spanish: 

There comes a point in your Spanish when you feel pretty fluent in some situations…

And like a total beginner in others.

If I’m honest, that still happens to me now and then (like when I ended up in the hospital in Mexico back in January).

But to be fair, it happens in English, too.

After all, it’s not just a language issue. Things like distraction, overthinking, uncertainty and insecurity play a real role.

But often, there is one thing to blame for this “fluctuating fluency”:

(Lack of) topical fluency

I can talk about language learning all day.

But if you ask me to explain how the heating and air system in my house works… I’ll stutter like a nervous 12 year old giving a book report. Regardless of the language!

In Spanish, it just happens that there are far more things we’ve never talked about. So it’s good to be proactive.

The approach below will help you “fill in the gaps” in your fluency.

This is for you if you’re somewhere in the intermediate range.

As I see it, the basic issue is twofold:

1. Lack of experience. The first time you talk about something, it’s always less smooth. And there are many, many things you have never talked about in Spanish, and many more situations you’ve never run into (this is why you can speak advanced Spanish but panic when ordering at a busy Madrid café).
   
2. Lack of knowledge. You don’t have the knowledge to understand or talk about it fluently. You may even struggle with the topic in your first language, too.

Let’s address those two problems at once, using…

Slo-mo Whack-a-mole

Think of improving in Spanish like playing a very slow version of whack-a-mole.

Each week, one new “mole” pops up. This is your “Weekly Topic”.

Throughout the week, you build your learning around this topic. You read about it, watch things related to it, and write and speak about it.

By doing this, you build more fluency on your chosen topic.

Let’s look at an example:

Chosen topic for the week: wildlife.

Why choose this topic? I want to be able to talk about animals and nature with more fluency

Core learning material: rotating 3 YouTube videos (NatGeo en español would be great). Dive into the videos in different ways.

Possible activities using content on your chosen topic:

1. Active listening while reading a transcript
2. Summarize the video out loud
3. Analyze part of the audio for rhythm and intonation (this is something we do in Chapter 1 of my pronunciation program)
4. Write your opinions on the video
5. Feed the transcript to AI and say, “Based on this transcript, ask me questions in Spanish to help me express my opinions and ideas on this topic”.
6. Talk with your conversation partner about wildlife in Costa Rica

There are plenty of ways you can structure this.

But intentionally giving yourself one “mole to whack” each week has a two big benefits:

1. It makes your learning feel more strategic
2. It helps you make noticeable progress in one area

And the things you learn in one area also improve other areas of your Spanish — a rising tide lifts all boats kind of thing.

Give this a shot this week and let me know how it goes.

¡Saludos!

Connor

P.S. Re: the intermediate course I mentioned above, those on the waitlist will get first access and a bonus that won’t be available anywhere else. Click here to add your name to the list.

P.P.S. Jose (from my interview) and his wife Sandra have a fantastic YouTube channel that’s all about traveling in Spain. They have English subtitles and speak clearly. Check out their channel, Viajando a nuestro aire.