The longer I spend learning Spanish, the more I’m convinced that words are overrated.
I’m not saying words aren’t useful….
And running into gaps in your vocabulary does feel like riding a bike with a chain that keeps falling off.
But words are just the ingredients! Not the recipe or the meal.
And focusing too much on vocabulary might actually be slowing down your Spanish progress.
So today I want to reframe things and share how you can speak better Spanish without hoarding words like a mad stamp collector.
Do I need to know this?
Most people are using one of the popular apps as part of their learning.
Which is fine — they can be useful.
But there’s something surprising you may have noticed after a months-long “streak”: the words you’ve been learning don’t always translate into words you can use.
i.e., you can’t understand much or speak much.
What do apps do?
They present you with words.
There’s no memory or experience to connect it with! Just the app’s branding.
Which is why you might recall el avestruz on the app…
But next time you see an ostrich (ya never know), the Spanish word is just out of reach.
That’s NOT because your memory is so bad, or because you’re “not good at languages”.
It’s because you don’t have any relevant, engaging, useful context. No footholds for your memory, like climbing a rock wall that’s been sanded down.
Let me put it another way.
Imagine an app shows you these words (Dictionary.com ‘Words of the Day’):
Withershins = counterclockwise
Treacly = overly sentimental
Personally, I don’t know these words. They look like surnames from a Jane Austen novel.
If an app showed me these words, even with “contextual” sentences like the ones from Dictionary.com…
The ferris wheel began to turn withershins
The stories too often end with treacly flourishes.
…There’s a 3/10 chance I’ll remember the meaning at lunchtime. And that’s in my native language!
Spanish is FULL of “withershins” and “treaclys” for you right now — words that hold zero meaning or connection.
But unless you…
- come across those words in an engaging, useful context
- need those words
- come across them many times
You can’t expect to have them as part of your active vocabulary (the words you can USE in conversation).
So what to do instead?
Focus less on the parts and more on the whole.
i.e., less on words and more on using the language through listening, reading and speaking.
It sounds simple, but it requires patience and a Miyagi-esque level of “trusting the process”.
Because blasting through words on an app feels faster. So it’s appealing, even when it doesn’t develop the abilities you’re looking for.
Something to think about:
Your native language vocabulary grew through context (memorable interactions with the people around you). Plus lots of repetition.
And while there are lots of differences between a toddler and an adult second language learner…
The importance of context has not changed.
When you build your vocabulary on your phone, with words presented to you at random…
It’d be like a parent just saying the word cat and dog over and over, without showing their child a real dog or cat.
Point is, Spanish in action…
- conversations
- your favorite books translated into Spanish
- trashy gossip magazines
- podcasts for learners
- Garfield in Spanish
- silly YouTube videos
- Video games
… All of that is more memorable than a word that pops up on your phone, devoid of memory or personal experience.
So, if you find that you do remember words on your app…
But not when you NEED them…
Then go out and create those memories and personal experiences in Spanish by focusing more on “Spanish in action”.
Pull your new words from those places. And make that the majority of your learning, especially if you’re anywhere in the pre-intermediate+ range.
The more you do, the more you’ll find that Spanish phrases just come to you.
Like a meal prep service that sends things to you chopped and portioned.
After all, it’s not about amassing a Cervantes-sized mental dictionary.
It’s about…
- using what you know
- working around what you don’t know
- and patiently getting better by reading, listening and proactively learning useful things based on that reading and listening.
Saludos,
Connor
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