My history with Spanish is long ... and filled with potholes (commonly called failure). I won't start at the beginning which was way long ago and filled with workbooks, flash cards, sticky labels, cassettes, adult courses, CDs and often multiple versions of all of the above, punctuated by long periods of ignoring it all.
Failure was a surprise to me. I'm a good student and love learning and language. I thought I would ace the process but time after time I failed. (Spoiler alert: this is not a rags to riches, I'm now fluent in 17 languages story. Far from it, but I am betting my near future on the possibility of breaking through the barriers and becoming conversational in a language and land I've come to love.)
A generous offer to spend time in Morelía, a favorite place in Mexico, made me open the door once more. When I shut the door in mid-2019, I took on the label of "failure" and swore that I would never try again. However, I didn't dump this blog or a few of the paper materials I had created. So, when I took up the challenge again, I decided to identify where I went wrong and figure out a more productive path.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, I hope this post and the resources here will be of use to you.
Where did I go wrong?
1. Easy ... I refused to start speaking before I could be "right."
2. I tried to learn word by word, rather than in "chunks" or phrases. (This insight came from Paul QRoo who has a wealth of YouTube videos and is listed in the Great Tools sidebar. He wasn't here when I left so I think with his insights, I have a better chance of succeeding.
3. Too much time spent on grammar and verb conjugation. I worked through four 160 page workbooks (six months or more which could have been spent talking.)
4. I got sidetracked by the fascination with learning how to learn instead of having conversations in Spanish.
What am I going to do differently?
1. Talk out loud in Spanish every day ... making Spanish sentences about the world around me.
2. Listen to Spanish ... online.
3. Have conversations with ChatGPT. It is an amazing experience with no performance pressures. I've named him Chad and he's very polite and listens well ... and even makes me laugh. I'm going to try this for 2 weeks before trying to open up conversations with real people.
4. Continue making visual vocabulary "flash cards" with no translation. Vocabulary is essential and spaced review works, but drop the translation part. Use focused fluency as the organizing principle ... starting with food/meals/kitchen.
5. Find ways to have short conversations that go beyond initial greetings and passing phrases. There are people where I live who I could have conversations with. Meet them and ask them to talk to me.
This time: Be Fierce!
