Language Learning Tips

A few practices and tips I find useful for helping me learn Spanish

Language Learning Tips

Introduction

¡Buenos días, chicas y chicos de todas edades! Today I will be chatting about some tips and so-called tricks that have helped improve my acquisition of Spanish, and that I will apply in my pursuit of Irish. Hopefully these will be helpful to others who are trying hard to learn a 2^nd language.  Or maybe a 3^rd, if trying to do things a little differently.

I’m not by any stretch a linguist nor an expert, so while I speak to “you”, I’m not telling you to do these things or else you’ll never succeed. These are just a few things I’ve picked up over the years and found useful. Your mileage may vary. This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, but even as detail oriented as I can be, I felt it best to not try to include just every tiny little thing I’ve learned.

So, with those caveats out of the way, ¡Empecemos!

Know Your Why

This first one harkens back to my corporate and business-building days, pulling on the wisdom of author Simon Sinek: Know Your Why. I feel like this is the most important indicator of success regardless of trying to build a business, learning to crochet, or acquiring a new language. Your “why” will drive your motivation, or temper it, as the case may be.

The basic idea is to ask yourself, “Why am I learning this language?" The answer will provide some insight into how much dedication and effort will go into the learning process. Is the “why” to expand opportunities at work? Or is there a move to a different country in the offing? Are there books to be read in that language? (The obvious answer to this last is, of course, YES!!! 😁) Is it just something to mildly challenge yourself on? Do you live in an area with more than one language widely spoken? Is there travel in the near (or far) future?

For me and Spanish, I love the Spanish language: its combinations of sounds, the flow. It doesn’t hurt that I live in an area where Spanish would be quite useful. I would love to travel and spend time in the Central and South American countries where Spanish is predominantly spoken. And, I’m uncomfortable being monolingual! But also, I just want to. Which, for me, is generally enough.

With respect to Irish, I’ve a few different “whys” (whies? 🤷🏻‍♂️). My favorite music to listen to and relax with is Irish. There’s also a heritage factor, and Irish is just so darn cool! I’d love to be able to visit the Gaeltacht and carry on conversations, and to chuckle at the lyrics of some of the old folk songs that are still so popular. Looking at it, there really isn’t that far to go between Ireland and Spain, so both languages would be quite handy!

So, yeah, answer that question for yourself. Write the answer down somewhere and refer to it when you’re feeling overwhelmed or down. Also, if the answer changes and you decide to stop learning the language, that’s okay, too. It’s no reflection on you as a person, and just follows what your priorities are.

Know the Sounds

Okay, so if you’ve decided to embark on the language learning journey, start with the sounds of the language. And if you’ve started without specifically learning the sounds, go and do that now. Being able to hear and vocalize the sounds is really what it’s all about, right?

Now, I don’t mean, learn the alphabet and the names of the letters; that’s quite a different thing from the distinct sounds of the language. I mean, learn what sounds words and phrases will draw out of your vocal cords and lips. It’s more useful to learn the sounds, and then to see what letters those sounds might be represented by, than vice versa, in my opinion. Spanish, for example, has ~42 distinct sounds, and maybe a few more resulting from combining sounds. Once you know and can reproduce the sounds, understanding and being understood becomes much easier and rewarding.

For an excellent resource to learn the sounds, Wikipedia (a little surprisingly to codgy old me) is actually a great place to look. Wikipedia has great pronunciation keys for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents the sounds vocal cords make to produce speech in a language. Go have a look at the Wikipedia for Spanish IPA. They have the IPA symbol, examples, and English approximations for each distinct sound Linked to each sound is a page with audio of the sound and a description of how the sound is made in the mouth. Go give it a look-see. And then, do dedicate some time to learning the sounds, a couple weeks or so, until comfortable with them. It’ll be a great help!

Vocabulary

Do you know every word in your native language? I’d bet you don’t, and you still speak confidently, don’t you? I learn new-to-me English words frequently, and I’m oooooold! You’ll never know every word in a language, but you can know enough to be conversational. So, learn vocabulary. But focus on vocabulary that is actually used in conversations in that language. I’ve actually found Duolingo (my current language learning app) to be fairly decent; much of the Spanish I understand is from words learned in the app.

Learn the most-frequently occurring words in the language. This information is pretty easy to find on the Interwebs, and it will really help narrow down what you should learn to begin with. I’m constantly surprised at how much I can understand. There may be between 1000 and 3000 words that are used in daily conversations, and there are a lot more that can be figured out from context or as cognates (e.g., “perfect” in English and “perfecto” in español). Focus on those common words to start with.

To really turbocharge vocabulary acquisition, start watching shows, movies, YouTube, TikTok, etc., in that language. Preferably ones with accurate subtitles. Keep a notebook with you and write down new words that seem important in the context. That’ll be a judgement call on your part; just don’t try to catch every single word you don’t know. You’ll be there all day!! Write down the words and when you have a moment, put those in your word list or flashcard app—which you certainly have if you’re committed to learning, right? 😉

Phone, Tablet, Computer

One thing I’ve done is switch my phone to Spanish. Only a few apps actually get their language from the phone settings, so my AP News and Facebook and stuff still present content in English. However, the labels and pop-ups in most phone apps are in español, as are all the phone settings and other native phone dialogs. This is a good step towards immersion, and I have really picked up a good bit from doing this.

I haven’t taken this step with my computers because I use them for work. However, if you can, try switching to your learned language on those devices, too. It will add dramatically to the level of immersion, and I promise you’ll learn a ton more words and phrases! Just treat it as a learning exercise because it can be frustrating at times. Also, remember switching back to your own language is fine and doesn’t represent a failure. You tried something and it was causing more grief than help, and that’s okay.

Listening

Listening to the flow of the language is critical to understanding. When I listen to podcasts (every day) I like to focus hard on what the hosts are saying. Specifically, on the words; the meaning comes as my vocabulary knowledge gets more automatic. With English, I don’t have to really pay attention to understand what’s being said. With Spanish I still have to focus quite intently to … ingest? ... the conversation.

I also listen to things that I don’t focus so intently on, like music. I always get excited when I notice an “agus” going by in an Irish song, but I’m not specifically listening for it. “Agus” is Irish for “and”, but hey, any word recognized is a win, right? Anyhow, the recognition is an excellent achievement, but the goal is to hear how the language is used outside of learning environments. So, get some in-language podcasts, find some music and TV shows, download some audiobooks, and remind yourself: the goal isn’t to understand everything going into the ears, but rather to get a feel for the rhythm and flow of the language.

Every Day

For this post, let’s end with this tip: work on the language Every. Single. Day. The commitment here will largely be driven by your “why,” of course, which is why it’s important to understand your own personal reasons for learning. But participate in the language every day. Hopefully you’ll be able to do some focused learning every day, but at least get in some listening and reading activities. On a day of overwhelming-ness, maybe put on some of the more relaxing music, or one of the more soothing audiobooks or podcasts, and just listen. In times of chaos, the habit will be solid bedrock in shifting sands, and in times of joy, the habit will (should!) bring feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. Either way is a win!

What Are Yours?

Okay, one more: failure is absolutely an option! Embrace the fact that not understanding the language is okay, and that it takes time and effort to learn something new. And that’s okay! We learn from making mistakes as much as we do from achieving results. Every mistake is an opportunity for improvement in language learning.

These have just been a few of my thoughts about helpful practices in learning a new language or even reviving an old, unused one. What are some things that you’ve done to bolster and accelerate your own language learning journey? Leave a comment below in the comments section. I’m always on the lookout for more ways to improve my own journey!

And, por fin, si has estado, ¡gracias por leer! ¡Nos vemos la próxima!