Learning a Foreign Language is a Process

I began studying Spanish on Duolingo two years before I moved to Mexico. Duolingo is a free app that teaches 40 languages, including sign language using spaced repetition. I felt brain dead at first because I couldn't retrieve the words when I wanted them. I couldn't think in Spanish.

Members of Duolingo often form study groups within their communities. I lived in Sacramento, California, at the time, and a young woman and her boyfriend started a group. At the first meeting, she went around the group, asking people to introduce themselves and say something in Spanish. I could only repeat the order I had memorized for food in a Mexican restaurant.

After that, I couldn't spit out one word in Spanish. The group leader became frustrated with me and snapped; we're trying to get you to say something. Do you know the names of the numbers and colors? That made me feel stupid, and I never returned to the study group.

I was in the silent/receptive stage of language acquisition which is the beginning of learning a new language. Just as a baby needs about a year of hearing speech before speaking it, adults must also go through this stage, although we don't typically need as much time.

I moved to Mexico in January of 2021. By March, I decided that I needed a

Spanish teacher or tutor. I went to Facebook and asked if anyone knew someone who could teach me Spanish. That began my almost year-long study with an excellent teacher. I recently finished studying with her, and I'm continuing on my own using various methods.

If you studied a foreign language in high school or college, you most likely spent the time learning verb conjugations and came out complaining that you couldn't speak it. Whether it's your primary language or a foreign language, you're going to practice it for the rest of your life if you want to be proficient.

Did you clean your house today? Do you expect it to stay clean for the rest of your life? Of course not!

Like in high school and college, the time I spent with my teacher involved conjugating verbs. I also supplemented this with Duolingo and various videos on YouTube. My two favorite Spanish teachers on YouTube are The Language Tutor and Butterfly Spanish.

Many people will argue that full immersion is the best way to learn a foreign language. That may be true, but you will still need instruction and a lot of practice. If you don't have the opportunity to speak it with people, you will not learn it.

The reality is that the best way to learn a foreign language is the way that works for you. My real estate agent said she could only learn English through song. Studying it made her crazy.

A friend insists that the best way to learn is through immersion. She insists that being able to communicate is all you need. If that's all she wants, then that's what's best for her. I want to speak like an educated Spanish speaker. Learning to conjugate verbs is necessary if you're going to sound like an educated person.

When I moved to Mexico, a friend came with me. She is Hispanic but did not grow up speaking Spanish. Her aunt was a teacher, and she told her mom not to teach her Spanish because it would slow her down in school. That's unfortunate. She and her husband own a mailbox company in a neighborhood catering mostly to Spanish-speaking people.

Once we reached Mexico, I heard her speaking Spanish to people in the airport. She insisted that she could only speak in words and not in sentences. She sure fooled me because it sounded like she was carrying on a conversation with people.

I'm fortunate to have a large community of Spanish speakers to learn from and practice with. I use every tool and resource I can get my hands on to supplement my learning. I will leave a list of my favorite at the bottom of this article.

If you live in a country where only one language is spoken, seek out classes and other people that want to learn or already speak the language. Start a language group.

In the last year, I felt I would never learn to speak Spanish. I couldn't imagine the words coming to mind automatically. I find that I'm starting to fly now after a year of study, repetition, and engaging with Spanish-speaking people.

To learn a foreign language, you first must want to learn and be willing to put in the work. Determination, which I have a lot of, will go a long way. Remember that it isn't something you learn once, and you have it. It's a life-long process. Most of all, don't give up.

My favorite resources:

Fluencia

Duolingo

Spanish Dictionary

YouTube tutorials

The Language Tutor on YouTube

Butterfly Spanish on YouTube. She is a Spanish teacher living in Mexico.

If you want to learn a language other than Spanish, start with Duolingo and YouTube.