Just so we're clear, there's nothing wrong with you. Learning languages is hard.
(Lo-fi hip hop music plays)
So, I enjoy watching a "here's how I learned a language in an absurdly short amount of time"
video just as much as the rest of you. But as someone who's actively trying to learn Spanish,
and realizing that it will just take me longer than 30 days,
I wanted to slow down for a second with y'all and go over some of the things that
have been working for me and haven't been working for me in the hopes that
maybe something in this video will help you out on your language learning journey.
Just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you.
If you're new here, I'm Hallease. I'm a digital storyteller and video producer
and on this channel, I document my chaotic good life. Subscribe, follow, social media.
So, last month I made a video talking about how I was beginning to build my process
for learning Spanish and also defining what fluency meant for me in a language.
I also showed y'all a really awesome class on Bright Trip by Johnny Harris and Nathaniel Drew.
I still highly recommend that class just to help you get your mind right about
having just realistic expectations for learning a language and how the process will go for you. So,
we are now firmly into April and I have been actively trying to learn Spanish since January.
Here's how it's going. Manual flashcards: issa no for me. Editor Hallease: cut to the footage.
I took the time to write out, I think, almost 500 flashcards and then also build a
sort of repetitive flashcard schedule for myself. Complete waste of time. I think I used them for
maybe a week ... maybe, consistently before it just felt cumbersome and I felt like,
if I wanted to go to the office with them, I needed to bring 'em and it was a whole thing.
It was a mess. Conversely, though, digital flashcards actually really worked for me.
I loved that they were already pre-built, and I didn't have to think about them,
and I could just have them on my iPad, something I'm always gonna have with me anyway. So, I could
have these quick sort of break out study sessions to input vocabulary as much as I needed to.
(Female app voice) Un refresco, una soda, una gaseosa.
(Hallease) Now, there's a lot of different digital flashcard apps out there. Most of 'em use the sort
of cognitive, repetition, biology, here's how your brain remembers things stuffs. Anki is one,
Brainscape's another one. Those are like the two big ones that I often hear people talk about the
most. I decided to opt into the Brainscape one. Aside from their regular Brainscape
app which has a lot of different subjects and decks built around different subjects.
I paid $20 for their Spanish sub-app. I just started using that. I found that I
was way more likely to actually take some time and do a couple sessions. I usually do
Brainscape flashcards over the weekend. That just seems when I have the most time and I'm just in
the mental head space of wanting to input more words into my brain. Again, Brainscape's just the
one I'm using. There's a lot of different digital flash card deck apps out there.
In the comments below, if you know of any other ones let us know. Again,
I know Anki's another really, really popular one. So, check that one out, too. In the beginning,
it really is all about building your vocabulary and trying to get to about
1000, 2000 words plus verbs and conjugation. So, you can start to build sentences and communicate
effectively in a language. So, I would really recommend some sort of flash card situation.
Maybe manual flashcards work really well for you, but for me they just did not help me at
all. The next thing that has really helped me has been audio lessons. (Hallease speaking Spanish)
I went ahead and opted in for Pimsleur, Pimsleur Spanish,
and it includes all levels is $20 a month.
(Male app narrator) This is lesson 19 of Pimsleur's Spanish 1.
So, here's the thing about Pimsleur. So, with Pimsleur it's active recall that they
bring up things at different times. I will say, Pimsleur is corny as hell. It's hellllla corny,
hella cheesy stories. They'll try to give you visualizations in audio form. So, the narrator
will be like, "Imagine you're a man in Mexico City going to meet your friend at a cafe." But,
the thing that's really great about Pimsleur is it gets you talking which is I think the
hardest thing when you're first starting out in a language, you just are so afraid to even talk.
And once I started doing Pimsleur lessons, outside of Pimsleur, I was just way more willing to
say things out loud which is what you wanna do. Remember, reading and writing languages,
that's cool. But reading and writing languages is just another interpretation of how people speak.
Languages are meant to be spoken unless it's sign language, then it's meant to be
seen. Reading and writing are just interpretations of spoken language.
So, you want to talk in the language. I find that with Pimsleur, my ear has gotten significantly
better, even though it is that sort of ... I feel like they get the same two Spanish people to do
every Spanish lesson in the history of time. Like, it's the same woman and the same dude.
(Female narrator speaks Spanish)
(Male narrator speaks Spanish)
I would really recommend doing Pimsleur especially when you do Pimsleur in combination with something
like a Brainscape. You're really going to notice a significant difference in your
active recall of things as you learn new words and just your accent and your ability to speak.
(Hallease speaks Spanish)
Film yourself speaking a lot. So, if you've been hanging out with me for a while on this channel,
then you've probably noticed (speaks Spanish) which is the word of the day in Spanish. I do
them about once a week here on this channel and on my Instagram as well. YouTube has these shorts
that you can do now, so I was like, "Oh! That's a fun thing to do for the shorts."
Filming myself saying the word of the day has been really beneficial for a few reasons.
One, before I film the word of the day, I have to think about the word and then
think about what I wanna say about the word and then how I wanna present that to you.
So, a lot of times I end up kind of having to translate my thoughts in my mind
which is good and then also going to Google Translate and things like that
to make sure I'm actually saying things correctly and how I want to say them.
Learning to speak another language the way I know how I want to represent myself in that language.
Two, for me, with those of y'all who speak Spanish and understand the language,
y'all have been really really supportive and engaged with me a lot in those little mini
shorts that I'm doing. You've also corrected me a lot, too, which is really great. You get a lot
of really great engagement and correction. The third thing, at the end of each video,
I always ask y'all to engage with me by telling me more Spanish words that I can practice and learn.
A lot of y'all are starting to put sort of colloquialisms and slang as well, which is
really helpful. Because then it actually helps me to understand how Spanish is spoken in the day
to day, how Spanish is spoken culturally in the same way that as a black woman, I use AAVE a lot,
or I'll dip AAVE into my videos a lot. I'm still speaking English but I'm using a different
variation of the English language to communicate effectively and it's based on my culture.
So, I really appreciate that y'all are starting to use colloquialisms and
things like that because it helps me, again, culturally understand more about the language
which makes it that much more fun to speak and express myself in it. I will also say though,
if you know of any other creators to follow who speak Spanish and make Spanish content (speaks
Spanish). Before I get into the last thing, a quick word from our sponsor which is Storyblocks.
Storyblocks is a stock footage site with a million royalty free assets
and unlimited downloads. If you're a full time creative like me, or maybe you're a freelancer
who works with clients, Storyblocks can be a really great way to beef up your offerings and
really just jazz up your videos here on YouTube again if you're a creator. Go ahead and check
them out at storyblocks.com/hallease. I have really enjoyed using Storyblocks
because they're actively trying to diversify stock footage via their Re:Stock program.
I find that generally, it can be really hard to find people that look like me in stock footage
sites doing just regular degular things. So, Storyblocks is actively trying to fix that
by partnering with BIPOC filmmakers and then also making sure that those BIPOC filmmakers are
filming and creating stock footage of other BIPOC people as well as LGBTQI+ people as
well. I just really appreciate that they're out here doing it. They're out here trying (laughs).
It's really nice to see. Storyblocks has plans that fit any budget, so whenever you're ready
check them out: storyblocks.com/hallease. The final thing that has really helped me to stay
focused and consistently trying to learn Spanish even though, again,
yes it's been well over 30 days (laughs) is visualization. Visualization is this idea of
manifesting what you want for yourself more or less abstractly and visualizing it in your mind.
That way, as you move through your life day to day, you're making concrete decisions usually
subconsciously that push you towards that abstract goal. Whenever I'm starting to feel like "Ugh, I
don't feel like doing a Pimsleur lesson today, I don't feel like doing my flashcards today,"
whenever I start to feel that way, I start a little visualization session of myself
and I visualize myself already speaking Spanish fluently.
I visualize myself somewhere in South America, maybe it's Costa Rica, maybe it's Mexico City. I
visualize myself there communicating effectively with people, meeting new people,
diving deeper into the culture and getting to experience a different way of existing,
getting to broaden my horizons in that way. I sit there for a second and visualize myself
already doing it and that really pushes me to then do the work to manifest that for myself.
Bonus tip. Again, I really think that filming yourself speaking a language practicing a language
is really good and can really help you not only to again practice but also literally see the
evidence of your progression in the language and can just give you that boost that I think
a lot of us need on this long-term journey. At the top of the video, I also mentioned,
I love watching a "here's how I learned a language in an absurdly short amount of time" video.
Someone I just started following is language lord. I think he only has
three or four videos on his channel, but he's talked about his process for learning French.
How he incorporated this idea of filming himself telling a story.
I think it's actually a really cool idea and process. So, check out his video on it. I
think it's a really cool video. I think it's an interesting way to approach language learning.
I feel like once my vocabulary gets to a little bit of a better place,
I will try to incorporate this way of studying, and learning,
and speaking as well. In the comments below, if you are actively trying to learn another
language right now, let us know how that's going. Let us know what language it is,
and what's worked for you, what hasn't worked for you. Again, I always want to try to be a
resource to the community as much as possible on all the different interests that I have.
The best part about being on here in the community is the community. So, down in the comments below,
please let me know if you have any other great tips, things that definitely didn't work for
you and why, really interested. Big shout-out to my Patreon producers, patreon.com/hallease.
There you get early access to my videos as well as private weekly vlogs from me with
behind the scenes stuff, how things are going, everything that's happening in the background.
It's a really good time. Again, patreon.com/hallease if you're interested.
If you made it this far in the video, I'm Hallease a digital storyteller and
video producer. Thank you so much for stopping by! Consider liking, sharing,
subscribing, really helps your girl out. I will see you when I see you.
(Lo-fi hop hop music plays)