Your new year's resolution was to learn Spanish, but here we are in the middle of February
and you've definitely dropped off. If you're starting to hate this whole language learning
thing, don't worry. I've been there. After this video, you'll have my top tips for how
to fall in love with learning Spanish. For the best advice about moving to Mexico, subscribe
to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when I upload a new episode every Thursday.
If you're new to my channel, welcome, and if you've been here before, welcome back.
My name is Alex and I moved to Mexico from the US in 2017. I've called Querétaro home
ever since. In honor of Día de San Valentín, Valentine's Day, I'm sharing my top tips for
how to fall in love with learning Spanish. Wait for it, as an adult.
Here on my channel, I share lots of information about moving to Mexico. But when my subscribers
ask me for my best piece of advice, here's what I tell them. Learn as much Spanish as
possible before you move to Mexico. From finding an apartment to navigating the residency process,
your Spanish is going to be put to the test right off the bat and you'll be really glad
you didn't wait until you got here to start learning. The majority of my audience is based
in the US and most people in the US only speak one language, English. In fact, according
to the US Census Bureau, only 20% of Americans can converse in two or more languages. Compare
that to 56% of Europeans. Please don't think that I'm saying that to
shame you. I'm referencing those statistics to let you know that I understand why you're
having such a hard time learning Spanish. There's a block. As an adult who's never learned
another language, you're not sure if it's actually possible. But I'm here to tell you
that it is possible. I didn't start taking learning Spanish seriously until I was 22
years old. [foreign language 00:02:05]. The first step is discovering how to fall in love
with learning Spanish. But before we dive into my five tips, I'm going to take this
wig off so we're not all distracted. Think for a second about the last person you
dated. If they were difficult and stressed you out, I'm going to go ahead and guess that
you broke things off. But if it was enjoyable to spend time together and the relationship
felt natural, there's a good chance that you developed feelings. If you want to fall in
love with learning Spanish, it needs to be enjoyable and feel natural. The best way to
do that is to make studying simple. If you've watched other videos with tips for learning
Spanish, you've probably heard the one about watching shows and movies in Spanish. But
let's face it. At the end of a long day, you just want to verge out in front of the TV
and not struggle through a show. Here's my alternative. For whatever you're
watching, go ahead and leave it in English, but turn the subtitles on in Spanish. You
will seriously be amazed at how much new vocabulary you pick up plus this is a great strategy
for helping you grasp sentence structure. When you do decide you're ready to watch something
in Spanish, keep in mind that you don't need to understand absolutely everything in order
for it to be beneficial. Personally, I love using studying as an excuse to rewatch some
of my favorite shows. It's easier for me to follow along because I'm already so familiar
with it. The same goes for reading. The first books I read in Spanish were from the Harry
Potter series. When you're learning Spanish, don't feel like you need to read Don Quixote.
Children's books are a great place to start. No, that's not a kinky Valentine's Day thing,
although if you're into that, more power to you. Be a baby is to remind you that you already
have experience learning a language. When learning Spanish feels impossible, think back
on how you learned English. If you were like pretty much every baby ever, then you learned
by repeating everything that you heard. When Taylor and I watch Casa de Papel, we're constantly
pausing the show to repeat lines from Nairobi, Denver, and the other characters. Since we
lived in Madrid, it's really fun for us to try to imitate Spanish accents. If you're
looking for a native speaker from Mexico to imitate, I recommend the Learn Spanish and
Go Podcast. May has a really lovely and really easy to understand Mexican accent. In one
of my favorite episodes, she and co-host, Jim, talk about Mexican slang, which is perfect
for practicing this be a baby strategy. I will link that podcast in the description
below. I didn't start to really truly fall in love
with Spanish until I got the heck out of my shell and started using it to have real conversations.
My favorite resource for finding real people to have real conversations with is italki.
I've used the platform to find affordable one-to-one language classes, as well as connect
with other language learners for intercambios. An intercambio is a 50-50 language exchange.
So for example, you will find a partner on italki and set up a time to, via Skype, chat
for first 30 minutes in one language and then 30 minutes in another language. The person
that you're talking with is trying to learn English and in exchange they are helping you
practice your Spanish. If having a full on conversation via Skype sounds too intimidating
at this point, don't worry. You can also find someone who is willing to exchange WhatsApp
messages or voice messages, and that's a great way to build up confidence. If you are interested
in learning more about learning a language with italki, then I will leave a link in the
description for a blog post that tells you everything you need to know.
Whether you use italki to find a language partner or a tutor, it's important to spend
the time to find someone that you truly vibe with. For a language partner, that means someone
who is interested in discussing the same topics as you. And for a language tutor, that means
a teacher who is going to push you, but is also someone that you feel comfortable with.
Don't be afraid to try out some different teachers until you find someone who matches
your learning style. Have you started having real conversations yet? Where are you on your
journey with Spanish? Let me know in the comments. Every romantic can identify with the search
for the one. I spent years searching for the one program, teacher, app, that was going
to show me how to master Spanish. And in the end, it nearly broke my heart because the
truth is the one doesn't exist. Showing up for your one Spanish class a week isn't enough
and listening to Rosetta Stone on your commute to work isn't enough. Duolingo alone isn't
enough. Instead of looking for a silver bullet, you need a combination of resources and strategies.
If you're going to fall in love with learning Spanish, your self-made immersion program
needs to have ways to practice your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with
things that genuinely interest you. Taylor, my partner, fell in love with Spanish while
listening to rap. He would listen to raperos and raperas from Spain, Venezuela, and Mexico,
and he loved their lyrics, their flow so much that he wanted to know what they were saying.
Even if Bad Bunny's music isn't your thing, use this same idea to create your own immersion
program. Find mediums and materials that light your fire.
If learning Spanish or dating, not every worthy achievement is a surprise hot air balloon
ride. If you're going to fall in love with learning Spanish, you need to learn to appreciate
the smaller, quieter, less Instagram worthy wins. Some people, always people who have
never tried to learn another language, think it's either you know nothing, or you're speaking
at a native level when in reality, fluency is a spectrum and no one's language learning
journey is linear. For a long time, I didn't celebrate small wins. I was in this weird
headspace where I decided that I was just going to wait to start speaking Spanish until
I was sure that I wasn't going to make any mistakes. As you can probably guess, paralyzed
by my fear, I plateaued my own progress. Trying and failing, making mistakes, it's all part
of the process. And that's scary. I get it. No one likes to
be wrong, but fluency isn't about being perfect. You're putting a lot of pressure on yourself
if you're trying to pass as a native speaker. And while that's a great, that's an awesome
big picture long-term goal, you need to remember that right now it's enough just to be understood.
Imperfect progress is still progress and you need to keep in mind that learning Spanish
is a marathon, not a sprint. So even spending five minutes every day studying is better
than one hour once a week. Don't forget to celebrate the small wins and be wary of burnout.
Falling in love with Spanish doesn't happen all at once. It's a gradual thing.
Those were my five tips to help you fall in love with learning Spanish as an adult. Now,
I'm not going to lie to you. Learning Spanish is hands down, one of the hardest things I
have ever done, but it's also one of the most rewarding, which is why I want to say to you,
keep going. You've got this. If you found this video helpful, be sure to give it a thumbs
up. And if you have any tips of your own for learning Spanish, be sure to leave those in
the comments. Our language learning journeys are never over. So I am always looking for
new resources and new tools to improve my own Spanish skills. I'm Alex from backpackingbrunette.com.
Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for watching.