I moved down to Mexico shortly after finishing college where I had studied both Spanish as a modern language and Hispanic studies. I really loved life down here and so I asked my best friend Tatiana Regan to come and live down here with me. Tatiana was at something of a crossroads in her life and so she took me up on the offer. Within just a year of living here Tatiana had a Mexican boyfriend and was really enjoying the Mexican culture. Tatiana had an issue after a while because although her boyfriend could speak good English, he felt that he couldn’t properly express himself. Tatiana had never learned the language before and here is how she did it.
Immersion
As uncomfortable as it made her Tatiana realized that total immersion was the only way in which she was going to be able to learn this language. Tatiana’s partner’s family didn’t speak English and in the past she had always avoided family events or parties for this reason. She decided to jump into the deep end and made sure that she attended as many events as possible, each time trying to learn a little more than she knew previously. Having done this myself I can tell you that it is very uncomfortable, but it is the best way of learning a new language.
Apps
Tatiana used to have a class once per week but she wanted to learn far quicker than this and so she began to use a great app called HelloTalk. This app connects you with people who want to teach their language and learn about yours, the perfect forum for language learning. Tatiana made many friends on the app and they helped to correct and improve her Spanish. This social media tool really helped Tatiana and she began to improve at a rapid rate.
Only Spanish
Tatiana and her partner used to alternate days between speaking English and Spanish, something which they actually found very hard. On the days that they would speak Spanish they would often struggle through to have even the most basic of conversation and whilst she grew repeatedly frustrated, she knew that his was helping her a great deal. Tatiana and her partner still do this now, although her language is far better and they can now have actual conversations with each other.
Movies
Tatiana began to watch many Spanish-speaking movies with English subtitles which proved to be a great way for her to join up some dots. Because she could see a live translation and work out which words meant what, this was really helpful to her learning. In watching the movies you are still being entertained as you learn, which makes it far less work than simply reading from a book.
I am so proud of how Tatiana has managed to learn the language and with these tips I am pretty sure that everyone would be able to do the same.
Leave a Reply