by Wendy
Jack and I are taking another Spanish class this year. In many ways, we are good students. We arrive on time, we participate, we thank our teacher before leaving. We even brought her a bottle of wine, assuming that she probably needs one after listening to our horrific accent for 3 hours. We can laugh at our mistakes. We have the best of intentions to study in the evenings and on the weekends.
Unfortunately what we refer to as “studying” is a mix of mostly ineffective habits. I told Jack I was working on a post titled, “How Not to Study Spanish.” His response: “Yes, we certainly have that down.”
Here are some of our top mistakes, in no particular order.
Pretending like memorization isn’t important. We might know a fair number of verbs, for example, but that doesn’t count for much without knowing the correct conjugations. Verb tenses are not easy. Irregular verbs are worse. It’s not as easy to absorb as we thought it would be.
Foolishly assuming that previous 1-2 week trips to Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico gave us a heads start. Oh sure, we mastered a few go-to phrases (dos cervezas, por favor) and recognized basic words, but what we really learned was that we needed to take a class. I still mess up numbers after 10 and the months of the year. I’m pathetic.
Not setting a regular schedule for studying. When we get out of class, we are mentally tired, but have both noticed that Spanish words keep running through our head the rest of the evening, sometimes even during sleep. But instead of taking advantage of this momentum, we usually blow off studying the next day or two. It’s a haphazard approach. We might set the timer for an hour here, 30 minutes there, and of course there is the classic, “let’s work on it tomorrow.”
Distractions. A good study session might be quizzing each other on vocabulary and completing online homework exercises with pronouns, direct/indirect objects and verb conjugations. Even better if we manage to avoid the distractions of household chores, the phone, social media, a sudden need for coffee or snacks, or debates about correct pronunciation (as if either of us know).
Thinking that watching movies or television shows in Spanish counts as studying – it’s more like a study “accessory.” There are benefits of course, and I love hearing the accent, but more often than not, it’s way for us to procrastinate. It doesn’t take the place of trying to learn the technical aspects of the language, at least for us at this stage.
Thinking that texting each other a sentence in Spanish counts as studying.
Thinking that writing a note in Spanish on my niece’s birthday card counts as studying.
Thinking that interpreting a fast food ad written in Spanish counts as studying.
Thinking that reading an English translation of a novel by the amazing Madrid-born author Javier Marias counts as studying. That’s right, I said an English translation.
Glass of wine while studying? I wouldn’t say no! However this usually dissolves into several glasses and then I’ve convinced Jack that watching Narcos Season 2 on Netflix counts as studying.
Reading something in Spanish is great, so is reading it out loud, and so is listening to Spanish being spoken or sung. But this doesn’t replace the most difficult practice: conversing in Spanish. Many people describe their foreign language skills by proclaiming “I can understand much more than I can speak.” Hmm, that’s true for me as well, so now I’m wondering if their method of study is similar to mine (joking). I definitely find speaking the most intimidating part of learning a new language. Jack and I can often comprehend the main idea being communicated in Spanish – but our goal is 1) to get past the initial panic when we are asked a question 2) to be able to formulate an answer in 30-60 seconds and 3) reply without sounding like a toddler.
Even this “studying” is better than nothing, right? Jack and I think it is fun and rewarding to take this class together, however much we enable our codependent homework habits. The good news is that progress is being made, however slowly, and we are determined to learn this beautiful language. We are also forever impressed with those who know multiple languages, and have absolute respect for the hard work and discipline it takes, no matter what level of proficiency.