Learning Spanish

Ultimately my goal for this trip is to come back speaking Spanish fluently, or at least be highly proficient. So since that is my goal it is something that I try to work toward every single day. Being in a country where they speak Spanish is perfect because I see and hear Spanish all the time, but if I don't put in the extra work to really learn the language...it's not gonna happen. So here are a few things that I do in order to practice (outside of my Spanish class). It's hard and half the time I feel like a complete idiot but I'm learning...slowly but surely...and that's what matters right? :)

1. Reading Magazines in Spanish
It's no secret that I love fashion and I always read Vogue when I'm at home so I figured why not read it here? No lie it takes me FOREVER to get through a single article but I feel so accomplished when I do lol.

2. Keeping a Spanish Notebook
I bought a tiny little notebook that I take with me everywhere. It has all of the tenses with the regular and irregular conjugations and when to use each one. I also write down words or phrases that I need to learn.

3. Dinner Every Night with My Senora
I look forward to dinner every single night because I know that I will get to practice my Spanish. And dinner is such a laid back thing I never feel pressure or nervous. I just speak naturally. It also helps that my Senora never talks too fast and is very patient with me. Dinner is hands down one of my favorite parts of the day.

4. Texting My Friends in Spanish...sometimes lol

So since were in Spain I try to text my friends in Spanish. Sometimes it works and other times it's just so much easier/faster to talk in English. I will keep working on this though.

5. Listening to Spanish Music
This one has been very fun for me. Listening to music in Spanish helps me soooo much because it sets everything to a tune, which makes it easier to learn.

6. Quizlet (this one is new)

So I recently started using quizlet during midterms in order to study. It's basically just a website where you can create flash cards and quizzes in order to study. It worked really well for my midterms so now I am going to try it with learning words, the tenses, and all the irregular conjugations. I'm excited to see how it works. 

I still have a long way to go but I am definitely MUCH better than when I first arrived. At this point I would say I'm conversational...trying to move toward proficient, ultimately trying to be fluent. I have a lot of work to do but I refuse to give up on my dream. I will continue to update you on how my Spanish is progressing.

xo