In my last blog post, I gave you some methods of learning and teaching foreign language to avoid. It's not that those methods 100% don't work. It's that they aren't efficient or useful to actually being able to converse. That slow-going method creates an obstacle, causing us to believe a few different things... We're not GOOD at Spanish, or it's HARD, or it's just not worth it. So... go back, and please do avoid those methods, even though the message was a bit of a downer.
So let me follow up today with five easy tricks to get super QUICK progress in your Spanish learning journey:
1) Pick a word of the day! Back when we were growing up, several tv shows had a WORD OF THE DAY. It was sort of mundane, but also one we used. And it changed every week. The entire show, household audience would scream and jump and yell when someone said it! My challenge to you is to do that in Spanish. Choose a rather common word that you KNOW someone (probably you!) will say that day. Post it in SPANISH (even better if it's in your See it and Say it lesson - you can just pop it in your flashcard holder on the kitchen counter!) If you aren't great at speaking Spanish yet, your word of the day could easily be THANK YOU. When someone says THANK YOU, you respond with jumping, hopping and calling out GRACIAS GRACIAS GRACIAS! :-)
The idea is that the family won't say Thank you any more, they will begin replacing it with gracias, in order to avoid the attention. If a family member ENJOYS everything jumping, then that's ok too!
Already know the manners words?
You could choose:
~ JACKET (chaqueta; chah-keh-tah) or
~ SHOES (zapatos, sah-pah-tohs) or
~ BOOK (libro, lee-broh)
These are all words we frequently ask our members to find, get, put up, or bring. Change words weekly, maybe every Tuesday, so the fun doesn't get worn out!
2) Learn some ADJECTIVES instead of nouns. Very simply, you can describe the items around you without knowing how to translate the item itself. Colors, sizes, and beauty are great starter spots:
Examples:
~ Es verde. No es verde. (It's (not) green.)
~ Es grande. No es grande. (It's (not) big.)
~ Es lindo. No es lindo. (It's (not) cute/nice.)
3) Play memory. Use any Bingo Set from the Flip Flop Spanish website and print out two copies, or make your own cards. Making TWO of them (just coloring them even) already gives you double the memory options, and then playing the game just ONCE will cause your ability to soar. Studies show that you need to access information 20 times or so for the information to move into long term memory, unless it's through play... which then only takes 3 to 6 times. Which is another reason See it and Say it is so effective - it feels like you're playing a game.
4) Play "add-on." A great way to progress is to turn around and look at how far you've come. This little word play is sort of like Simon - remember the light up game where you would push red. red green. red green green. red green green blue.... and see how far your memory could take you in the repetitive pattern? Same idea, but with whatever Spanish category in which you have the most knowledge. Is it colors? Weather? Clothing? Food?
Whatever it is, choose the category where you feel the most confidence. I'll use food.
Necesito...una manzana.
Necesito una manzana y unas uvas.
Necesito una manzana, unas uvas, y una galleta.
Necesito una manzana, unas uvas, una galleta y los totopos...
(I need an apple, some grapes, a cookie, and the chips.)
Ok, so you keep going until someone messes up, or needs to pass, because they can't think of anything. It's ok (if it's ok with you) to add items outside of the category, like... zapatos. Then you'd want to add something to your Personal Learning Dictionary, or a flashcard stack, or calendar to help increase the fun, curiosity and adventure!
5) Buy something SIMPLE to help. I hate to offer this, because it sounds sales-y, but I'm not sales-y, so you just have to trust me when I say this works. If there's something I want to achieve, but I don't have the motivation, I need to spend a little money. I'm frugal enough that though I may waste my time, I will NOT waste money. So that small expenditure will motivate me to move toward my goal. The trick is that it needs to be simple to carry out, and not TOO quick, but quick enough. For me, waiting for the item to arrive in the mail is JUST the right amount of time to get primed for action. If you're a "download and go gal," - GO FOR IT, but I often download, print, and then don't use it.
I'm not sure why.
With that being said, any One Spanish Word a Day Calendar is a GREAT option. You throw it up on the wall, and BOOM, you never have to go find it. It's ALWAYS THERE, easy access. Pictures, labels, phonetic spelling - ALL THERE. ONE word per day! The one I made for my students was just for the summer until my husband pointed out that it would be a great year round supplement! Audio is included, and I made a few videos to go with it too, and we even have a Level 2 now! The second option of the same vein is one of those rip off calendars. Not quite as fun, and it wort of feels bad when you forget to rip the days off for a while, but still motivational and not too expensive, and ONE WORD a day. Pick your poison (I call it 'poison', because it DOES cost money, sigh.)
Here are mine:
Spanish Fun Activity Calendar: Level 1
Spanish Fun Activity Calendar: Level 2
Here's another option: