The Most Effective Ways to Learn a New Language

Lessons you can learn from my journey to fluency in Spanish through trial and error

I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was learning Spanish. Growing up in Malaysia, it was not a popular first choice of languages to learn.

I could have told more people, but I would have had to deal with the never-ending “Why Spanish?”; “Is it even helpful to know the language when you live in Asia?”; “Why not *inserts famous Asian language here*?”

The discouragement from my family put me off from learning Spanish for the longest time. Well, that is until I decided to try and do it anyway. However, I had no idea how.

The Infamous Green Bird

My Spanish journey began with Duolingo. It was free, and I was able to do it at home. The app has a game-like learning process which I know a lot of people enjoy and the mini-lessons make you feel accomplished by the end of it.

After a few months, I started to feel a little more confident in my Spanish abilities, so I downloaded a storybook online and tried to read it. It is safe to say that I did not even manage to read two sentences from the book.

I knew some vocabulary but could not make out some of the others. I knew some words in the infinitive form, but what the conjugations were I could not understand. It was a nightmare, and I felt like giving up. It was all too difficult.

Like any mundane in the 21st century, I consulted Google for what to do next and figured out what the problem was. I had only been familiar with the present tense. However, there were at least six others that I had to master. Duolingo helped me learn a ton of vocabulary, but it was not what I needed for grammar.

Spanish For Dummies

Believe it or not, I downloaded the Spanish for Dummies book online and began to read every single page of it. I learned the different conjugations in Spanish and grammar concepts. Everything was starting to make sense.

However, the problem was that nothing would stick. I could not for the life of me, figure out how to practice any of the concepts. I forgot each concept right after I learned it.

When I attempted the storybook for the second time, I had to refer back to the long list of conjugations as I could not remember them. This approach was not working either.

The Traditional Route

After a disappointing few months, my next step was to take Spanish lessons in a college close to where I live. I started with an A1 level because that is where I felt I was with my informal and frankly, all over the place language journey.

I took two-hour classes twice a week, and at first, I enjoyed it. I had a strong foundation in the language, so each time I would only have a little bit extra to learn.

We practised grammar concepts in class which made things a lot easier for me. Things were good, but they weren’t great, much less ideally where I wanted to be.

My first issue with the class was that it was very academic. I wanted something that would teach me to survive if I was dumped in a Spanish speaking country, not just to pass the exam.

Secondly, it was heavily focused on reading and writing as all academic language courses are and very little listening and speaking practice.

The third problem was that everyone else in my class did not have as much experience in the language as I did. While partnered speaking sessions might have helped others, it was merely a period of me explaining the concept to the other person and teaching them what was right and wrong.

I eventually stopped attending the classes. It was not for me.

21st Century Learning

I have had an italki profile for years, but for the first time, I decided to take a class online. I was skeptical, nervous, and confused. I didn’t know what to expect.

All I knew was that I wanted to learn the language, and this seemed to be one of the best ways to get conversational practice as well.

I scheduled my first lesson with a tutor named JR. As it was my first time, I had accidentally booked a class for 2.30 am in my timezone, instead of 2.30 pm. I realised this less than 24 hours before the actual lesson time, so it was too late to cancel.

Jr was friendly, smiled a lot, and gave me some great feedback about my Spanish level. She said I spoke with confidence, and she was certain I could end up speaking like a native with sufficient practice.

Once the class ended, I tried to contact her, asking her if she would be willing to teach me the language. I contacted her through Skype, which was where we had our lesson, and also on the italki website as well. I contacted her multiple times, yet I never received a response, even months later.

I decided to move on with the second person on my list of potential tutors. Taking a trial lesson with Desiree Rodriguez was the best decision I have ever made. I’ve mentioned her name and added a link to her italki tutor page because I would very much recommend anyone who wants to learn Spanish to take lessons with her.

My Spanish language grammar skills, my confidence in the language, and my ability to express exactly how I feel have increased tremendously since my first class with her. Until now, I have taken a total of twenty-one lessons with her.

A tutor who your friend absolutely loves, you may not like. In order for you to improve and learn effectively, it has to be with a tutor that is suitable for you. It may take some time to find the perfect one, but it will be worth it.

Let’s Help Each Other Out

I decided to take my Spanish Journey one step further by looking for language partners on italki as well. I figured I would be able to help someone else speak English as I am fluent in the language, and they would be able to help me speak Spanish and correct some of my mistakes.

At the very least, I would be speaking to someone who is not a teacher, and that would give me the practice of having real-life conversations. After much searching and chatting, BD and I decided that we would have a Skype call the very next day. It is safe to say I was a nervous wreck.

I decided to only accept someone who speaks English well, because I was new to the language exchange process, and needed someone who would be flexible enough to explain something to me in English.

We spent one hour speaking in English and another hour speaking in Spanish. It was great because it gave each of us enough time to get the most we could out of the exchange. I was used to speaking about easier topics with my tutors that when we started speaking in Spanish about harder topics like politics, religion, and more, I felt challenged.

It forced me to step out of my comfort zone, learn new vocabulary, and how to express what I wanted to say. It was a good exchange, and we gave each other constructive feedback.

However, the reason why the exchange worked best was that we did not merely treat each other as if they are only here to teach us something. When you have a friendship with your language partner, it makes you feel more comfortable when you speak and you are able to practice the language in a natural setting.

From the Guy Who Learned Spanish in a Month

If you have ever Googled trying to learn Spanish quickly, you’ve come across Connor Groom’s documentary about how he learned it in one month. Baselang is an online platform created by Connor that only offers Spanish lessons.

Unlike other websites, you can book lessons five minutes before the class starts. You pay a monthly fee, and then you can take as many lessons as you would like every single day for that month. There is a set curriculum, but you do not have to follow it.

I decided to give the trial week a shot as it only costs $1. I managed to have lessons with 18 different teachers and complete 27 lessons within that time frame.

It was a hectic week, but I loved it. Even with just one week of practice, my Spanish ability had improved tremendously. I continued with Baselang for two more months and ended up speaking Spanish better than I would have in a year with a different program.

However, I had to cancel my account because I could not afford to pay the monthly fee. Websites like italki were much more suitable for me in that I could pay for each lesson when I have the money to do so. Nevertheless, if you can afford it, it is a worthy investment.

The Language Challenge and Its Results

Italki has numerous language challenges in a year. I decided to take part in the April/May 2020 challenge, where I set the goal to complete 12 hours of Spanish lessons.

My intention with this was to test the language skills I had developed over a period of 20 months. Spanish is the official language in 20 countries, most of them in Latin America. While the majority of the language is the same, the accent varies between each country and the vocabulary as well.

Therefore, I scheduled one lesson with a tutor each from 12 different countries. Each lesson was an hour long and was focused on conversation.

The result? I understood between 85–100% of every lesson. Every one of my tutors commented on how advanced my speaking skills were, especially for someone who had learned them in under two years.

I spoke to tutors from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela. Despite being able to understand everyone I spoke to, the accent I had a little problem with was the one from Costa Rica.

The End of the Road — Or Not

I know my Spanish is not perfect. However, it is advanced enough for me to speak comfortably to a native without ever having to switch to English.

If you skimmed through the article and are looking for a summary, here you go:

1. Duolingo can teach you a lot of vocabulary, but you won’t get past the A2 level.
2. A Spanish grammar textbook can help you understand difficult concepts, but it is not enough to master them.
3. Traditional language classes will not help you become conversationally fluent. They’re suitable for passing exams.
4. Find a suitable tutor to explain grammar concepts to you, but also to practise using them in a conversation.
5. A language exchange partner allows you to put everything you have learned to test in a real-life situation.
6. Accelerate your language progress drastically by speaking it daily with Baselang.
7. Test your language abilities by diversifying the people you speak to and challenging yourself.

I hope this article has given you some insight into the different approaches you can take in language learning, and how some are better than others.

At the end of the day, the best way to learn a new language is to use it as much as possible.