Embrace Your Confidence in Spanish

Are you ready to approach your Spanish learning with a fresh perspective?

We coach our students on how to approach language learning so that the process is fun, flows as naturally as possible, and always centers culture.

One key element is developing a confident ear for Spanish before diving straight into the rules of grammar. We call this unlocking “native speaker powers”, which is trusting that it is okay to know how to say something without always worrying about why it’s said that way. As students start to build a foundation in trusting their ear in Spanish, we ease into grammar discussions.

Just like a musician works to train their ear to tone and rhythm, a language learner can train their ear to sentence structure and vocabulary.

The more we lean into trusting our ear from the start, the more enjoyable it is, the easier it is, and the better the results because we end up expressing ourselves much more like a native speaker.

Here are some tips to unlock your “native speaker powers” and tune your ear toward Spanish:

1. Let go of your attachment to English. There’s a certain way you’ve learned to communicate your personality and emotions over a lifetime of learning your native language. Trying to find a direct thread to that in a new language is going to set you back. Start fresh. You’re being introduced to a whole new cultural context. It will feel weird. You won’t feel like yourself. The more you can embrace this foreign feeling, the better.

2. Embrace a multilingual mindset. U.S. culture values monolingualism and English over any other language. When learning a new language, we must reject our English-first lens. There are over 7,000 languages in the world, and Spanish has its own cultures, history, and ways to express oneself.

3. Wear Your Humility Hat. Be a humble language student. Respect and accept the culture without imposing your native language and expecting to understand cultural nuances right away. Sit back and enjoy the journey. Soon you will begin to understand how the language reflects its unique cultures. Observe, listen, and repeat. You’re filling your toolbox. Trust the process.

4. Resist the urge of translation ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Translating (constantly going from English to Spanish) is an unnecessary weight on language learning that holds students back from opening their eyes to a new worldview. Language learning is about describing your reality in a different language. If you’re constantly looking for translations, you’re missing out on the beauty of seeing the world in a different way.

The beloved Mexican American writer Sandra Cisneros said:

“Cuantos más idiomas hablas, más te conoces a ti mismo.
Es como ser ciego. No eres menos persona, pero te pierdes cosas maravillosas.”

(For beginner learners, you can find the translation of this quote at the end of this email. After you know what it says, keep your focus on the Spanish version.)

If you understand this quote, resist the urge to translate it into English! Try sitting with the Spanish meaning. Copy it down on a notecard, display it on your desk, and revel in your Spanish by just enjoying the beauty in the meaning of the quote as it is in Spanish. The Spanish words are windows into new cultures!

This practice can be applied to very basic phrases and vocabulary as well. See below for some more practical ideas to start unlocking your native speaker powers!