How I would learn Spanish (if I could start over)

i'm fluent in spanish now, but in my opinion, i did it all wrong. here's how i'd go about it if i had another shot. spanish was the first foreign language i learned, so looking back i really had no idea HOW to learn languages! as a seasoned language learner, i've not only learned the languages themselves, but also how to learn them more efficiently. (believe it or not, this polyglot thing gets easier the more you learn.) thanks for watching :)

00:00 i have no idea how i learned Spanish.
00:48 speak from day one! (yes you can.)
1:53 speak even to yourself
2:10 record your progress!
2:50 don't be scared to speak with natives
3:38 stick to a specific dialect!
5:36 learn spanish through stories
6:10 learn REAL Spanish on Jiveworld
8:00 STOP obsessing over grammar
8:41 the grammar you NEED to know:
9:30 don't try to learn EVERY new word
11:00 learn vocabulary by topics
11:41 studying in school is a trap
13:08 comment your Spanish trauma down below

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💌 about me: my name is Elysse, I'm 23 years old from the southern U.S. I've been learning languages for about 8 years, and I speak English (native), Spanish (C2), German (B2/C1), French (C1), Portuguese (B2), American Sign Language (advanced), and Turkish (A1). I'm interested in learning Hebrew, Chinese, Georgian, and maybe Náhuatl as well :)

#polyglot #languagelearning #learnspanish

[loirinff]

I’m learning english and I’m pretty happy that i could understood 90% of the video❤❤❤

[patersr]

I've been learning Spanish for 6 years, but in the last year I've made a huge jump in my comprehension levels.... and I think it's because I finally realised that learning a language isn't an intellecutal exercise... it's much more like learning to drive a car... when you first start to learn to drive it's so awkward... and you have to think of everything and none of it works... but after you've done a lot of driving you can suddenly drive, while listening to a podcast, arguing with your partner and texting your friend that you're going to be late... you learn to drive by doing a lot of driving... every day... a year ago I encountered "Story Learning" or Input-based learning and it just clicked... you learn a language by hearing it and reading it... that's how we got good at our own native language... but I do agree with Elysse that you should start speaking as soon as possible... until you've tried to force your 30k word vocab out of your mouth through your 500 word Spanish vocab you haven't really learned anything....

[amauriherrera]

As a native Mexican I tell people to imagine Lego blocks.

You have your core blocks in the sentences and you just change the end or the beginning of your block sequence. Change colors, mix and match and so on as you get better in the language.

The most basic structure in all Spanish is always: Who? What? When/Where/Why?

Subject, Verb, Context-in case it wasn't clear above.

Spanish is hard to learn for people with language background where there is no articles (particle users are fine) and verb placements don't have defined gender, tenses or placement structures.

[nataliewritesplans]

I'm Mexican-American. Both sets of grandparents spoke Spanish, but never taught it to my parents since they weren't allowed to speak it in school growing up. I wish I would've tried to learn Spanish from them before they passed. One of my biggest insecurities is not knowing Spanish. Going to give it a go. Thank you for your videos!

[moon_light]

As people who speak Spanish, one piece of advice I can give is to listen a lot, Spanish has the characteristic of ignoring its own grammatical rules if it doesn't sound good to us lol, so listening and understanding how we construct sentences is a good idea.

[aliceinwonderland]

High school Spanish was the best experience of my life. One year of Spanish in my senior year gave me a foundation that has lasted for decades. And la Senora Choplin gave me insights into Mexican culture and etiquette that have served me so well.

[blankb.]

I don't think it matters that much when you start speaking. It's not that I think it's harmful at the beginning, I just think it's a waste of time. Some people find it motivating to speak right away and some find it motivating to wait until they have at least some instincts on how to self-correct. I definitely waited, but it wasn't an anti-social or psychological thing, I just wanted to use my time effectively.

[georgezee]

The "talking to yourself" advice is actually a very good one I've done myself both with a couple of languages (one of them being English). It helps strengthening your "brain muscle" by getting used to construct more complex sentences on the fly and practicing pronounciation with a more elaborated context (not just repeating isolated words or groups of words).

[Reizermo]

Excellent tips. And very relateable.

1. Talk from day 1
2. Talk to native speakers
3. Pick a dialect
4. Use stories to learn
5. Deprioritise grammar
6. Don't try to memorise every word you encounter
7. Learn through categories (i.e. subject groupings)
8. Self Study > Classroom Environment.

#3. Totally agree. I have this hodge podge of Spanish, Colombian, Mexican vocab. And I realise they don't all travel. Pick a lane. Orale?! Dale / vale.
#4. Yup, it'll come eventually. I started with ridged grammar expectations from learning German formally. Relax a bit about grammar, and make mistakes.
#6. I have been guilty of this. I dont need to know the word for nail varnish on the daily. So why bother trying to remember it.
#7. This particularly suits people who think in a certain way.
#8. You tailor your learning to what you need.

You do mention a couple of the following in the video, but others things I would say are:
#9. You will make mistakes and look foolish. Embrace it. You provide a good example in the video (embarrassed vs pregnant). I didn't know either of those words until just now. And I could totally envisage myself getting this wrong.
#10. On tenses, in addition to the present, simple past and infinitive you mention in the video, future is easy via tomorrow + present. Not perfect, but it works. (tomorrow I go to the beach). Same as past (yesterday I go to the beach). Not pretty, but works. you say it wrong enough, you'll eventually learn the correct future & past.
#11. Videos with subtitles. el fuego que arte to piel....soy el agua que mata tu sed, es castillo...etc. Great fun.

[theawesomelogan]

In my humble opinion, making these mistakes is the most crucial part of learning. I started studying Spanish 5 years ago, I’ve received a certificate of biliteracy, a 5 on the AP Spanish test, and can comfortably hold a conversation with people. I’m by no means an expert, and there were a lot of ways I could’ve improved the way I learned and studied, but if I had to restart, I wouldn’t do it any other way. Making mistakes and learning how to learn builds so much foundation that can’t be taught. As long as you stay curious, keep learning and trying to improve, the progress will be so great and so worth it.

[janelle.loves.languages]

Yeah I took 6 years of middle school/high school Spanish…I got straight As and I’d still say I really started to learn Spanish when I started immersing with Netflix haha

[fabian]

I'm a native Spanish speaker, but I think these tips are gonna be useful to learn other languages as well.

[jdanielbby]

¡Gracias por todo! Esto es muy útil. Estoy aprendiendo español ahora y a veces me siento asustado y frustrado con mi camino para hablar español con fluidez, pero este video me da paz!

[daviddaytona]

I could not agree more over the uphill battle Spanish 101 in school was. I'd not thought of this until now, but even English grammar classes in school made me feel like I may as well be learning Latin. There are so many excellent points in this video and I'm so happy to have found it. Thank you for posting Elysse!

[ilovejrts]

Thank you sm!! I've been studying spanish for awhile now but i feel like i've been making zero progress. Definitely going to try speaking to myself more often.

[NatariMirumura]

This was so helpful! Your tips helped me center myself on where to begin. I took Spanish classes years ago in school, and want to get back into the swing of things to learn Spanish fluently. But I was having such a hard time feeling overwhelmed, and not really knowing where to effectively start. Now I feel like I can develop more of a routine. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

[hannina.studies]

I watched this video before school today and I was so happy you posted again. I kept refreshing my feed everyday and this morning I finally saw a new video :) I love watching your videos, thank you so much! Your advice is so helpful to me, as I’m currently learning French and Spanish. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland!

[why]

Useful video and great tips. Thank you, Elysse. After two months of hiatus, thank you from the heart🙏

[fal]

I took two college classes of Spanish and they helped me a lot I basically started learning seriously 4 years ago. I stopped taking Spanish to focus on my degree but really “upped” my Spanish speaking in day to day life which made my progress any rocket
Yo quería aprender la lengua porque mis suegros son mexicanos y no saben inglés. Yo no me podía comunicar con ellos y era bien importante a mi para aprender la lengua. Todavía estoy aprendiendo pero cada día me mejoro.

I wish I could go back and tell myself the subjunctive is a thing (I just found out) and that it’s important. Thankfully it’s actually been very easy for me to just adjust that. I kept feeling stuck and wasn’t sure why until I stumbled across the subjunctive, though I used it and heard it already just wasn’t sure the “why” behind it. I wish I could also tell myself to not be nervous about speaking to strangers in Spanish that people actually (most of the time) appreciate it and are impressed. Talk more, as said in this video. I only made REAL progress when I started speaking in Spanish. Translating at food banks and speaking with my Muñeco’s family.

[zkerr]

Preach! I got onto my fourth language before this started to hit home and I took this advice seriously.