Consistency and Immersion are the Two Key Concepts to Learning Spanish
[wp-rss-aggregator]Consistency and immersion are the two most dynamic factors when learning Spanish. The consistency is nothing more complex than going at it every single day. Indeed, any skill can apply the mantra of “practice makes perfect” including learning to swim, play the guitar or piano – the same principles are true.
But what if we are to apply the concept of immersion to go hand in hand with consistency? It is true that the path to learning Spanish is a long and winding one. Moreover, it is important for a student to learn how to spell words in Spanish, apply the grammar rules and get the order of words in the correct places. But talking in Spanish to a shopkeeper, official or just a stranger sitting next to you in a tapas bar is an experience we know as immersion.
Immerse Regularly: It Really Does Work
Research has taken place to fully measure if immersion improves a student’s language acquisition skills. It was tried and tested in schools and colleges in Miami, Florida. There, the lessons in the morning were in English, and the afternoon it went over to Spanish.
It should come as no surprise that students learning in a second language achieved better results than counterparts who studied only in English.
Immersion and consistency can go hand in hand if you make a few changes around your daily life. It is not that difficult to change your digital settings to Spanish on a PC or cell phone. Some Spanish language learners even take to flashcards or sticky notes and label items around the home with short messages in Spanish.
These little notes are read every single day. Now that is consistency and immersion rolling out into one’s daily life. You may wish to stick a note next to kettle: Voy a hacer una taza de té – or on the refrigerator door: Necesito comprar leche mañana.
Immersion can stretch to listening to music, podcasts and films in Spanish and view them over and over again. A quick browse through some language forums tell us of the stunning effect that immersion has for learning Spanish and acquiring some level of fluency.
There are students who have studied for over five years on an online app or language learning tool. However, one such example where a student that attended an immersion program in a Spanish-speaking country, saw her suddenly understand around 80 percent of a Spanish conversation. Her immersion period was just three months.