đź“— Spanish Status
Wow, I can’t believe we are already into June 2023. The first half of this year has been full of activities for me and Lorena, which has caused the time to feel both slow and fast at the same time.
Something I haven’t been great at is blogging. Not that I have any goal necessarily, I just find that writing is a good way to keep the mind sharp. Most of my posts this year have been personal and less about business. Mainly, I think this is because I’ve been finding business and entrepreneurship less… fulfilling… than before. But more on that at a later point.
Today I’m keeping it personal with a status of my progress with Spanish.
I continue to take lessons, but with less vigor.
While I continue personal lessons with my tutor three or four times per week, I’m sort of in a rut. On one hand, I am pretty good at Spanish now, comfortably sitting at a B2 level of fluency. But that level is hardly perfection. I very much want to get to C1, and as I wrote in my goals for 2023, I plan to reach this level in one to three years.
And I think this is where things get tough for me.
In the beginning, hitting Spanish goals came fast and often. I was benefiting from “noobie gains” and it was incredibly motivating. Today, it’s different. I have habits now with the language. I use comfortable patterns instead of pushing my abilities. I can communicate well and the need for rigorous study is less necessary.
Because of this new baseline, I haven’t been studying my vocab to really expand the breadth of my word recall. I’m not reading any books in Spanish, writing in Spanish, nor watching any shows in the language. Currently, I’m just having entirely conversation-based lessons with my tutor.
Visiting Mexico always gives me extra motivation.
In the past, I have found that trips to visit family in Mexico are just what I need to find motivation for learning Spanish whenever I get into a rut. I think it’s simply the fact that I am putting everything into practice. It’s incredibly empowering to be in a foreign country and to speak their native language. That feedback, and feeling, make all the studying worth it.
This is one of the reasons why I have enjoyed our most recent visit to Mexico. For three weeks, I have been immersed in Spanish conversations and the culture. I tend to speak Spanish with Lorena’s family and friends the majority of the time. I feel like this trip I have polished my abilities – particularly with my pace of understanding and speaking across a wide variety of topics.
As great as the trip has been in that regard, I do know that I really need to work harder to get to the beginning of C1 fluency.
The year isn’t over.
There is still plenty of time left in the year to make some more noticeable progress. I just wanted to take a moment now to reflect on where I am at currently. I plan to sit down with my tutor to explore options for pushing myself to a higher level of proficiency.
I also don’t want to lose sight of the fact that I would have loved to be at my current level a couple of years ago. I am genuinely grateful for my current ability. Learning Spanish will be a lifelong effort with peaks and valleys, and I look forward to the next peak.
đź‘‹ Did you like this?
Get an article like this emailed to you once a month.