Seven things you should be doing every week

1. Attend a class (90 min + homework and study time)

Make sure you always have a Spanish language class on your calendar every week. Having to put yourself in front of the instructor and classmates will make you accountable for your learning progress. Plus classes provide structure, feedback, and specific short-term, achievable goals.

2. Memorize some conjugations (60 min, spread out over different days)

Understanding grammar rules and having a large vocabulary is very important, but we all know the most difficult part of learning a foreign language usually lies in mastering the verbs. This is true for all languages, but it’s especially important in those that have complex conjugation patterns (like Spanish!).

3. Lean the rules for some grammar topic so well you could explain them to others (20 to 40 minutes)

A lot of grammar and syntax rules follow simple logic, and if you know them so well you can explain them to others, you’ll make way fewer mistakes in those areas. For example, would you be able to explain to a friend who doesn’t speak any Spanish how ser and estar are different, or how we have to add a between the verb and the object every time the latter is a person?

4. Learn vocabulary related to a specific field (20 to 40 minutes)

There are different ways to achieve this. You can do it in a very structured way, for example using a textbook or an app, or you can just go on the internet, look up the vocabulary for the topic you’ve chosen for the week, write down all the terms on a piece of paper, and try to memorize them.

5. Read something in Spanish (20 to 60 minutes)

It could be an article from a newspaper or a magazine, a chapter from a book, our newsletter (if it’s in Spanish) or even social media posts or comments in Spanish. Just make sure you do it every week. It will build up your vocabulary and add high-quality exposure hours to your learning journey.

6. Listen to something in Spanish (20 to 60 minutes)

Here are some ideas: podcasts (here’s Dan’s, by the way), songs, radio shows, someone else’s conversation… Just make sure you are hearing Spanish spoken by native speakers or highly proficient Spanish-as-a-second-language speakers every week.

7. Watch something in Spanish (30 to 60 minutes)

As we’ve mentioned multiple times, this is a great way to improve your pronunciation and listening skills in a passive way. And these days it’s easier than ever. All popular streaming services have great shows and movies in Spanish. As your skills improve, you can switch from English captions to Spanish captions, and eventually to no captions!