We asked
Spanish tutors

What are common challenges for Spanish beginners?

Kieran Ball Read full interview Jennifer Corralizza Read full interview Octavio Olenik Giaccaglia Read full interview

Kieran Ball

One of the biggest challenges when learning a foreign language, or anything for that matter, is a drop in the initial motivation. People very often start off very excited to start learning something new, and they spend hours and hours studying hard in the early stages. However, very soon, this motivation begins to dwindle, and this makes it harder to continue. With the 3 Minute Spanish courses, I encourage you to only learn for a few minutes at a time; you ought to stop your learning session before you get tired, and that way, you’ll be eager to continue next time. This helps you to make learning Spanish become a daily habit, and you’ll also find your mind is fresher and more readily able to learn new things.

Jennifer Corralizza

Based on my experience, a notable challenge that Spanish beginners frequently encounter is feeling overwhelmed by grammar rules. This often results in hesitancy and a reluctance to engage in speaking and taking language-related risks. To address this, my approach focuses on gradually introducing grammar concepts in practical contexts, emphasizing communication. This strategy aids learners in building confidence and effectively expressing themselves in real-life situations.

Moreover, the initial stages of learning prove to be the most challenging. During this phase, the brain is processing an array of new linguistic codes, which necessitates time and patience to establish the automatically of producing grammatical structures with accuracy in a variety of contexts. It’s common for students to feel disheartened and even consider giving up. However, perseverance through this initial learning curve is key. By allowing the brain the necessary time to process and develop these new neural pathways, learners can overcome these challenges and ultimately flourish in their language acquisition journey.

Octavio Olenik Giaccaglia

There are multiple challenges when it comes to learning Spanish. There are pronunciation related challenges (specially with challenging phonemes), structure related challenges (different languages have their own structures and acquiring them tends to be difficult), conjugation related challenges (as the verbal conjugation in Spanish is quite hard due to the amount of irregularities and tenses) and so on.

The thing is, learning a language should be difficult and challenging. In any case, learning anything is supposed to be demanding, as that’s how people are supposed to get better. That’s why I like embracing difficulty and offering level-adequate challenges for the students. It’s OK to struggle and at the end of the day, I’m always there to help out.