Your Guide to Cultural Fluency

A learning habit is a key ingredient to keep you engaged and motivated for a sustained period of time. It’s what makes all the difference when you set out to achieve long-term learning goals such as learning Spanish.

With learning habits in place, you’re able to:

Sustain learning Spanish for a longer period of time and keep going even during the toughest (or laziest) of days. Stay motivated even when you’re tempted to stop without hitting your learning goals.

You may be wondering, how do I develop learning habits?

The key to creating a learning habit is repetition and doing something regularly to the point that it becomes second nature to you. Set aside time every day to learn Spanish and be consistent. We know every day can be tricky with a full-time job, family, and well, “life”. It is as simple as setting 15 or 20 minutes per day consistently over a period of time. It’s is better small increments than 2-3 hours of hard studying done erratically. Don’t you think it’s possible to set 20 minutes aside at the beginning or end of your day, to simply repeat certain words to yourself, or even just to listen to one song in Spanish, and read the lyrics throughout while it plays? Remember,  consistency is the key! Forcing yourself to create a new habit can easily become a burden instead of something you enjoy, so work on your mindset, it all starts with you. If you’re not personally motivated to do a personal project, nothing or no one on Earth can force you to.

Take note of your learning style. 

By now, we’re sure you have an idea of which learning method works best for you. ? Are you more the visual type or auditory? Do you learn better with a group or alone?

Here are a few tips to really make a habit to stick 

Set your goals.

First of all, you have to know your goals. What is it exactly that you want to achieve?

Some could be: Learn how to speak and write basic Spanish Be able to communicate and converse with Spanish natives Be familiar with conversational Spanish in preparation for your upcoming trip to Latin America, or any Spanish-speaking country. Speak fluently with (almost) a perfect Spanish accent.

Set your deadline, and make sure is reasonable.

A goal is not a goal without a deadline. Without it, how can you determine your success? How can you create checkpoints if you cannot identify a proper milestone? However, remember you have to make sure that the deadline is reasonable enough for you. If you set a very long deadline, chances are you could get bored, abandon, or quit your lessons completely. If you set a very tight deadline you run the risk of getting frustrated with yourself and intimidated at the prospect of not being able to finish it on schedule.

Set your expectations.

You know yourself best, so figure out what you expect from yourself, the lessons, and the learning journey. Don’t set unrealistic expectations or you’ll become disillusioned and frustrated.

Figure out your personal time frame.

How long do you wish to spend learning Spanish? Months? Years? Depending on your goals, the shorter the period of time you spend learning, the more intense and heavy your study has to be. Choose a manageable timeline that will work best for you, if you give yourself a hard time, there is a higher chance of abandoning it later on.

Learn how to make a habit out of learning Spanish.

If you’re going to be in it for the long run, building learning habits will help make sure you will stay on track even if your motivation decreases or you hit a few bumps on the road.

Remember…

Always celebrate small victories and success, good for you. ¡Saludos! Go ahead and pour yourself a glass of wine and give yourself a toast (in Spanish of course!) A habit won’t form if you don’t do it on a regular basis. So set aside some time daily for the next 21 days. Train yourself to make it part of your routine. You don’t have to go big right away, start small and increase the tasks later on once your system has properly assimilated with the new pattern.