I have to admit that other than earning a few extra credits at UW-Madison for my Spanish classes in middle and high school, I can’t read, write, or speak almost any Spanish 25 years later.
My wife Heather and daughter Hannah are changing that through a trip they will be taking to Peru with an educational travel group at Hannah’s school.
While it’s not surprising that my Spanish is rusty after 25 years, I don’t think I ever got close to being proficient. Why? According to Adam Grant’s research it’s based upon the fact that I spent little time speaking Spanish.
I competed the required work in my classes and passed the tests including some speaking, but never enough to become proficient.
How will it be different this time? Heather had a great idea to use Duolingo as part of a daily learning routine with the goal over time of speaking only Spanish at the dinner table to give us the practice needed for she and Hannah to be proficient by the time they take their trip.
We are very early in the journey, but Duolingo has been very helpful to build a daily habit of learning out of the gates including gamification and social elements as well as practicing speaking Spanish as part of the process.
Any other tips or suggestions for learning language from those that have experience? Please reach out with ideas!
I look forward to sharing our progress as well as insights about our learning experience that may be applied to other topics.
Learn In The Flow Of Life
Jason
Comments