Voices en Español

We’re almost a quarter of the way through the year and for many people their New Year’s Resolutions for 2009 are already a distant (and unfulfilled) memory. But if you made a resolution connected to improving your Spanish in 2009 that you’ve since let slide, I’d like to challenge you right now to reconsider it. Perhaps the Spanish class you planned on taking got canceled or the schedule was changed. Maybe you got distracted by other stuff going on in your life or perhaps you’ve just been overwhelmed and preoccupied with more important matters. OK, no problem. Hey, it happens to the best of us. But now that you’re reading this reminder, what can you do, starting today to get back on track?

Consider the following analogy between chopping wood and advancing your Spanish:

When an ax is sharp, the pieces of wood go flying. But if the ax is dull, forget it. Talk about frustration. So, what is it that keeps an ax (or a knife) sharp? Contact with another a hard, abrasive substance. It takes iron to sharpen iron. And while that contact may produce a shower of sparks, the final result is a sharp, useful tool.

So how does this relate to advancing your Spanish? You need to have continuous and frequent contact with the Spanish language and find ways to maintain that contact. And sometimes those ways may make you feel uncomfortable because they’re hard, they require patience and persistence or you’re just not used to using them.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you already know where I’m headed. Yeah, I know, I’m so predictable, right? But I feel like one can never stress this enough: Get an intercambio. If you’ve tried one in the past and it didn’t work out or it was a total disaster, try again. The benefits of having a language exchange partner totally outweigh some of the hassles you may have come across in arranging them.  (By the way, if you are partial to finding a conversation partner in Spain, believe it or not, it may now actually be easier to find intercambios since many people have either a). been laid off or b). think they might be laid off and as a result feel an increased pressure to improve their English. At least that’s what I’m seeing here in Madrid. Check out Loquo.com for intercambio leads in Spain.)

Don’t know what an intercambio is or how to do one? Read this.

Some places to find intercambios? Language Exchanges.org and SharedTalk.com, although there are a ton of other intercambio web sites out there. Just put “language exchange” or “language intercambio” into Google and see what comes up.

Here are some other ways to sharpen your Spanish:

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Set up your web cam or use your camera phone and record yourself reading short Spanish texts out loud. It will be for your eyes only, so don’t stress out over your accent, the bags under your eyes or your receding hairline.   If you’re feeling really adventurous, take your camcorder outside and shoot mini videos of your neighborhood or town and do the voiceover in Spanish. Again, for your eyes only, if you wish. Need some inspiration? Take a tour of Graham A. Stephen’s engaging Expediente Ñ video blog.

Hop on the social media bandwagon and start making friends with native Spanish speakers and other Spanish language enthusiasts on sites like Tuenti, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Twitter. If you’re feeling really brave and want to swim with the sharks, join a Spanish-only forum like Spaniards.es, start leaving comments and see how fast they correct you!

Look for a volunteer opportunity. Perhaps there is a church in your area where you can help Spanish-speaking immigrants or a charity that needs someone who can speak a little Spanish to help them with community outreach.

Still a little gunshy about doing a one-on-one intercambio? Look for a Spanish conversation group online or at MeetUp.com. If there isn’t one in your local area, start networking and create one. Find a local Spanish instructor and ask him or her if they have anything going on. If not, ask them if they would be willing to appear as a kind of host or moderator at a local restaurant or coffeehouse if you helped to get the word out. The point is to do something that a). you are genuinuely interested in doing and b). won’t be a chore for you to keep it up.

If you’ve got any other suggestions or ideas, please share them below. But whatever you do, keep those Spanish skills sharp!

Photo by Photo Euphoria, used under license from iStockPhoto.com