En resumen (the short version)
- Apps are good for getting started and learning words. Classes are good for explanations. Neither gives you much time actually speaking.
- A conversation needs you to find the words yourself and say them while someone waits. Only speaking trains that.
- Keep the apps and classes you like, get more speaking out of each one, and add real conversations as early as you can.
✌🏼 ¡Hola aventurero!
Quick question: how many Spanish apps are on your phone right now? One? Three? One you haven't opened since January? 😅
Apps, classes, podcasts, books… there are so many options that it's hard to know what's worth your time. And lots of learners end up in the same place: doing some Spanish every day, and still freezing when a real person talks to them.
So let's look at the best way to learn Spanish besides apps, and where apps and classes fit in. Spoiler: you don't have to delete anything. Tranquilo.
What apps, classes and speaking each give you
Teacher hat on 🤓 Each one is good at something different. The trouble starts when you expect one of them to do everything.
| What | Good for | Not so good for |
|---|---|---|
| Apps | Starting easily, learning words, building a daily habit | Saying your own sentences, talking about real topics |
| Classes | Clear explanations, someone to correct you, a plan to follow | Speaking time, especially in big groups |
| Speaking | Finding words fast, real topics, showing you what you're missing | Explaining grammar, feeling comfortable at first |
Look at the last row. Speaking is the only one that trains the thing you actually need in a conversation. It's also the one most people leave for más adelante (later).
I've tried pretty much everything myself: flashcards, vocab lists, hours of listening, copying native speakers. They all have their place. But there's one skill that only speaking trains.
The skill a conversation needs
Picture this. You're in a bar in Spain and the waiter says ¿Qué te pongo? (What can I get you?). You've got about two seconds.
In an app, you'd see the sentence in English and tap the Spanish words in the right order. In the bar, there's nothing to tap. You have to pull Un café con leche, por favor out of your head, on your own, and say it ☕
That's the difference between two things:
- Recognising Spanish: you see or hear it and you know what it means.
- Producing Spanish: you find the words yourself and say them.
Producing is harder, and that's exactly why it works. Every time you dig a word out of your memory on your own, it's easier to find the next time. Picking it from a list doesn't do that nearly as well.
Most app exercises, and lots of class exercises, are recognising. Speaking is producing. There's more on this gap in why your Spanish won't come out when you speak.
Recognising isn't useless. You need it to understand people! It just doesn't turn into speaking on its own. That's why I always say speaking is HOW you learn Spanish, not something you do once you've finished studying.
Count your speaking minutes
Here's a little experiment. For one week, write down every bit of Spanish you do and how long it takes. Next to each one, write how many of those minutes you were actually speaking out loud.
An example week might look something like this:
| What you did | Time spent | Time speaking out loud |
|---|---|---|
| App lessons every day | 70 minutes | 0 minutes |
| One group class | 90 minutes | About 10 minutes |
| A Spanish TV series | 2 hours | 0 minutes |
| A podcast on the way to work | 1 hour | 0 minutes |
That's more than five hours of Spanish and about ten minutes of speaking. No wonder conversations feel hard. Es normal 🙈
You don't need more hours. You need more of the hours you already have to come out of your mouth.
Do the count for your week. Whatever your speaking number is, try to double it next week. If it's zero, five minutes is a great start.
Get more speaking out of your app
If you enjoy your app, keep it. Just change how you use it.
Say it before you tap. When the app gives you an English sentence to translate, cover the options with your thumb and say the Spanish out loud first. Then check. That one change turns a recognising exercise into a producing one.
Read every answer out loud. Every Spanish sentence on the screen, say it, don't just read it. Your mouth needs the practice as much as your eyes do, ¿vale?
Most apps let you skip the speaking exercises. Don't. If you're on a busy bus, save that lesson for later instead of switching the microphone off.
Get more speaking out of your class
Classes are great for the why behind the grammar. But in a group of ten, you might only speak for a few minutes. So make every one of them count.
- Answer in full sentences, not just sí or one word.
- Ask your questions in Spanish, even the grammar ones.
- Volunteer first. The person who answers first gets the most practice 😄
These phrases help you stay in Spanish during class:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Puedo hacer una pregunta? | Can I ask a question? |
| No me ha quedado claro. | I haven't quite got it. |
| ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre… y…? | What's the difference between… and…? |
| ¿Me pones otro ejemplo? | Can you give me another example? |
| A ver si lo he entendido… | Let me see if I've understood… |
Small teacher note: poner un ejemplo is how Spanish says "give an example". You literally "put" one. So ¿Me pones otro ejemplo? is a very normal thing to ask a teacher in Spain.
Don't wait to feel ready before you speak in class. Nobody in the room feels ready. And if you get it wrong, the teacher corrects you, which is what you're there for.
Add real conversations, as early as you can
Apps and classes are support. The main thing is real conversations, with people who ask things you didn't expect and don't wait for you to check your notes.
You don't need to be "good enough" first. Short and simple is fine. A few places to start:
| Where | What it's like |
|---|---|
| An intercambio (language exchange) | Half the time in Spanish, half in the other person's language. Free, and often in a bar or café |
| A tutor or private lessons | All the speaking time is yours |
| A conversation group | Lots of different people and topics, at different levels |
| Friends, neighbours, colleagues | Short chats, but real ones |
No one around yet? You can start at home with how to practise speaking Spanish without a partner. When you're ready for real people, there are more ideas in where to practise speaking Spanish when you don't live in Spain.
Your plan for this week
Count your speaking minutes
Write down everything you do in Spanish for seven days, and how many of those minutes you spent speaking out loud.
Say it before you tap
In every app lesson this week, cover the options and say the Spanish sentence out loud before you check the answer.
Have one real conversation
An intercambio, a lesson or a chat with a Spanish-speaking friend. Fifteen minutes is enough. Have one question ready to start with, like ¿Qué tal tu semana? (How's your week going?)
Poco a poco. A few more minutes of speaking each week adds up faster than you'd think 💛
Recap ✨
- Apps are good for starting and for words. Classes are good for explanations. Only speaking trains you for conversations.
- A conversation needs you to find the words yourself. Recognising them isn't enough.
- Count how many of your Spanish minutes are spent speaking out loud, then try to double it.
- In apps, say the Spanish before you tap. In class, answer in full sentences and ask your questions in Spanish.
- Add real conversations early, even short ones.
If you'd like more real conversations without having to organise them all yourself, come and join us in the Aventureros Club. Aventureros from all over the world, at every level, speaking Spanish together 🎉
Now I'm curious 👀 Be honest: how many minutes did you spend speaking Spanish out loud last week? Cuéntame in the comments!
Lucía ✨
Lucía · Linguist, translator, Spanish teacher and author of the Visual Spanish Grammar Book.
Come and learn Spanish with me and other aventureros like yourself at skool.com/learnspanish 🎉