The Best Way to Learn (or Improve) Your Spanish

The best way to learn spanish? American high school classes? Don’t get me started... Rosetta Stone? Flashcards? Complete immersion in Spain without ever having studied it? Maybe that last one is a close second. But no, I’m convinced that the best way to learn Spanish is to eavesdrop on the middle school students on my bus ride home. 

Unorthodox, I’ll admit. But many people agree listening to children speak a language is far more helpful than their adult counterparts who already know the slang and have deep rooted accents. Not to mention Spaniard’s tendency to speak as fast as they can. I think its the national sport. Fast Speaking. Or as Max would say, ‘Machine-Gun-Kelly’ speaking. Fortunately, comprehension is my strongpoint. I can understand most of what people say to me, assuming they recognize I’m not participating in their national sport, but I can’t produce half of it. I understand words in context, or upon hearing them, that I would never be able to say on demand. This is why listening to, and internalizing, slower, clearer speech is really helpful because you can repeat it in your head and try to repeat it out loud (later when no ones around).

Today I was on my bus home, headphones in. I’m in the zone, trying to get some reading done. But the unmistakeable laughter of 12 year-old girls penetrated my headphones and I had no choice but to listen to their gossip and giggling. Finally I gave up trying to fight it and became enthralled in their story. I’m not proud of it, but it happened. AND it improved my confidence in understanding Spanish. 

At this point I’m feeling a little like Charlie, from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about look up and episode of the show called ‘Underage Drinking’. For those of you who DO know what I’m talking about, ‘This is classic Tammy...’

So this one girl was talking to her friend about some boy, que guapo! She went on and on about his clothes, his hair blah blah blah. Then who gets on at the next stop? I would guess it was that boy. She proceeded to slink down as far as she could in her chair to avoid being seen. I think the boy saw her, but we’re talking about sixth graders here, he wasn’t about to walk over and drop some smooth pick-up line on her. (Although maybe that would have been beneficent for both my learning and entertainment purposes)

A few stops later the two girls creep off the train, still trying to stay hidden. The boy and his friend, who were standing, now took over the girls’ empty seats in front of me. This could not have been scripted better. Now the boy is sitting there talking to his friend about the girls hair, and how she was mean to him that day. 

Middle school love.

Maybe one day they’ll hold hands or something. Share an awkward kiss... Who knows... But that’s not the point. The point is, if you want to improve your Spanish, just take out the headphones and listen to some middle schoolers vent about their coming of age experiences. You’ll learn a lot, maybe a little more than you care to. But you’ll also probably be quite entertained. Just try to contain your laughter.