Do you dream of speaking fluent Spanish?

Learning Spanish is a rewarding and trying experience. Like anything in life, there are ups and downs, but there are also rich rewards.

Leaning to speak Spanish doesn’t happen overnight, but there are lessons you can take from the mistakes of others to speed up the process.

About 572 million people around the world speak Spanish. That number is expected to be 754 million by 2060. Traveling becomes easier because you can talk to people in Spanish and make yourself more attractive to potential employers.

If you’re trying to learn Spanish, read these common mistakes that people make while learning. You can take these lessons to avoid them yourself.

Not Having a Set Time and Schedule to Learn

People trying to learn how to speak Spanish treat it as a hobby.

They do a few minutes here, and a few minutes there. They might play around with Spanish when they’re bored.

If you really want to learn Spanish, treat it like a class or an important project.

Set aside time to work on it every day. Even if you’re busy every day, start with 15-20 minutes a day.

Block out the time on your calendar and don’t put it off because it’s only a Spanish lesson.

It’s similar to trying to lose weight. If you do the right things like exercise and eat healthy on a regular basis, you’ll lose weight.

Make the commitment to yourself that you’ll schedule a daily appointment with yourself to learn Spanish and keep it.

Leave Pronunciation as the Last Thing to Learn

Have you ever heard someone who speaks another language sing in English?

Do you notice how the pronunciation is a little off?

That’s how you sound to Spanish speakers, or worse if you don’t work on your pronunciation.

It can also harm your chances of being taken seriously. Studies have shown that there is an accent bias.

When you have an accent, people are less likely to trust you and trust the information you’re saying.

This is important if you’re learning Spanish to give your career a boost.

Ideally, you’ll want to work on pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary at the same time.

Trying to Directly Translate from English

One of the worst things to do to yourself is to translate English directly into Spanish.

It doesn’t work that way.

Even Google Translate doesn’t get it right all of the time.

Some idioms and words don’t have a direct translation from English to Spanish.

The same with word order. Often times, the subject comes after the verb in Spanish.

The more you practice Spanish, the more you’ll recognize these differences between the languages.

You Don’t Speak Out Loud

The thing about studying Spanish by yourself is that you have a lot of words in your head. If you don’t speak Spanish on a regular basis, then the words will stay there.

When you do try to speak, you freeze up because the words aren’t coming out.

The way to avoid that is to speak!

What if you’re learning by yourself? Roleplay and have a conversation with yourself.

Pretend you’re at a Spanish restaurant and you want to order something. What will you say?

Another way is to start speaking Spanish to your friends. If they ask you a question in English, answer them in Spanish.

Getting Easily Frustrated

Let’s face it, learning a new language as an adult is hard. You can make it worse by trying to be perfect all the time.

There will be times when you feel stupid because you didn’t say the right word, or one word has fifty other definitions.

There will be times when you say something in the past tense, but you meant to speak in the future tense.

You’ll get frustrated. You may feel like you’re never gonna get it right.

That’s actually part of the learning process.

All you have to do is take your Spanish learning one lesson at a time. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to give yourself the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

When you do feel yourself getting frustrated, take a step back and tell yourself that you made a mistake, and the world didn’t end.

Then take a couple of deep breaths and keep going.

Trying to Speak Fast Like Everyone Else

I know that when you’re showing off your Spanish skills, you want to be just like everyone else. That’s why you try to talk fast just like them.

Don’t do it.

People may not understand you because you have an accent and it will be extra strong when you’re so anxious and they know that you’re trying to show off.

You want to take your time and get the vocabulary just right (without obsessing over it of course). Be deliberate in your language, even if it frustrated you because you can’t say exactly what’s on your mind as you can in English.

Giving Up

THE biggest mistake you can make if you’re trying to speak Spanish is giving up.

Learning Spanish is a long journey. It doesn’t happen immediately. That’s tough to understand in a world of instant gratification.

You’re going to try. You’re going to fail. You can choose to get back up and keep learning, or you can pack up your toys and go home.

It’s your choice.

The thing is, despite all the work, no one ever says, I totally regret learning how to speak Spanish.

Keep going and know that slowly, your hard work is paying off.

Start Learning Spanish Now

It’s been said that you can learn from other people’s mistakes. In this case, you really can.

These common mistakes in learning Spanish are completely avoidable, now that you know what they are.

The biggest mistakes you can make are not trying, giving up, and being inconsistent.

There is a way to learn Spanish and that’s easy with Gritty Spanish. It can help you learn Spanish quickly as long as you put in the effort.

Check it out today.