Rapid Spanish Learning

What's Included: 

Overview

In college I got really fascinated with the idea of learning another language, so I set out to find the quickest way to learn Spanish in the shortest amount of time. During the case study I used the European Spanish level framework that measures your level of fluency from A1 (beginner) up to C2 (Native). I started at A1 after taking an entry level Spanish course in my last semester of college. After doing some research and graduating college I flew to Argentina in January 2020 to learn Spanish. 

Part 1: 40 Days In Buenos Aires (1/1/10-2/12/20)

After I graduated college I moved to Argentina to find the best ways to learn Spanish. Here's what's included: 

Ended with a Spanish level of B1 in reading and writing and A2 in listening and speaking. 

**This project ultimately got divided into two timeframes because I originally thought I'd be able to get fluent in like 45 days (pretty ridiculous haha) and planned a couple months of travel in non-Spanish countries with friends and family after the original timeframe. Then I came home and the pandemic was raging and life got in the way a bit. If I were doing it over again I'd allocate 4 months straight and I think that 4 straight months would be enough time to go from zero to fluent (C1 on the fluency exam).

When you're learning a language it's difficult to learn casually, if you don't continue using it you can forget a lot of things. It's important to set it up so that you can really maximize immersion and avoid taking long interim gaps from practicing. That was a big mistake I made that I'll make sure to avoid for the next language I learn. 

Part 2: 45 Days in Quarantine (kinda) (6/15/20-7/30/20)

After my time in Buenos Aires I felt like I wasn't totally fluent yet. My reading and writing were really good, speaking was O.K., and listening comprehension was lacking. I was a little too optimistic about my ability to get fluent so quickly. My goal was to pass fluency exams with a score of C1 (fluent) or higher. So I made another curriculum for myself in quarantine and recorded my progress as I went. The focus of this part is to improve speaking and listening. Here's what's included: 

  • 30 Day Record yourself challenge
  • 3 hours of conversation with natives every day (Baselang is amazing)
  • 30 minute Quizlet Learning Platform everyday (see Quizlet bullet under "Resource List" in part 1)

Took my fluency exam on July 30th with SIELE and scored B2/B1 across the board. So damn close to C1. I make some mistakes compared to fluent speakers but I can confidently communicate with natives. For now the project is wrapped up, may open it back up in the future to get to C1 just for the pride factor though haha