Personal Development

Learning Spanish

One of our goals for the last few years was to learn Spanish. We both had years of Spanish in high school and college but lost most of what little proficiency we had. I decided a few weeks ago that “wanting to learn Spanish” wasn’t a real goal. It wasn’t a real goal because I didn’t have a written plan with objectives, steps to execute, desired outcomes, and timelines. So I created one.

Step 1 – Research

We learned to speak and read English as children by hearing words, seeing things around us, and speaking. When we were taught Spanish it focused on the parts of speech, conjugation, and memorization. Since when do people learn the parts of speech before learning to speak their native tongue? They don’t and that’s the idea behind the Rosetta Stone software which I discovered during the research phase.

Step 2 – Purchase

I ordered Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1, 2, & 3 from Amazon about a week ago, it just arrived, and we installed it today.

Step 3 – Study

Study it at least three days per week every week starting this week.

Step 4 – Practice

Practice with each other at least one day per week every week beginning this week.

Step 5 – Scrimmage

Converse with a native speaker at least once per month beginning next month (this month is half over already).

Step 6 – Game

Travel to a Spanish-speaking country (preferably Spain or Argentina) within the next year and speak Spanish with the locals more than english.

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