Hello all. For this post, I will be sharing how I self study Spanish! Keep reading if you are interested.

WHERE DID I LEARN SPANISH?

Here is the short story. I originally began learning Spanish when I was I the sixth grade – about ten years ago. I took once Spanish class, lvoed it and continued taking them until my junior year of high school. Once I began my prerequisites for nursing school I completed Spanish for Healthcare Professionals I and II and loved those as well. Of course, I also use Spanish in everyday life occasionally in public as well as at my job (I am an Emergency Room nurse). I also use Spanish with some of my church family. Even after ten years, I make a lot of mistakes, but I always feel comfortable to ask them for help. The learning never ends!

WHY SELF STUDY?

I will never necessarily “master” the language. I have so much more to learn and review, especially when it comes to grammar (conguations specifically). When I finished my final Spanish course in college, my professor told me that my main focus should be to focus on building my vocabulary as well. Self studying allows me to do that.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU SELF STUDY?

I don’t self study everyday, but I am trying to get more into the habit of dedicating at least one day a week to build my vocabulary. and another night for a scenario study. On a typical night I will spend about an hour, but you can always cut this time down if you want to be more efficient.

WHAT DO YOU SELF-STUDY?

At this moment, my focus is centered around providing better patient care in Spanish and being able to explain the pathophysiology to my Sanish-speaking patients more cohesively. Nevertheless, I have found it easier to study based on scenarios. For example, I started off with making sure I could triage a patient completely in Spanish.

This is different than speaking Spanish in public, because my tone is different (formal). This also gives me the chance to review the preterite, conditional, etc. I then will continue with various scenarios as the weeks go on. I also try to pick up new medical vocabulary along the way. In order to avoid boredom, I do switch and one week may be medical and another “regular”.

WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE?

Right now, I am keeping it pretty simple! I am using my English-Spanish dictionaries, flash cards and a cheap notebook from the Dollar Tree. I also have the WordReference app in case there is a word that may not be in my dictionary. YouTube has also been an awesome resource for me as well. My favorite is the Youtube Channel Butterfly Spanish.

IS THAT ALL YOU DO?

No! You can never improve if you don’t speak. I try to use ever chance I can to speak it. Luckily my city has a large Hispanic/Latino population and markets. The best food is usually where the employees speak no English too! I also make sure to listen to worship music in Spanish. It also helps that my church has an Spanish interpreter… I also try to watch Spanish vloggers without subtitles for auditory comprehension. I am also looking for books to read in Spanish. I am hoping I will also be able to get myself a Spanish Bible soon. If anyone has any book/Youtuber recommendations let me know! My goal in doing all of this is to try to immerse myself as much as possible.

That is the general information on how and why I self study! I miss being a traditional student, but I always strive to continue to learn. We live in the perfect time to be able to learn almost anything so take advantage of that! Thanks for reading.