What Is the Push Past Course and Who Should Take It

Aug 18 / Rachel L.
You are past the beginner stage. Your Spanish foundation is there. You can hold a basic conversation, get your meaning across, and understand quite a bit of what you hear. But the intermediate ceiling is real, and you can feel it. Something is stopping you from the fluency and ease you are after.

Push Past is the course built for this exact stage of Spanish learning.

What Push Past Is

Push Past is an intermediate conversation course. Like Stay Present, it is built around thirty structured video lessons designed to develop speaking confidence and conversational ability. But where Stay Present focuses on the foundational skills of conversational presence, Push Past works on what comes next: handling more complex exchanges, greater linguistic variability, and a real focus on everyone’s favorite: past tense. 

The course is not a grammar expansion course. It is not about adding more vocabulary. It is about building the kind of speaking that lets you engage with real Spanish, in real conditions, and focusing in on how to really use the past tense.

Who It Is Built For

Push Past is for upper beginner to intermediate Spanish learners who have already built a foundation but want to get more "into the weeds". You should be able to hold a real exchange in Spanish, even if it requires effort. 

The ideal Push Past student is someone who has a base but can't yet, let it flow. Someone who communicates but has to work too hard for it. Someone who knows they want to get deeper into the language and be able to bounce from present to past tense with ease. 

What the Course Works On

Push Past builds on the conversational foundations that Stay Present establishes. The lessons move into more complex conversational territory: handling more complex topics, more in depth explanations of the various past tenses, and building the kind of Spanish that does not feel like it is always just out of reach.

The course includes thirty lessons with PDF summaries and exercises. The same design principle applies as with Stay Present: it rewards consistent engagement and is meant to be completed in a concentrated period rather than stretched indefinitely.

How Push Past Differs From Stay Present

Stay Present is the beginner course. If you are working on foundational confidence and the ability to show up in a conversation without freezing, that is where you start. Push Past assumes that foundation is already in place and builds the skills on top of it.

If you have completed Stay Present, Push Past is the natural next step. If you are coming in at the intermediate level without Stay Present, you can start directly with Push Past if your foundation is solid.

Who Is Not Ready for Push Past Yet

If you are a beginner or a true lower intermediate learner who still struggles with the basics of conversational presence, Stay Present is the better starting point. Push Past works best when you already have something real to build on.

If you are at an advanced level and are looking for refinement of sophisticated structures or register variation, the Coaching Audio subscription may be a better fit since it allows for highly personalized feedback on your specific output.

To get a clear read on whether Push Past is the right next step for where you are, the free Cuentacuenta quiz gives you a specific picture of your current level.
About the Author
Rachel is the co-founder of Cuentacuenta. She spent years studying Spanish — the classes, the apps, the grammar books — before moving to Spain and realizing she still couldn't express herself the way she wanted to. Cuentacuenta was built around that frustration.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Push Past Spanish course?

Push Past is an intermediate conversation course from Cuentacuenta, built around thirty structured video lessons. It is designed to help Spanish learners at the intermediate level develop faster speaking automaticity, more natural phrasing, and the ability to handle complex conversations with greater ease and confidence.

Who should take Push Past instead of Stay Present?

Push Past is for learners who already have a working conversational foundation in Spanish and want to move toward genuine fluency. If you can hold a basic conversation but it takes effort, if you understand most everyday Spanish but still struggle with fast speech or complex topics, Push Past addresses what comes next. If you are still building the basics of conversational presence, Start with Stay Present first.

Do I need to take Stay Present before Push Past?

Not necessarily. If you are already at a solid intermediate level with a working conversational foundation, you can start directly with Push Past. If you completed Stay Present and are ready to build on it, Push Past is the natural next step. The free quiz can help you figure out which is the right entry point.

What is the format of the Push Past course?

Push Past includes thirty video lessons, each between ten and twenty minutes, with PDF summaries and exercises. The course is designed to be completed over a concentrated period of consistent engagement, not stretched across months. The structure builds progressively through intermediate level conversational work.
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