What I Wish I'd Done Differently When I Was Learning Spanish

Jul 1 / Rachel L.
I don't think I did everything wrong. But looking back, some of what I spent time on didn't move me forward the way I thought it would. And a few things that I avoided or delayed because they felt uncomfortable or premature, turned out to be exactly what I needed.

If I were starting over, or if I were back at the intermediate stage with what I know now, here's what I'd do differently.

I'd Start Speaking Sooner

This is the big one. I waited too long to speak. I told myself I wasn't ready. That I needed more vocabulary, more grammar, more time before I put myself in the position of actually practicing out loud. 

I was wrong. Not just a little wrong, significantly wrong. Every month I spent studying without speaking was a month of building comprehension while production stayed frozen.

The uncomfortable truth is that the only way to get ready to speak is to speak. The readiness doesn't come first; it comes from doing the thing you don't feel ready for.

If I were starting over: I'd speak out loud from week one. Imperfectly, clumsily, in wrong verb tenses. And I'd build the habit before the anxiety had a chance to calcify.

I'd Have Sought Feedback Earlier

For a long time, the feedback I got on my Spanish was either generic ("your Spanish is great!") or correction-based (someone pointing out errors mid-sentence, which mostly made me more anxious).

What I needed, and didn't find until later, was specific feedback on what I was producing: what patterns were showing up, what was working, what to focus on next. That kind of feedback, listening-based, personal, specific, is what accelerated my Spanish once I started getting it.

I wasted years practicing without that feedback loop. I was reinforcing habits I didn't know were wrong. I was missing patterns that were obvious to anyone who actually listened.

I'd Have Stopped Being So Scared of Making Mistakes

Most of the Spanish I didn't say, I didn't say because I was afraid of sounding bad or dumb. And the irony is that the Spanish I didn't say is the Spanish I didn't practice, which is the Spanish I still couldn't say later.

Mistakes in a second language are not the same as mistakes in your first language. In your first language, errors can be signs of ignorance or carelessness. In a second language, errors are signs that you're trying, learning, reaching beyond what's already automatic. Native speakers understand this. Most are impressed by the attempt, not critical of the imperfection.

The self-consciousness I felt was mostly about me, not about them.

I'd Have Embraced the Intermediate Stage Instead of Fighting It

When I hit the plateau, the stage where progress felt invisible and everything was slow and exhausting, I read it as a sign that something was wrong. I kept switching methods, looking for the resource that would fix it.

The plateau isn't a sign that something is broken. It's a stage in a predictable process. The way through it is consistency and specific practice, not a new app.

I wish I'd known that sooner.
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 are the biggest mistakes Spanish learners make?

The most impactful mistakes are waiting too long to start speaking, practicing without feedback, avoiding mistakes out of self-consciousness, and continuing with comprehension-only practice when the bottleneck has shifted to production. Most of these mistakes share a common root: treating Spanish as something you learn before you use, rather than something you learn by using.

Should I wait until I'm ready to speak Spanish?

No. The readiness to speak doesn't come before speaking — it comes from speaking. Waiting until you feel ready typically means waiting indefinitely, because the feeling of readiness is produced by practice, not by more preparation.

How do I get over being embarrassed about my Spanish?

Repeated low-stakes exposure. The embarrassment is highest when you speak in front of a live audience with real social stakes. Practicing in private — recording yourself, using structured prompts, speaking to yourself — builds the production habit without the social pressure. Confidence follows practice, not the other way around.

How important is feedback in learning Spanish?

Very. Without feedback, you can practice the same patterns indefinitely without knowing which ones to change. Specific, personalized feedback on your actual speaking — what's working, what patterns appear, what to focus on next — is one of the most reliable accelerators of language learning progress.
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