From English-Speaking Latina to Confident Solo Traveler: Kayla's Story ♫ 36

[inaudible] Liam Benito's, welcome to the learned Spanish. Gone sense up off cast the show for Spanish learners that love music, travel and culture gloves, your grammar textbooks, shutdown the language jobs and open your ears to house Spanish is spoken in the real world. Let us show you how to go from beginner to by lingual. Here is your host certified land, which Goetsch Dom might not muddy.

Hola y bienvenidos al episodio 36. Welcome to episode 36 of the Learn Spanish con Salsa Podcast a nd before I get started I want to remind you that enrollment to the Learn Spanish With Music Course is now open. So if you're interested in moving forward with your Spanish and really making progress this fall, sign up spanishconsalsa. c om/join. You'll get all the details about the course and some additional resources to really help you improve your Spanish as we go forward through the next few months. Okay, so, again, spanishconsalsa.com/join.

This is part two of our conversation with Kayla. Now, if you didn't listen to part one of the conversation and go back and listen to episode 35 and you will hear part one of my conversation with Kayla. But in this episode we're going to continue our conversation and we're going to talk about why solo travel can really help you improve your language learning, especially if you're stuck at a place where you're trying to learn Spanish, you're not really comfortable having conversations and you often revert to English when you're speaking in Spanish. So, we talked a little bit about how traveling by yourself can really help you get over that hump or that plateau if that's where you are. Kayla is also gonna share how she chose her program to really help her make progress with her Spanish after she failed taking college courses and getting 50 textbooks from the library, literally 50 different books. And how that did not really help her, u m, get any better with her Spanish, but how she chose a program to really help her move forward and why music was a game changer for her progress with Spanish. And again, I know if you're listening to the Learn Spanish Con Salsa Podcast, you may also like music as well. But K ayla's g onna share a little bit about how she used music as a tool in learning Spanish. Okay. Instead of just kind of listening to the radio and going out dancing, which I'm sure a lot of us love to do, but kind of taking it a step further to really i m proving her Spanish. Right. So I hope you enjoy part two of the conversation with Kayla

S o what h elped you get from that spot where you w ere, you know, responding in English to like finally b eing able to say, Oh, I can respond in Spanish? Was it something like you made a about or was it something that gradually happened over time?

It just definitely just happened over time. Especially with me responding in English, I just, that was the number one issue for me. It's like I'm speaking to someone who's speaking Spanish fluently. Why do I keep jumping back to English? I can never understand that. And as much as I would like put it in my head, don't jump to English. You remember, try to think in Spanish, like just forget English. I would always go back to it. So I definitely think what has helped me is just the traveling and just being surrounded by just nothing but a Spanish community. Because before just being here and speaking with Spanish coworkers or friends that I have, I would always jump back to English. But I think it just took me to be by myself. Travel by myself cause I've never done that before. I didn't start doing that until November. I especially to just the all Spanish speaking country, but for me to get out of that shell in order, you know, that took me to go to that. It's like, I just feel like I've just come far like that's just something I would always say I would never do. I would not, I would have to be on a plane with someone, a friend or family member that spoke fluent Spanish in order for me to go travel to another country because I feel like my Spanish is not good. But I just pushed myself. I was like, no, I'm g oing t o do i t. This is something I really w ant to do, you know, especially to help me with my Spanish. And I did it. And I feel that that is the number one thing that has helped me.

And I also say that t oo, that if you went to really get out there and push yourself is to do things on your own, right? Even if you're not able to travel, you know, to a country right away, like depending on, sort of whatever your situation is. I think even if you just go out by yourself to a place where people are more comfortable speaking Spanish, like for instance, if you go to a Mexican restaurant and then you're by yourself, you don't have t hat stigma of like, Oh my friend, they know I'm learning Spanish, th ey're g onna expect me to speak it perfectly, or whatever. Like you could just go talk to the bartender you ge t, ca use y ou don't order your food in Spanish. You can stumble through it, make mistakes, they're not going to care. They're going to appreciate that you made the effort. So I think being on your own really does help because you don't have that crutch of, like you said, another person that speaks Spanish that will translate for you. And also, I remember on one of our other episodes where we talked about S panish a nd Cuba, traveling to Cuba and learning Spanish there. There's a husband and wife team. They have a travel company and they are still going to Cuba, by the way. So for people who are worried about the changes and the regulations, they are still traveling to Cuba. It's C onocer Cuba. But it's a husband- wife, team and th e wife, Dev in, s he speaks more Spanish and her husband isn't really, wasn't really as good as Spanish as she was cause she majored in Spanish in school. But when they would travel together he said would always rely on her because he knew that she could speak Spanish fluently. But it wasn't until he started going out on his own that he gained more confidence cause he had to speak Spanish. Right. Like he had to order food. He was like, I need to go to the store. I'm hungry. I need to work this out. So I think you're right. Like putting yourself in those situations and being brave enough to do it and also to trust what you already know. Cause it sounds like even when you were responding in English, you understood what people were saying, but you were still hesitant about your ability to communicate in Spanish yourself. So I think that also helps you get over that hump once you make that decision, but you've gotta just, you know, it can be a little scary, but I always tell people, you gotta try it. Right. That can happen. So that's great. And I also wanted to circle back and talk a little bit about music as well because you mentioned that you listen to Spanish music all the time. And I know obviously a lot of people listen to this podcast, because it's Learn Spanish Con Salsa, also probably love Latin music. So can you talk about the difference between what works for you with learning with music that didn't work when you were trying to, you know, go through 50 textbooks? Like what was it about the music that stuck with you? Because some people, they say they like music, but they don't want to learn Spanish that way for a number of reasons. So what is it about that combination of language and music that really helps you connect more so than learning in college or with text books?

Wow. Music. I definitely like music. Latin music. I definitely love to go Latin dancing. Also, I love to go to clubs where they're playing bachata, salsa, merengue, reggaetón. For me to know that I could learn Spanish through music because I love music so much and have a passion for music. It just helped me, I know a lot of the times before I came across Spanish Con Salsa, I'm in the car, when I'm listening to music, I'm saying the words of the songs, but I never knew what I was saying, the meaning, so I know the lyrics to the Spanish song, but I never thought, Oh, let me try and look up the lyrics and see what it is they're talking about. It would just always be out X of parental, you know, what is Romeo talking about on this song or something like that. But the lyrics and just knowing what the words mean, it's just, and just knowing that something I c ould use in everyday conversation to, to h elp with my Spanish. I think I, for me, like I said, because I love music. It is s omething that I could, I fe lt l ike it just could help me ev eryday s ince I listen to the songs every day. It's definitely my learning tool. I'm always, even if I come a new song, I always want to, a song that I'm always listen to but don't know what it's about, I'm always quick to go look up the lyrics so I can understand what the song is about and then just learn vocabulary from that song. And I think that is the great thing about Spanish Con Salsa is because you have the music there and how it could go, you know, the slow pace and then the regular pace and then you have like the definitions and everything. They're the words and it's like, Oh, I've heard that word before or I've, you know, spoke to this person before who, I've used that word but I didn't realize that is what it meant. So yes, definitely, for me, using music with learning Spanish has definitely helped me and I absolutely love it. What helps me is the pronunciation. Because with some Spanish words, I've always had a difficult time or I think I'm pronouncing a Spanish word the right way and I'm not. So to listen to the lyrics and, and to go over them again with the slow pace to hear whether the female or the man, you know, the word that they're saying it definitely helps. So vocabularies is really, helpful for me. And then the definition and yeah, it's something that I do take with me and I'll sit there and learn over a week's time and then definitely use it.

And I think that's the key, start using it and, you know, and also taking your time with it. Cause I know some people, you know, like when if you get an app, you know, like maybe Duolingo or something like that, you know, they've got the little trophies and you're like, Oh, I want to finish this lesson. I'm going to get this trophy, you know, motivates you in one way. But at the same time, it's like if you don't make an intention to use what you've learned and take your time with it, then it's like, w ell now you just have a trophy. Right? S o I think what you said is really key about making sure that you use it so that you really don't, it's really true, use it or lose it. Right. T hat applies to language learning as well. So, one more question about Spanish Con Salsa a nd then I'm g oing t o switch to our quick fire round and ask you some questions in Español, but I was g oing t o ask, did you have any concerns, like you said, you came across several different programs when you were really serious about and committed to learning Spanish. Was there any concern that you had about joining that may have prevented you from signing up and what made you move forward an yway, even if you had those concerns about signing up for the membership?

No, I never, I mean, I think I can remember sending you an email and asking you a question, just to make sure it was something that I wanted to do, to join, to learn Spanish, but I didn't have any second thoughts, especially when I said, you know, learning Spanish with music because again, like I said, I love music and I'm just like, wow. And that's not the only time I've heard that actually Spanish speakers that I that know English fluently, they, it's just funny that they told me that they were learning Spanish with help them with their English, I'm sorry, not Spanish, their English was watching TV in English and also listening to English music. Like it was just so funny that I heard that before. It's good to learn another language through music. And even when I traveled to Dominican Republic, I know a n eighbor of my frie nd, he knows English fluently and he said he learned it on his own and you know, I'm just like always how, how! Just to see if I could get some oth e r boosters to help me with my Spanish. But he was just like music, music. And he was like, I know this song, this song in English, this song in English. And I'm just like, wow. And then that's when I was like, yes. So when I came across Spanish Con Salsa and it was talking about learning Spanish through music, I knew that was something that would definitely help me because j ust hearing other Spanish speakers who have learned English, they said music is the number one thing that helped them with their English. And it's true. As soon as I s igned up for the membership, that's what it was. That's what helped me. Definitely the music. The music definitely helped me and everything else on the website. It was just such a big help. And, li ke I said, if it wasn't for Spanish Con Salsa, I would still be probably saying those couple of words'hola¿como estas?', you know, and not getting further than that. So it's took for me to definitely come across Spanish Con Salsa and to pay for my membership in order to have come this far with my Spanish and I'm just, I'm very proud of myself but also keeping consistent. C ause that was another problem for me. I don't feel like I was consistent enough. I'd be like o kay, I'm going to learn it for like a couple of days, look at the website for like two days and then just put it down. But no, you have to really have the heart to do what you have to really want it in order for you to definitely speak Spanish, you have to definitely keep consistent and keep that on your schedule.

So thank you for sharing your experience about how you learned Spanish and I know that you've been an inspiration for folks within Learn Spanish Con Salsa Community as well. Because you will be going to Puerto Rico coming up very soon. So hope to hear about your trip there and to hear how many conversations have you been able to have and continue to improve your Spanish. So, we are going to switch gears and we're going to do our quick fire round. So I'm going to ask you five questions in Español. So,¿lista?

Si, lista. Okay. Pregunta número uno es:¿Cuál es tu palabra favorita en Español?

Mi palabra favorita en Español es'no hay de qué'

'no hay de qué'? Si, porque yo siempre dice'no hay de qué'. Y, número dos: En este momento, porque yo séque hay muchas canciones, pero en este momento,¿Cuál es tu canción favorita?

Mi canción favorita es'Nadie' de Farruco.

Y número tres:¿Cuál fue laúltima que cosa que leíste, escuchaste o miraste en español?

Univisión para la música. Saca tu teléfono, tu celular y traduce elúltimo texto que recibiste al Español.'Que tengas un buen día', de mi amiga en República dominicana. Y laúltima pregunta es:¿Quées algo que te gustaría hacer pero tienes miedo a hacerlo?

Me gustaría vivir en un país español.

Ah, ok,¿Cuál país? Probablemente República Dominicana, porque, no Puerto rico, porque es americano, Sí, es parte de Estados Unidos. Sí, pero República Dominicana porque, para mí, es muy tranquilo. Me gusta la gente, me gusta la comida. Me gusta el país, es muy bonito, so, me gusta mucho República Dominicana.

Ah, si, es un pais que también me encanta, pero, no sési quiero vivir allá, no sé. Pero sí, a visitar sí, pero no sé.

Me encanta mucho ahí.¿Y tienes amigos allío familia?

No, sólo mis amigos allí. Pero mi esposo quiere vivir allí, también. Es algo diferente.

Sí, y el clima es mejor, también. Me encanta, el sol y me gusta el Caribe, mucho.

Ok, entonces Kayla, gracias por participar. Thank you for participants in the quick five round. So do you, anything you'd like to share with anyone as we close out? Just if they're thinking about learning Spanish but they haven't really committed yet or they feel like they're stuck and they're not making a lot of progress, what would you say to someone who's listening right now and wants to be able to maybe six months or a year from now, be at the place where you are, where they're confident speaking Spanish and able to travel without feeling like they need to have a translator with them? How would you, what would you say to them to get them to move forward and get over that hump?

I would just say it will get better. The number one thing is just don't give up because there has been many times, as much as I wanted to learn Spanish over the years, I have wanted to give up or I just thought this is just too much. I'm never going to learn it totally. I'm never going to feel comfortable speaking Spanish with another person, traveling or anything. Just please just take your time, be consistent, know that you will come further than you are already, but just push yourself. Like you got to really push yourself. You got to really want this. If you really, really want to speak Spanish fluently, you just have to really push yourself, get on a schedule. Also, a schedule is very important. I have the Weekly Planner from Spanish Con Salsa that I use and that's the number one thing that keeps me going it's I'm always going back to looking at my planner and seeing what I have written down for the week that I need to do. Definitely for the people that just feel like that they are not going to be able to press on or they're not going to get anywhere, stick with Spanish Con Salsa. If you're not sure, just try it out, just try it out. But that has definitely helped me in the years that I've wanted to learn Spanish and I'm in my thirties now. I've been wanting to learn Spanish since my early twenties and it took me to get here to get to the Spanish Con Salsa website for me to now be able to start speaking Spanish fluently, so if I can do it that only anybody else can do it. That's great.

Thank you for sharing those words of wisdom and I hope something you said today or something that anyone's heard today really will help them make that next step. Right. Even, like you said, even if you're not sure, just try something. You never know if that next thing you try might be the thing that works for you. So with that, we'll close out this episode. Thank you Kayla so much for joining me on the Learn Spanish Con Salsa Podcast

Muchas gracias for having me.

thank you for listening to the learn Spanish gone Sansa podcast at learn Spanish. Go to[inaudible] dot com.