(TL) Personal rules I use to become fluent

None of this is groundbreaking, but a reminder of simple learning processes that you may overlook.

Listening: Worship the replay button.
I watched The Sandlot every day after preschool. I was bordering autism in 2000 lol. Yet, as a late speaker, it really helped since it engaged me and made me familiar with the words.

For us mortal language learners, we aren’t going to know the meaning of words and their multiple uses of endless contexts without repetition.

It could take 10x of hearing a word before you find its use in the correct context before you think, “oh sh*t! I get it now!”

Other major point, we need to hear how words are pronounced A LOT. Hear how people annunciate their words and you can eventually not only say the words properly, but subconsciously say it in different ways to add character to your messages.

Reading: Read books once you have a decent amount of words known.
Damn powerful. I love it. Favorite part of language learning. Stick with your level of reading though. I’m currently reading the translation of Spy School, a children’s novel series. Quite fun. However, there are words that are definitely advanced where I’ll need the Spanishdict app by my side. Stop too many times and you’ll grow disinterested to the point that motivation won’t save you, and for a reason. You’re no longer reading, you’re just translating.

Also, I wouldn’t read chapter books until I had a strong grasp of pronunciation. I’ve studied Spanish for a long time, but I would take longer to read in Portuguese - at least without an audio - since I have no previous background.

Speaking: Practice with those who don’t know any language you speak.
My Latino father always told if I want to learn Spanish, date a Latina. I do. My Brazilian/Colombian girlfriend does help me at times with my pronunciation or sayings from her countries.

However, our conversations always revert to English. Even when I try practicing with her mom, if I take too long, she switches to English. Only her grandparents speak to me in Spanish because they don’t know English.

Point is, as language learners, our process of becoming fluent is a lot different than people who’ve been speaking our target languages since they were in diapers. Very rarely do “raised fluent” people want to be your teacher.

It’s like asking jacked people to train you. Sure, they’ll give you tips, maybe even let you workout with them from time to time, but consistently? They’re not interested in going at your pace when they’re trying to go about their own way.

Speaking, again: Sound words out slowly, just like in elementary school.
Helps to break a word down, say each syllable fragmented, then combine two syllables, then slowly say the entire word, again, then the whole word at normal pace. Doing this at 27 years may sound demoralizing, but when learning your language, you need to remind yourself of your speaking level not your chronological age.

Writing: Text my Grandpa more.
Similar to speaking… He doesn’t speak a lick of English. Perfect person to communicate with.

I’d suggest everyone finds ONE person to be able to communicate with consistently, preferably of the dialect you’re trying to use.

Psychology: Zero tolerance for dwelling on being a no sabo.
Every minute spent watching a YouTube video about Latino identity crisis and the reality of parents not teaching their American children Spanish is a minute wasted. I’ve watched too many videos when I could’ve easily been further ahead by now.