Learning Spanish is NOT easy.
Let me tell you why and how to overcome it.
10 years ago, the song ‘Qué difícil es hablar español’ (How difficult it is to speak Spanish) went viral. And no wonder. The Spanish language holds great complexity, even though from the outside, it might seem like the most fun, cheerful, and easy-to-learn language.
The world associates Spanish with Latin music, tropical beaches, and dancing in the streets. It seems like Spanish is everywhere, in the lyrics of the catchiest songs, in the names of the most delicious dishes, even in the streets of a city as American as San Francisco. Wouldn’t it be easy, then, to learn this language? Wouldn’t just paying attention to our surroundings and complementing it with a trip to Latin America suffice? The truth is, no. I was born speaking Spanish and have spent years trying to teach this language altruistically online. Many followers express their frustrations when it comes to learning Spanish. Let’s analyze them one by one.
Why is the map feminine?
‘El’ and ‘la,’ two seemingly simple articles when used with living beings. ‘El hombre’ and ‘la mujer.’ ‘El’ for masculine and ‘la’ for feminine seems straightforward. But what happens when we have to assign gender to objects?
This decision is very arbitrary and hard to grasp for native speakers of languages that don’t have this distinction, like English. Spanish students are told that any word ending in ‘a’ is feminine, but the number of exceptions can overwhelm even the most diligent student: ‘el día,’ ‘el sofá,’ ‘el poeta,’ ‘el mapa,’ ‘el clima’…
2. Different words in each country.
In the song mentioned at the beginning of this article, it’s pointed out that the word ‘chucho’ means something different:
- El Salvador — dog,
- Honduras — stingy,
- Mexico — skillful,
- Argentina — cold,
- Chile — jail,
- Spain — dog.
3. The verbs.
Alright, buckle up for the wild ride of Spanish verb conjugation! So, imagine you’re at a linguistic rollercoaster, and each twist and turn represents a different conjugation. First up, you’ve got your present tense loop-de-loops — a whirlwind of ‘o,’ ‘as,’ ‘a,’ ‘amos,’ ‘áis,’ and ‘an’! It’s like riding a grammatical rollercoaster with a Spanish twist. But wait, there’s more!
Now, you’re diving into the past tense labyrinth, where irregular verbs are like unexpected corkscrews, making you flip your language-learning world upside down. It’s a wild ride of ‘í,’ ‘iste,’ ‘ió,’ ‘imos,’ ‘isteis,’ and ‘ieron’! Hold on tight! And just when you think you’ve mastered it, bam! The subjunctive mood appears, throwing you into a loop of uncertainty. ‘Yo quiera,’ ‘tú puedas,’ ‘él coma’ — it’s like navigating a linguistic funhouse with grammatical mirrors distorting your understanding.
In conclusion, Spanish verb conjugation is like the amusement park of language learning. It’s thrilling, challenging, and sometimes downright dizzying. But fear not, brave language adventurer! With practice and a sprinkle of humor, you’ll conquer the rollercoaster of Spanish verbs like a linguistic superhero. ¡Buena suerte! 🎢🚀”
