Am I ready to study abroad (maybe Spain, Mexico or Argentina)?

Question

I am studying abroad in Spain next semester. I am so excited, but I am nervous that I don't know enough Spanish or about traveling there. What is the best way to get ready for my trip and make sure I can speak enough to survive and have a good time?

Answer 1

Hola! This is a great question! Wow, I remember studying abroad in Spain like it was yesterday. So, the short answer: YES! of course you are ready. I am totally fluent in Spanish now with a masters degree... but when I went abroad I had only taken high school Spanish and a few classes in college. I studied in a city in Spain with very few English speaking student ON PURPOSE... so I'd be forced to practice... the result? IT WORKED. The Spanish I had before studying abroad was enough to get started, make friends, find my way around and get to know my host family. The coolest part was that SO MUCH of the Spanish I learned in high school started flooding out of my mouth - UNBELIEVABLE! and the ICING ON THE CAKE - I started DREAMING EN ESPAÑOL. Remember, learning a language is about taking risks when speaking and not being afraid to talk even though you are shaking in your pants! BUT THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE - MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO WITH SOME TUTORING!

Answer 2

Hello! I have lived abroad multiple times and some of the best ways to learn is to put yourself out there and try to speak the language. This will help you meet awesome friends. Sometimes, they will want to practice their English too. It can be a really fun exchange of skills while building a friendship. One fun way is by responding to each other in one another´s language. It is very important to just get yourself out of your head and get talking.

Mistakes will be made but the more you speak the more natural it will become to say the correct thing. As long as you are close and can understand each other, that is what matters! Help each other on the glaring mistakes such as incorrect vocabulary words (embarazada/pregnant for embarrassed) or wrong verb tense because that is what changes the overall meaning of things. Focus on that until you´re more comfortable conversing. Then you can move onto grammar and awkward word choice, etc! I love the site Italki. I met friends for langauge exchange all the time! Best of luck and have so much fun. Spaniards are very fun and welcoming.

Answer 3

Es normal que tengas dudas acerca del idioma del país donde vas a estudiar, para poder ayudarte primero me gustaría saber cuál es tu primer idioma, en caso de que sea el inglés, sería interesante evaluar en qué nivel de español estás, para reforzar las áreas débiles y mejorar el nivel en lo que ya sabes, trabajar los términos técnicos de tu área de estudio, para adquirir seguridad en el area en que te vas a desarrollar. Visité España en el mes de Abril, concretamente en Barcelona y Madrid, y algunos son muy cuidadosos con el uso del castellano, también hay ciertos modismos que puedes aprender para llegar con aún más seguridad a tu nueva ciudad.

Answer 4

Hi! I'd first suggest identifying your areas of strength and areas that need improvement, and you can study, alone or with a partner/group on areas that you need to improve.

For example, do you know a lot of vocabulary but struggle with conjugating verbs? Practice conjugating for different subjects and tenses. Por ejemplo: "Yo voy a la playa. Tú vas a la playa. Ella va a la playa. Ellos van a la playa. Yo fui a la playa. Tú fuiste a la playa. Ella fue a la playa...." I think you get the point!

If your vocabulary needs some improvement, study vocabulary. Some methods I've used:

1. Good ole flashcards for the words you struggle to remember.
2. Take advantage of cognates (like: lesson and lección, restaurant and restaurante, etc) or words that kind of sound like the English translation (to need = "necesitar," which sounds like "necessary")
3. Label things in your environment - for example, in your kitchen, you might label pots, pans, plates, utensils with their Spanish translations (add la, el, las, los, un, unos, una, unas if you have trouble remembering the gender!)
4. Expand by not just labeling the noun, but what it's for - such as labeling the knife rack "los cuchillos" and add "para cortar el bistec"

The best way to practice of course, is to actually be immersed in the language, like Daniel M. answered. My Spanish always improved most in classes where we were required to speak Spanish (a friend and I became very fond of practicing conversation/passing notes in Spanish outside of class, too lol).

My Spanish also became more fluent this past school year, after years of not really using it, because 2 of my preschool students didn't speak English at first... So I got a lot more practice listening to and speaking Spanish. Our noon assistant also didn't speak much English, so we would switch back and forth between English (so she could get more practice) and Spanish (so I could get more practice). We didn't always get words or phrasing or conjugation exactly right, but we both became more fluent over the course of the year! Even when I was stumbling over vocabulary or conjugating correctly ("No corres... no wait, no corran en la clase"), I still got my point across (though the preschoolers judged me for not being very good at first lol)