How to Learn Spanish More Naturally: Embrace the Chunking Method

A major difference between adult Spanish learners and small children acquiring their first language is the children get only one form of input: listening. Since it is difficult for the brain to break up linguistic input into individual words when the language is acoustic, children often pick it up in chunks as they hear and interact with the language. In a natural and subconscious way, subjects go with verbs, certain phrases go together, nouns and adjectives are often grouped, and so on. As you are picking up Spanish, look to take advantage of chunking as one of your acquisition strategies.

Learning chunks of Spanish is an efficient use of your time that will allow you speak naturally. Also, eating chunks of chocolate is pleasurable.

Many people focus on memorizing individual words via flashcards or lists of vocabulary. While a few may succeed this way, most will give up out of frustration. Instead of trying to memorize individual words, give your brain more context. It takes the same amount of effort to memorize a chunk as it does an individual word. Thus, it is more efficient and takes less effort to learn Spanish in chunks. Consider the following sentences:

Quiero un perro grande.
I want a big dog

Tengo ganas de salir al club.
I feel like going out to the club.

Escribes una composición para la clase de inglés.
You write a composition for English class.

Let’s look at two ways to mentally process the input provided above. The first is broken down by word, and the second is broken into bite-sized chunks Which way seems a better use of time to you?

Individual Words

Quiero
un
perro
grande.

Tengo
ganas
de
salir
al
club.

Escribes
una
composición
para
la
clase
de
inglés.

Now look at the same sentences chunked out.

Chunks

Quiero
un perro grande.

Tengo ganas de
salir al club.

Escribes
una composición
para la clase de inglés.

Your brain will automatically chunk language when you listen, but you can also make a conscious effort to learn chunks, especially when you are a beginning Spanish speaker. If you study this way you will have no problem building a large Spanish vocabulary in no time.

Listening is not the only way to get chunked input. It turns out that reading activates the same language system in the brain as listening . To the brain, there is no difference in terms of which form of input will build your mental model of the language.

Reading in Spanish with a focus on comprehension is a natural way for your brain to subconsciously break the language up into meaningful chunks, much like a child’s brain does as she learns her first language. It takes the emphasis away from individual words and grammar rules and gives your mind a broader context for Spanish.

Read to Speak Spanish.

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You Can Learn to Speak Spanish (Yes, You)

Human beings have the innate ability to acquire language. You are living proof, since you already learned to speak at least one language if you are reading this text.

In you lies the ability to learn Spanish, even if you tried and failed in the past. If you took Spanish classes in the past and struggled, a change in approach may be just the thing you need to right the ship.

What is the Right Way to Learn Spanish?

Students often ask me what they can do outside of the classroom to achieve fluency in Spanish. My answer is always the same: spend quality time in the language every day.

That could mean reading books for learners or listening to music in Spanish on YouTube while trying to figure out the lyrics. It could also be watching a movie you know well in English (or whatever your native language is) with the audio in Spanish. If you prefer to have subtitles, put them on in Spanish, since reading English will only make you more fluent in English. There are many possibilities here.

Whatever direction you choose, there is no shortcut to picking up a language and there is no substitute for quality time spent in Spanish.

How Much Time Should I Spend Learning Spanish Each Day?

I never tell students how much time they should spend on Spanish outside of class, because the answer to that question depends on the learner. In general, the more time you spend in the language, the faster you will build fluency.

That said, there may be a sweet spot for language acquisition, which is probably somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes per day. The effects of studying a little bit each day are cumulative and exponential. Studying for ten minutes per day for 50 consecutive days will yield far superior results than studying for an hour per day for just five days. The key to learning a language is consistency. If you can find a routine that works for you and stick to it, you will be far likelier to acquire Spanish.

What does a Spanish Learning routine look like?

When I learn a new language, I always use a routine. It lets me focus on the language itself, rather than what I should do to study. Your new Spanish learning routine might look something like this:

1. Do a 5-minute warm-up

You need a low-stress way to re-orient yourself in the language each day. In other words, this activity should prime your brain to start interacting in the language. Here are some ideas:

• Duolingo*

• Complete a grammar textbook activity (verb conjugation, complete the sentence, matching activities, multiple choice questions, etc.).

• Flashcards

• Listen to a song in Spanish

2. Read for 10 minutes in the language.

This can be in the form of a short story, a novel for learners, or an easy book written for native speakers. Non-fiction (newspaper articles, biographies, etc.) is also fine, but I find that harder to engage with when I’m a beginner in a language.

Read for comprehension and entertainment. If you’re not entertained, put whatever you’re reading down and pick up something that will keep your interest.

3. Interact with the language in some way.

Here are some simple ideas.

• Write down any new words I read

• Underline the subject in 10 sentences

• Circle the action word (verb) in 10 sentences

• Write a true/false quiz that you could give to a friend. Answer the questions to make sure you understand the questions you wrote.

• Draw a picture that summarizes of what you read

• Write a six sentence summary of what you said

• Bonus for advanced learners: tell someone what you read about

And that’s it. You read and interacted with the language, and that’s enough to put yourself on the path toward fluency.

As mentioned earlier, the key is consistency. Whatever routine you come up with, stick to it. Be relentless. Do it every day, without exception.

“The key to learning Spanish, therefore, is consistency. If you can find a routine that works for you and stick to it, you will be far likelier to acquire Spanish. ”

I know that it’s easy for life to get in the way. If you miss one day, be sure to get back to at it the next. If you skip two days in a row, and you will have started a ‘not-studying-Spanish’ streak, and the inertia of not studying Spanish will be difficult to overcome.

* I like using the mean-spirited bird, but it does get tedious. The sentences are often disjointed and lack the context necessary for me to stay engaged. It is a well-designed app and is a useful tool, but once the novelty of Duolingo wears off, your desire to use the app will too. It’s designed to be an addicting phone game and, after a while, you stop mentally processing the language. For me it has become a compulsion, and compulsively taping your phone to put the words in the right order has diminishing returns. If you ever reach this stage, it’s time to find something more interesting.

Keep Track of Your Streak

I’ve heard it said that “What gets measured, gets managed”, so you should also measure your consistency by keeping track of your study streak. For example, put a big red dot on your calendar for each day you successfully complete your Spanish learning routine. This is a simple way of measuring how consistent you have been on your quest for fluency. The inertia of a streak will make it easier for you to stick to your routine; you won’t like to see a broken chain on your wall calendar.

Marking your streak on a calendar will also help you find little wins to celebrate along the way. Did you complete your learning routine each day for a month? Treat Yo Self. Do you have a streak of 50, 100, or 200 days? Treat Yo Self. Have you been at it for more than a year without stopping? Treat Yo Self. Don’t stop. Keep doing your routine until you speak Spanish as fluently as you would like. Learning Spanish will require serious work and dedication. Don’t forget to celebrate the little wins.

Now stop reading this and start reading some Spanish. You got this.

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How to Memorize an Entire Story in Spanish Using Picture Notes

Although memorization is not the most efficient long-term strategy for learning a new language, it is crucial in the initial stages. The ultimate goal is to internalize the language to such an extent that you can produce it naturally. When you speak, you should think about what you want to say and just let the language bubble up from your subconscious. When you reach that level of proficiency, you won’t have to rely on memorized language, and this is a huge advantage. After all, you don’t want to sound like a robot with only a few canned phrases at your disposal.

Unfortunately, at the beginning, you likely will not have a strong linguistic foundation to draw upon. When attempting to respond instinctively, your subconscious will have nothing to offer. Even if you understand what the speaker is saying, you’ll reach for the right words to reply, but come up empty.

Enter memorization. Memorizing even just a few key sentences will enable you to make a meaningful response. In essence, memorization takes you from zero to one, from nothing to something, which is by far the most challenging phase of the language acquisition process. It’s also the phase where most learners give up. Getting through the beginning stages of acquisition will unlock your unlimited language potential, and memorization can play a crucial role in that process.

In essence, memorization takes you from zero to one, from nothing to something, which is by far the most challenging phase of the language acquisition process.

- Andrew J. Snider

You won’t be able to memorize the entire language; there’s just too much information to take in. Fortunately, it turns out that not all words and phrases are created equal. Focusing on high-frequency vocabulary will rapidly improve your speaking abilities.

In Spanish, some of the most frequent words are ser to be, estar to be, tener to have, querer to want, ir to go, haber to have, to be, poder to be able, gustar to be pleasing, decir to say, and their various forms. Instead of staring endlessly at verb charts¹ void of any context, it’s better to focus your precious attention on a chunk of language that contains this vocabulary in context. As it happens, a story is the perfect vehicle for acquisition because it can hold your attention and contains spaced repetition of high-frequency vocabulary in a natural context.

¹ Verb charts aren’t bad, but they are an inefficient use of your time. A native speaker never learned to conjugate "ser" by staring at a verb chart. They acquired it by hearing and reading the various forms in context and interacting with them in some way.

Memorization One Step at a Time

The following memorization process will take about 30 minutes and can yield excellent results. If you repeat this process for two or more consecutive days, your retention will improve even further.

Note: after the first day, you will only need about 10 minutes of study, depending on the length of the story. The first time through is the hardest.

Step 1: select a story

For our purposes, we’ll pick a tale from the stories page of this site (You can find the specific story here). Once you have a story, the next step is to divide the story into pieces. It’s easier to remember information in small chunks. For example, you could split the story into a beginning, a middle, and an end.

In the remaining steps, you’ll see the story split up into one possible set of chunks.

Step 2: Create hand-drawn picture notes

Engaging multiple senses is beneficial for long-term memory retention. In this context, you are incorporating visual and kinesthetic (touch) elements into your study routine. By visualizing the events of the story, you eliminate the need to memorize their sequence and instead focus on how to articulate them in Spanish.

Creating picture notes prior to your study session serves as a preliminary review of the story. You establish connections between the text and the drawings you create. Drawing pictures, akin to using gestures, connects the meaning of Spanish words to your illustrations, thereby enhancing long-term memory.

The quality of the drawings is not important, but they should be hand-drawn by you for maximum effect. Below is an example of a set of picture notes.

These picture notes tell a story from one of my classes. It’s been years since I told this story, but the pictures I drew by hand immediately jog my memory. The story outlined above is a tragedy turned comedy.

Step 3: study the beginning of the story

Part I: Beginning

Hola, me llamo Yaqui (Jackie). Soy una mujer alta. También soy inteligente y joven. Tengo veintitrés años. Soy de San Juan, Puerto Rico. Es la capital del país. Vivo con mi hermana en una casa. Algún día, quiero ser astronauta. Por eso estudio en la universidad. Este cuatrimestre, tomo cuatro clases que son la química, la física cuántica, la astrofísica y la astronomía. Las cuatro son muy difíciles y a veces me siento un poco agobiada.

Read the beginning of the story a few times. Read it until you feel comfortable remembering most or all of the details from this chunk. Focus on the beginning of the story until you feel comfortable.

Once you feel like you have a solid grasp on the story, or have studied for ten minutes (whichever comes first), you should attempt to retell the beginning out loud and from memory. You may use your picture notes for assistance.

If you get stuck, refer back to the story text, but try to rely on it as little as possible. The less you rely on the text, the better your retention will be.

Before you continue with the middle of the story, assess your performance honestly. If you struggled or needed to look at the story, study a bit more and repeat the process. Don’t move on until you nail this section.

Step 4: Study the middle of the story

Part II: Middle

Son dos de la madrugada y estoy en mi casa. Estoy nerviosa porque tengo cuatro pruebas difíciles por la mañana. No quiero tomar las pruebas. Pienso: «Ay, ay, ay. Hoy tengo cuatro pruebas difíciles. No quiero tomar las pruebas. Necesito inventarme una excusa.»

Now we move on to the next chunk of the story. You can expect to spend another 10 minutes on this section, so make sure you have time before you start.

Just like in the first section, we want to isolate Part II of the story. Study the middle chunk on its own. Once you feel comfortable, try to retell just this section of the story. Again, you may use your picture notes for support. Refer back to the text of the story only if absolutely necessary.

Evaluate your performance honestly. If you found it challenging or had to consult the story, study a bit more and repeat the process for the middle section.

Before you move on, try to combine the beginning and middle sections of the story. Retell both parts out loud and use only your picture notes as a guide.

How did you do? You probably found that the first section wasn’t as memorized as you thought it was. Study both sections again until you can retell them smoothly.

step 5: Study The Ending of the story

Part III: Ending

Entonces pienso en una buena excusa. Pienso que es una muy buena excusa. Escribo un mensaje para mi profesor.

Hola, profesor. Entiendo que tenemos una prueba importante hoy. No puedo ir a clase porque mi casa está en fuego. Por eso puedo tomar la prueba. Gracias por entender mi situación.

Con mucho respeto,

Yaqui de la Fabricación

Now that parts one and two are under your belt, focus your attention on the ending section of the story.

After a few minutes of study, try to retell just the ending section out loud and from memory. Again, use only your picture notes for support. Only refer back to the text if you absolutely cannot remember what to say.

How did you do? Assess your performance honestly. If you struggled your way through, study a bit more and repeat the process.

Once you're comfortable with the ending of the story, try combining all three sections.

You’ll probably find that the beginning is pretty good at this point, but maybe there are some struggles in the middle section. Refine any trouble areas and try to retell the whole together again.

Step 6: take a break, then repeat

Taking a break is one of the best things you can do when you are learning a new language. There is so much new information to take in, and taking a break gives your brain time to catch up. Even while you’re not thinking about it, your brain takes the information you studied, processes it, and readies it for acquisition.

I recommend the break to be a minimum of two hours, but it’s also fine if you come back the next day. Any break lasting more than 24 hours will lead to decreased retention, so don’t put it off for too long.

After your break of two to 24 hours, try to retell the story again, using only your picture notes as a crutch.

I’m willing to bet that you’ll be amazed at how well you were able to memorize an entire story in Spanish.

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What Are Your Goals?

Learning a new language is a huge task. Before you begin, it is helpful to determine why you want to learn the language? Do you want to speak Spanish like a native speaker? Perhaps you want to have a conversation with a Spanish-speaking neighbor or coworker? Or maybe you just want to pass the test on Friday? Whatever the case,  Sometimes we are called to learn something, and other times we just have to solve a difficult puzzle to get to the next level (a la Zelda).

1. If you want to learn enough to pass the test you've got coming up, the following study guide and examples will help you get the hang of it. Find the section your class is working on, and get to mentally processing the example sentences. I keep grammar explanations to a minimum here for a reason. 

You can do this. Your best bet is to focus on the message and let the grammar take care of itself.

2. If your goal is to have a real life conversation with a Spanish-speaking coworker, you should aim to master the high-frequency vocabulary. Once you get the hang of some of the basic words, you'll be able to start reading and listening to more complex language. Perhaps the best place to get complex, compelling, and varied language is through reading fiction. If you read a level-appropriate text, you'll see a small amount (very small) of new vocabulary on nearly every page, read interesting dialogue that will more easily recall in conversations, show you a variety of sentence structures that your textbook may ignore entirely, etc. In addition, reading compelling fiction is the best way to get your brain to stop focusing on the grammatical form (how to say things), and keep you focused on the message (what is happening in the story).

Getting to the point where you are reading level-appropriate fiction independently typically takes my students somewhere between  1-6 weeks of study. Thus, this approach may not help you get an A on that mid-term tomorrow. It will, however, put you on a path toward lifelong fluency.

Reading as a means to acquisition really works, and it works really well. 

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Building a Useful Vocabulary

The second big struggle for many Spanish learners is to actually learn enough vocabulary to do the tasks they need to accomplish. Your Spanish textbook will likely present vocabulary in long chapter lists. Sometimes they will break those down into categories, which is better than the whole list of words in one or two big columns. Unfortunately, these lists rarely give you enough (or any) context for the words. It becomes an exercise in rote memorization, one that most people are destined to fail. In addition, these vocabulary lists tend to be way too long. Many students give up out of frustration after just 10-15 words. I get it. It's overwhelming. 

What's the solution to this problem? For most, the solution is to limit vocabulary to only the essential words. Once these words are mastered, you will be able to mentally process and understand the language at a high level. This high-frequency vocabulary will serve as a strong base for sentence decoding (and later sentence construction), and will allow you to pick up additional vocabulary along the way.

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Picking Up Spanish Without Explicit Grammar Instruction

The main struggle for college Spanish students is mastering the grammar. Many college professors expect their students to know lots of grammar rules and be able to reproduce them on tests. Many students over the years have told me that their biggest struggle is with the grammar. My response often shocks them:

Studying grammar is not the natural way to learn a language and it will not lead to any real fluency. 

Think about it. When you were a toddler learning English (or whatever your native language happens to be), you didn't spend a single second learning the difference between a participle or an infinitive, or how to use double object pronouns while in the imperfect subjunctive mood. Instead, you focused all your attention on receiving and sending messages to those around you. After mentally processing for thousands of hours in your native language, your brain built a grammar around the messages you had received. Now, your brain automatically knows how to use words within the rules of your own internal grammar structure. You don't even have to think about it. You simply think about the message you want to express and the words just bubble up from your subconscious, like the carbonation bubbles in can of soda.

When you spend too much time studying grammar rules, you begin to consciously think about how to say things, instead of what to say. Indeed, studying grammar rules will only help you pass a grammar test. Admittedly, sometimes passing the test is all we need to do. But too much focus on how to say things will lead to a shallower fluency. If you really want to speak Spanish well, you need to learn grammar through vocabulary building. And the best way to build vocabulary is through reading.

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