4 things that supercharged my Spanish

things that supercharged my Spanish

I speak a second language and I love just about every second of it. For those who may be new to the blog, I am an American living in Spain. Before moving to Spain, I spent a year working a bilingual job at a non-profit organization in my city. However if we’re being honest, I didn’t really pick up Spanish until just a few years ago. While I most certainly do not speak the language perfectly, I spend a lot of my life in Spain speaking Spanish. I love it.

Life is funny, isn’t it? I get to see the language-learning process in reverse for me living here in Spain. I work as an English teacher here, so I’m constantly helping Spaniards improve their English. Often times I know their struggle because I have been there. Other times I find myself thinking “you know this is what really helped me over this hurdle or that. You really should do X thing.” So I thought I would share my tips on the blog. These tips can be applied to all foreign languages. So here are 4 things that supercharged my Spanish.

1. I stopped saying that my Spanish was bad

I find Spanish people saying that their English is bad all the time. And I just kind of want to scream, quite frankly when they say this. We all know that positive thinking can do wonders. If you always think that you suck at speaking your foreign language, will you really improve? One day it dawned upon me that I frankly never had time to think that my Spanish was bad. I got hired to work a bilingual job and thus I had to communicate the best way that I could. Many people who called the organization spoke no English, so I was forced to only speak Spanish. What I noticed I started telling people was that I did not have perfect Spanish. And of course they would always reply with “well of course! It’s not your first language.”

So language-learners, replace “my French/Spanish/German/Arabic or whatever language you’re learning is bad” with “my Spanish is not perfect.” You’re not telling any lies as your of course it’s not perfect … you’re still learning. For me, it helped me to think more positively about my Spanish and speak with confidence.

2. Not. Everything. Translates.

When I first studied Spanish, I worked with Daniel from Coffeeshop Spanish. He had a dinner at his house and I remember a fellow student saying “if I could just translate my thoughts.” I responded with “honestly, that’s never going to be a reality so you might as well just accept that.” Maybe that was harsh, but I like the truth man.

In Spain, I find Spanish people all the time translating everything. I will tell them some phrase in English and they will ask me what that translates to in Spanish. And the truth is, not even all expressions translate. Idioms and expressions develop out of cultures … and cultures are different. So of course such and such phrase from German will not have a similar one in Spanish and so forth. Also sometimes one thing is a verb in one language and an expression in another. Perfect example is kick vs. dar una patada. In English, we just use the verb “to kick” when someone swings their leg in order to hurt another person. In Spanish, they use the expression “dar una patada” which literally translates to give a leg. It would just be strange to directly translate that to English.

When I speak Spanish, I try to jump into the Spanish world as much as I can and think in the language. I try to learn words or phrases within the language. And I do not try to translate every single statement back to English. I couldn’t hold a conversation if I did that.

3. I put myself in situations where Spanish is the only option

I realized that a big reason my Spanish improved rapidly is because I was continually forced to “find a way.” Working at Su Casa, I was forced to speak with people who only spoke Spanish on a daily basis. You learn quickly when there is simply no option.

So because this worked so well for me, I sought out a flat with Spanish people who all spoke little English. We all just always speak Spanish to each other all the time. I wanted to be forced to speak the language every day here in Spain, so I figured Spanish housemates (vs. other English teachers) was the best way to ensure that I would speak Spanish daily.

4. I stopped believing the b.s.

Apparently it’s harder to learn languages as an adult. However I never let that stop me from pushing hard. Also people also want to believe that some are just more wired for languages. I honestly think that’s a load a crap. Maybe there’s a slight truth to that, but the only reason I think I speak decent Spanish is because of how much I immerse myself in it. When Spanish people are amazed that I speak well for only having spent 6 months in their country. So I explain that I spent 40 hours a week for an entire year speaking Spanish. That really is the only difference.

I think that language-learning is hard and of course people get frustrated. And so these things can be nice excuses. However if you believe them, they will hinder your progress. And that is no good.

At the end of the day

I do not speak Spanish perfectly and there’s still so much I could learn. However it’s most important to me that I keep my mind positive. That positivity will help you make tremendous leaps and bounds.

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3 bridesmaid looks with Millybridal UK

The day that my best friend and I have talked about for years is just a few short months away. It’s absolutely crazy. Can you guess what it is? Yep, my best friend is getting married and I’m her Maid of Honor. I could not be more excited and happy for her. So today I’m showing off some bridesmaid looks from Millybridal UK, an online shop for bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses and other formal wear.

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4 tips to plan ahead for vacation

Ibiza in off season

As I sit here and begin this blog post, I have about a million things going on in my head. I leave to teach my private lessons in an hour … I still need to look up exactly what I want to and need to see in Lisbon this weekend … I should probably post a photo to my Instagram. Now is a good time as my American followers are likely all waking up and starting their days while my European followers are going about their days. More eyes to see … oh and have I done laundry? … oh and my room is a mess.

I think we all know this feeling well. We have a lot to do and then we’re going on vacation. This coming weekend is what they call a “puente” here in Spain. Puente literally translates to bridge in English. However in this context, it means having several days off of work or school usually in regards to a holiday. This puente means I have next Monday and Tuesday off work. So I decided to take a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Since Lisbon involves a bit more travel time, I figured a four-day weekend would be best.

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A reflection on 5 months and linkup

reflection on 5 months

Hi everyone! Today I’m very excited to be co-hosting the Thursday Fashion Files with Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom and Jill from Doused in Pink. I have been following their blogs for at least a year now and have linked up with them countless times. As I have transitioned from just blogging about to fashion to blogging fashion and travel, the times I can link up are less frequent. But I, of course, am always excited to when I can!

So for this post, I thought I’d do a little reflection on how I’m doing. I thought it would be fun to mix some photos in from the different shoots and outfits I’ve worn over the past five months.

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3 ways to celebrate Galentines day far away

celebrate Galentines day far away

Long-distance relationships suck at times. You spend lots of time on the phone or Skype. You send lots of messages back and forth. And you absolutely cannot wait until you’re together again. And no, I’m not talking about a long-distance romantic relationship. In fact, I’ve never been in a long-distance romantic relationship, so I may not even have the right picture of what that looks like (sorry is it’s totally wrong!). No, I’m talking about your best female friends. Living life abroad for me means that my best friends live many miles away from me. With Galentine’s Day approaching on February 13th, I know I’ll be thinking of all kinds of ways that I can show them how awesome they are and how glad I am that they are a part of my life! It just gets a little trickier with an ocean in between. So I’ve rounded up five different ways to send them some Galentine’s Day love.

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My year in dresses part 2

wore in Portland

Earlier last week, I had recapped my year in dresses. As many of you already know, I wear a lot of dresses. In fact, that’s what inspired the name of my blog. I think that as we end one year and begin another, it’s good to do a little reflecting. Even if we think our year was not the best, we usually have made progress. Reflecting can help us see that. I know I for one made lots of leaps with the blog.

Reflecting also allows us to see where we are and where we want to go. I know that for me, this is the year that I give the blog my all. I’m going full force with it. So to those of you who are new, welcome! I hope you stick around because I have lots of great ideas for the year to come. And those loyal readers out there, thank you for all your support. You all are amazing.

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A year in dresses part 1 and StyleWe Giveaway

year in dresses

It has been quite a year in dresses for me. As I think back to last year at this time, so much was different. My mother was about to go into hospice after a six-month stay in the hospital after having a brain aneurysm. I was nearing the end of Dressember, a month-long campaign to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking. While I was 3-months in, I was such a baby blogger.

Now one year later, I think it’s fitting that this post includes a giveaway. In this year since, I’ve seen a growth in traffic and engagement on both the blog and my social media platforms. I’ve worked with some brands and small businesses, and continue to have people reaching out for collaboration. I feel like I’m in my solid sophomore year of blogging and there is nowhere to go but up. And it could not have been possible without you all. So thank you for reading, liking and commenting. It always brings me joy!

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Closet space in the US and Europe

There’s no doubt that many things are different between the US and Europe. In addition to different languages (except for a few countries of course), different food and different customs, the spaces are quite different. Things are just bigger in the US. In Europe the buildings are older and there’s just less space in general. Plus I’ve noticed that people in Spain like to live near each other more. You see that everyone not only lives right in the cities, but also they choose to live in the center of towns and villages too. That, however, is a topic for another blog post.

I recently came across a company called MakeSpace and it prompted me to think about about my dream closet. After all, I really do love my closet space that I lucked into here in Spain. Is it my dream space? No. But we will get into that later. Also for those who are not aware, MakeSpace is a self-storage service that moves your unwanted stuff and stores it for you. They have several self-storage locations throughout the United States.

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5 ways I’ve experienced culture shock in Spain

culture shock in Spain

Friends, I’ve experienced culture shock in Spain. In fact, I’m experiencing it now. All of my close friends and family members already know that I’m an open book. I like to talk about my struggles and as a highly sensitive extrovert (God that’s the weirdest combo, by the way. You have overwhelming feelings and aren’t afraid to verbalise them … sometimes not in healthy ways either), I always feel the need to talk out my feelings with at least 10 people. You add in the fact that some of these people speak only your second language, and it can feel isolating.

So instead of posting one of my fun travel posts, I’ve decided to push that one back a few days and write about what is actually happening. I promised you all that I would paint an accurate picture of what life in a foreign country is like. And culture shock is a part of that experience. Everyone experiences culture shock, we just all experience it in different ways. And some don’t want to or need to talk about it. However that’s not that case for me. So I figured I would share my experience here for several reasons.

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My wedding style: a collaboration

wedding style

New fashions added daily at SheIn.com

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself at plenty of weddings and also in several weddings over the last several years. I suppose it’s because I’m 29 and everyone but myself (okay that’s an exaggeration) is getting hitched. The thing is, I’m not one of those bitter people. I really, REALLY love weddings. I love wearing dresses and love any excuse to wear one! Furthermore, when my friends ask me to be their bridesmaid, I’m overjoyed. I love being there for my friends and helping them in any way I can.

So when Ada from Elegance and Mommyhood approached me about a wedding style collaboration, I of course said yes. In fact, there are six of us collaborating today! This dress is absolutely perfect for a wedding and in a less-expected color: green! I love dark green and feel like I look best in it, so I had to order this from Modcloth. In fact, I had been eyeing it for about a year before purchasing it.

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