Spanish Struggles

Stressed?

I have many students that often struggle with learning Spanish!  I try everything….showing videos, word practice, writing over and over, songs….it can often be difficult, but not impossible! Here are some common problems students face when trying to memorize vocabulary in Spanish:

1. False Cognates! I think sometimes students believe that there are more cognates in Spanish than not!  Words that look similar to English but have different meanings (embarazada = pregnant, not embarrassed) can cause confusion and slow recall.

2. Gender and Agreement! Students have to remember that the articles to the nouns are super important!  This is step one when speaking!  However, it can be difficult to remember everything.  Memorizing whether a noun is masculine or feminine (el libro, la mesa) and making adjectives agree can double the mental load.

3. Accent Marks! Yes, we have accent marks, and they are important!  Forgetting accent marks (tú vs. tu, sí vs. si) can change meaning and make it harder to remember correct spelling.

4. Verb Conjugation Overlap!  Vocabulary learning often overlaps with remembering different verb forms, making it harder to store the base word.

5. Similar-Sounding Words – Words with similar pronunciation (perro vs. pero, casa vs. caza) can get mixed up in memory.

I think that if we remember these difficulties, it can help teachers continue to create and find activities that will continue to help our students succeed!  You do not want them to burnout and no longer want to learn!  Learning a language is fun, and regardless of the time it takes for a student overcomes language differences in Spanish, we need to be able to show them that everyday in class!