Are You "Acquiring" or "Learning" Spanish?
Discover the two distinct paths to fluency and how to choose the right resources for faster and more natural progress
Yesterday, I talked about the crucial difference between "acquiring" and "learning." If you missed my post, you can read it here:
I explained that acquiring is a process where we habituate ourselves to something, eventually making it our own. There's no deliberate effort; instead, it's a focused habituation.
Learning, on the other hand, is the opposite. We make a deliberate effort to put something into our brains.
To illustrate this difference, I used the example of your native language. That's not something you learned — you never made a deliberate effort to make your native language part of you — but rather something you acquired by being surrounded by other speakers.
In contrast, a skill like learning to multiply is something you learned deliberately in school, putting effort into it.
So, how does this help you with Spanish?
I want you to know that there are two types of resources you can use to advance your Spanish. Some resources help you "acquire" Spanish, and others help you "learn" Spanish.
Resources that help you acquire Spanish typically have these characteristics:
They consist of a story.
The speaker's speed is slower than that of native speakers in everyday conversation.
There's a lot of context.
Information isn't presented directly but is mixed with other elements.
Resources that help you learn Spanish are characterized by the following:
They feature lists, graphs, or tables.
The speaking speed is generally that of everyday native speakers.
There's no broader context beyond the specific topic you're learning at that moment.
You learn a study topic in a direct way.
In my opinion, neither resource is "better" than the other. Instead, these resources serve different moments and objectives in your learning journey, and what I'd like you to understand is when to use each one.
But we'll dive deeper into that tomorrow. For now, I simply want you to learn how to identify them.
Watch this video:
And now watch this one:
Now tell me:
Which video aligns more with language "acquisition," and which one more with "learning" the language?
Which do you think was more useful for you?
How do you imagine you'd like to use these resources?
Leave your responses in the comments! Or answer this email!
I'm really looking forward to reading your answers.
Hasta mañana con más,
Leo
P.S. I want to share with you something we say in Spanish that I said to my student today:
“Sin prisa pero sin pausa.” (No rush, but no pause either).
We say this to remember that it is better to be constant doing a little, than inconsistent doing a lot.
If you want to see other phrases like this one, visit the last website article: Motivational Phrases For Learning Spanish
P.S. If you're enjoying my emails, please spread the word and send this to a friend who also wants to improve their Spanish.