Improve Spanish Fluency: A Journal Writing Exercise to Expand Your Spanish Vocabulary

Improve Spanish Fluency: A Journal Writing Exercise to Expand Your Spanish Vocabulary
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There are many exercises a person can do by his or herself to increase Spanish fluency. While it is almost always preferable to practice the Spanish language speaking and working with a native speaker, this is not always possible. This exercise presented below can be used on a daily basis to increase Spanish vocabulary and fluency in general.

A fluent speaker, in any language, feels comfortable talking about most situations that he comes upon during his daily life. An exception to this would be any type of intellectually difficult topics like science, math or technology that involve uncommon terms and ideas. The point is that a native speaker is able to communicate smoothly in situations that vary from a day of leisurely shopping with friends to a doctor’s visit for a serious ailment. As a Spanish language student whose goal is to become fluent in Spanish you need to be familiar with all kinds of vocabulary and language used in any type of situation. Writing in a journal can be an excellent strategy to cover these different areas of the language.

Dedicate thirty minutes to an hour each day to writing in Spanish in your journal. Everyday pick a different subject to write about. Write out conversations that you had in this experience and describe what you saw and heard. Even though this all happened in English you are going to write it in your journal in Spanish. Try to pick subjects or situations that you run into, or could run into, frequently. One day you could pick a trip to the dentist’s office with your kids. Write about the different questions you asked the dentist. Then jot down the conversation that you had with the receptionist about payment and future appointments. The next day you could choose to write about a night out at the bar that you had with your friends. You would again describe and write out everything that you saw and heard as well as the conversations that you participated in.

As you are writing out these situations and conversations use a good Spanish dictionary to help you with expressions and vocabulary. If your sentences look awkward, which they many times will, type them into your search engine. This way you can see how native speakers use the words and expressions you are attempting to incorporate into your entry. This exercise will go slowly, but with time and dedication, you will find that you are having to look up less and less words and expressions. Look back at entries from months ago to see if you remember previously looked up words. If you have a native Spanish speaking friend have him look over what you wrote to help you make the sentences flow better. This exercise, combined with speaking and listening comprehension practice, will do wonders to improve your Spanish fluency.