PART II: Use your imagination and the vocabulary you already know.

Let’s talk about these five tips in more detail

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1. DESCRIBE:

While you’re walking home or hiking, take 5-10 minutes to describe what’s around you. By doing this you force your brain to link words to the images you’re seeing. This gives your mind a vehicle to transport the word in Spanish to your long-term memory; therefore making your Spanish muscle stronger. It’s just what you need to retain new vocabulary in your second language.

2. DESCRIBE:MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARY (SPANISH-SPANISH):

If you look up the meaning (NOT THE TRANSLATION) of a new word in a monolingual dictionary, you will learn to describe things in Spanish. This means when you don’t know a word in the future, you could describe it and use your current Spanish to avoid translating.

3. DESCRIBE:COLLECT NEW WORDS AND SENTENCES:

A small notebook for a Spanisholic, is a great accessory for any student. Try to review your notes for 5-10 minutes daily. You could also teach the new words to someone else. When you teach, you learn twice.

4. DESCRIBE:RECAP YOUR DAY

At the end of the day, ask yourself:

• • What did I do? • Who did I talk to? • What did this person say? • Where did I go?

Take notes of the answers in a notebook, or record some audio for 4 weeks. Ask your teacher to revise them and they will start to sound more natural over time. This will be like speaking practice; where you will build confidence to speak faster and make your stories sound more exciting when you have the opportunity to tell them.

5. DESCRIBE:PREPARE SENTENCES FOR CONVERSATIONS

At the end of the day, ask yourself:

Are you a funny person? Do you like jokes? Do you want to reply to a question, or comment, using sarcasm with your friends but you don’t know how?

Our personality doesn’t change when we speak Spanish. A good idea is to ask people in a language exchange to help you to express your sense of humour. You could also join a Facebook group, or practice with your teacher. You could find out the equivalent jokes and responses in Spanish, as in English; collect them and use them in conversations in the future.