¡Buenas noticias! (Good news!)
We all want new skills in so many areas. We're always trying to improve at computer tasks, math, becoming more organized, managing finances... How do we cross that bridge?
Here's the good news - it doesn't take 1000 hours to get that skill! Yeah! You only need to practice, or experience the new activity, lesson, knowledge, action, sport, or LANGUAGE for 20 hours.
In my book (Key to Learning Anything) I talk a lot about this, but I was happy to see an article this week, from a completely different industry, who was agreeing with all that I've noticed as well, over the years of teaching more than a thousand students.
I recommend the reading of this article as an encouragement to you in all areas!
Josh Kaufman: It Takes 20 Hours Not 10,000 Hours To Learn A Skill
As you are perhaps questioning yourself, "How long it will take you (or your child) to learn this?" You have an answer! About 20 hours.
How do we turn that into practical steps? Get a check list out, log the number of times you study Spanish, and push for at least 20 minutes. Giving dedicated time will not only help to push this information into long term memory, but will also give you progress on your chart "On the Way to Twenty Hours."
Will you be fluent? No, of course not. But your confidence will be up, and your brain will know how to learn Spanish vocabulary, phrasing, and pronunciation. You'll have many more words in your vocabulary that you didn't have before. (Watching movies in Spanish ~actively watching~ totally counts, by the way!)
So, how many hours are you away from acquiring a skill? Post it on the Flip Flop Spanish Facebook page, and let's encourage one another!