Manifesto: Spanish For Conversation Not Quizzes

I snapped this picture in Madrid, Spain just minutes before writing this training for you. Madrid really is a beautiful place. You should definitely visit here to "test" your conversation skills after I get you speaking Spanish fluently 😉

The Intuitive Way To Become Conversationally Fluent In Spanish

It was May 8th, 2014 and I had just quit my job as a Spanish Interpreter for the United States Government.

Although I enjoyed decoding and translating all different types of Spanish, I fell in love with something else along the way


And that was helping people like you learn to speak and comprehend Spanish faster.

Being a Native Spanish speaker, I always have friends and even family members come to me wanting to learn Spanish


It’s kind of a unique combination, not only being a native English and Spanish speaker but also having studied both languages in college and actually graduating college with a degree in Spanish


It allows me to look at learning Spanish through a different lens than most people can.  

It’s funny because one of the most common things I hear from friends is,

“I took a few years of Spanish in school and don’t remember anything.”

Or even better


“I was using Rosetta Stone or [INSERT any Language App] but I’m still not fluent. I can just say a few words here and there.”

‹While I don’t hate the way they teach Spanish in school or on those Apps (the apps are essentially traditional school Spanish made to look cool with gamified power-ups)…

I think they are highly flawed and not very effective at training students to become conversationally fluent.

Think about it


Have you ever met someone that learned to speak Spanish fluently through traditional school teaching or one of the Language Apps?

I didn’t think so


The problem with these methods is that they omit the most important ingredient to becoming conversationally fluent, other than actually having conversations.

Sure they teach you tons of relevant grammar and vocabulary (which is very important)


And that’s cool and all… 

Until you get into a conversation with somebody and freeze up like you’ve just passed your ex in the mall, while walking with your new partner. (Not speaking from past experience or anything lol)

I remember in some of my classes in college, there were non-native Spanish speaking students that knew all the grammar rules better than I did…

They knew all the advanced words, conjugations and could write a paper in Spanish far better than anything I could ever write


But when it came time to speak or be spoken to in Spanish, everything changed. 

It’s like their brains just stopped functioning…

Or maybe went into overdrive and then self destructed.

What usually happens is, their brain is trying to decode what it just heard (in Spanish) translate it (to English), then think of what to respond (in English) and then translate that (to Spanish)


To say it more simply but harshly, they choke.

It’s really no different than athletes coming up short in the big moments.

For some reason, their practice and preparation didn’t prepare them for their big moment
 which in Spanish is actually conversing with someone.

I’ll tell you the real reason why this happens in a second but first I want you to know that if this has ever happened to you, it’s not your fault


It’s not that you aren’t good at learning languages


It’s not that you don’t have a language learning gene or that you’re even too old to learn a new language (In fact, they’ve done studies to prove that adults learn language to fluency nearly as well as children… Go figure!)

It’s simply because you haven’t been exposed to the “right” way (in my 100% honest opinion) to learning Spanish.

A way that prepares you for practical conversational situations rather than an end of the week test or quiz.

A way that allows you to impress your friends and family with your new Spanish speaking ability.

Imagine going to eat at the local Mexican restaurant with your family


It’s time to order, and everyone is ready
 you still don’t know what you want yet so you decide to go last


Really, you know what you want but you just want to impress everyone at the table.

So one by one your family members order their food, saying the meals awkwardly in a super “gringo” accent, not sure if they should try to say the word in Spanish or just say it in English.

(The little girl in this video pretty much breaks it down perfectly LOL, click play to watch it)

Let me have a Ta-Ko with Arose and Frihol-ez


“Si, Señor un taco with arroz con frijoles for you,” says the waiter just before he looks at you, “And for you my friend, what would you like?”    

Now it’s your chance


And you do not disappoint


You order your meal fully in Spanish, “SĂ­, dame un burrito de pollo. Que el arroz y habichuelas estĂ©n aparte, por favor,” the words flowing off your tongue as you pronounce every word perfectly.

“¿Quieres algo más?” replies the waiter, not shocked at all by your Spanish. It seems as if he just assumes you’re a Native speaker.

Without hesitation you reply, “No gracias,” because you don’t need anything else.

No brain damage, no self destruction.

As the waiter walks away, your family sits there wide eyed, wondering what in the hell they just witnessed.

I’ll be honest, this is 100% possible for you but it’s not going to be easy


I wish it was, but it won’t be.

It’s not going to happen overnight


I wish it did, but it doesn’t.

But if you follow what I show you today then you’ll be well on your way to being able to speak and comprehend Spanish much better…

And I think you’ll be shocked at how fast you can go from where you’re at now to becoming conversationally fluent.

One thing is for sure, two things for certain…

Our training allows you to be fully confident in your Spanish learning so you won’t have to worry about wasting your money or time on methods that don’t help you move closer to your goal of speaking Spanish.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do then continue reading.

CONTINUE

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