How to Become a Better Spanish Essay Writer

Spanish is a historic and beautiful language, and with so many speakers, it is also one of the most important in the world. That’s all well and good, but if you’re struggling with your Spanish grades and need to improve fast, what can you do to make that happen? Seeing as you can’t go back in time and convince your parents to raise you bilingually and listening to tapes in your sleep à la Homer Simpson doesn’t actually work, wouldn’t it be nice to have some simple tips that can give you an immediate (or nearly immediate!) boost? Fear not: here we have collected some of the best wisdom around on how to become a great Spanish essay writer.

1. Practice!

Yes, yes, of course it’s the most obvious one, so we might as well get it out of the way early! It’s a cliché because it really is the best way to improve. Though not just any old practice, make it targeted and regular. If you’re having trouble with ser/estar, for example, try writing a few paragraphs with as many forms of each as you can. It doesn’t have to mean anything, just a nonsense story, but the more you practice anything, especially language, the better you will get.

2. Keep a Spanish diary

Practice can also have a purpose. By keeping a small daily diary in Spanish you can commit yourself to 10/15 minutes a day of Spanish writing. You can try and incorporate any new words you picked up, and it will also be a record of your life you can look back on in years to come. It’s also great for having a layer of privacy in case it falls into the hands of anyone else (provided they don’t speak Spanish!).

3. Get involved with Spanish language social media

Social media is a great way to get in touch with people from different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. By liking Spanish language groups on Facebook or following them on Twitter or Instagram you can add the language to your daily (or hourly!) routine. As replies and responses are always short, it won’t take you long before you’ll feel comfortable joining in too.

4. Switch on Spanish subtitles on your favourite shows

Adding another language’s subtitles to movies or series is a great way to learn while doing something you enjoy. You don’t have to spend the whole time reading them, but just glancing up and down for interesting phrases or testing your translation skills will build up those important word links in your brain without any real effort at all.

5. Get a good dictionary or reference book and get quick at using it

The unfortunate truth is that Google Translate, for all its best attempts, simply isn’t that helpful for learning as it often translates word-by-word, rather than idiomatically. You are much better off with a proper grammar reference/dictionary, but to save yourself time, annotate it properly with alphabet tags or notes so that you can get to where you need in an instant.

6. Note your mistakes and practice them

Making mistakes is all part of learning a language, and one of the most important steps in the process is understanding the fact that you are going to make a lot of them. Don’t treat your teacher’s red marks as a personal insult or attack: they are just trying to help. Instead, carefully read through mistakes you made and try and incorporate the right versions into your practice. Every correction is an opportunity for learning and improving, so embrace them!