I’ve been trying to learn Spanish my whole life with minimal strategy, sporadic classes and self-learning apps that just fell short. Grammar always plagued me, tangling my brain into a hundred knots.
Until recently, my Spanish stayed in the present tense because my American high school language-learning system moved at a snail’s pace, and I didn’t put in the effort to move forward.
Trying Everything and Getting Nowhere
Traveling to Spanish-speaking countries only increased my desire to learn Spanish. I wanted to connect and communicate with the rich cultures I was visiting.
But when I visited Central America about a year ago, I consistently froze in conversation. I knew enough to introduce myself, order food and get around, but the moment someone asked what I did yesterday or what I planned to do tomorrow, I didn’t know how to respond. My Spanish had never left the present tense, and that clearly wasn’t going to cut it if I wanted to hold an actual conversation.
I tried all kinds of language-learning methods: online flashcards, a Spanish class in Colombia that only reiterated the present tense and endless apps and programs.
The language-learning apps I tried were unfocused and tried to do too much, which is why they stalled me. Either the lessons were too long, too gamified, too slow-moving or didn’t even attempt to teach grammar basics, with the hope you would just figure it out on your own.
I had no distinct plan. I just knew the methods I was using to teach myself Spanish weren’t working. I started paying attention to where I kept getting stuck, and it was always the same thing: verbs. They’re the backbone of any language, the key to actually holding a conversation, and I realized I had to go all in on learning them.
Why My Methods Were Ineffective
The more I tried to learn, the more frustrated I grew. Spanish has a dizzying number of ways a verb can change depending on when something happens, who’s doing it, whether it’s a fact or a feeling, and I had no idea where to even start untangling all of that.
For example, take the simple, regular verb hablar, ‘to speak.’ In the present tense, it’s hablo, ‘I speak.’ Add one accent mark, and it’s habló, ‘he/she/it spoke.’ One mark, a whole different subject and tense. And don’t even get me started with irregular verbs.
Subtle differences like that are everywhere in Spanish, and I realized I needed to get familiar with them to progress. So, how on earth was I supposed to learn all of this?
Where Things Started to Click
All I craved was a way to learn verb conjugations that wasn’t intimidating. Fortunately, around that time, my dad introduced me to VerbMaster, an app designed for this exact purpose. Its simplicity is what appealed to me most.
VerbMaster uses adaptive repetition to help learners master verb forms. The app is built around a three-phase program that feeds into ongoing Mastery Reviews, which keep bringing verb forms back until they stick.
VerbMaster’s first phase includes a crash course in core conjugation patterns. The second drills you on the most essential verbs and tenses through spaced repetition. The third expands your vocabulary once the conjugation groundwork is laid.
At its simplest, it’s structured repetition that makes Spanish verbs feel automatic instead of something I have to consciously piece together each time.
My Experience with VerbMaster
VerbMaster lessons are so bite-sized and simple that I learned basic grammatical concepts that other programs hadn’t made clear to me. Other methods tout “just absorbing” the language, insinuating grammatical structure rather than explaining it.
Learning what was happening behind the scenes, and why things are structured the way they are, has been revolutionary for me. The instructional lessons can take less than a minute, then you practice the concepts right after, building from simpler conjugations to more challenging ones.
Irregular verbs are the bane of every Spanish learner’s existence, myself included. Regular verbs follow a pattern you can apply across the board. Irregular verbs toss curveballs left and right, but over time, I started noticing that many of them follow patterns of their own too. Either way, it takes enough repeated practice for the forms to become automatic.
At first, all those curveballs just aggravated me. But the more I practiced, the more I shocked myself. I got faster and faster at the Mastery Reviews and conjugations, and it became more natural. This pattern-based method is where I thrived and progressed faster than I ever had before.
Putting it to the Test
I was particularly motivated to learn Spanish knowing I had a several-month Latin American adventure on the horizon where I could really test my new skills.
I arrived in Mexico a few days ago, and already I feel significantly more confident in basic conversations. It’s always a win to say something in Spanish and have someone understand and respond in Spanish.
As I’ve gotten more confident with verb conjugations, reading and writing come pretty naturally to me now. Speaking in real time is still slower going, but listening is where I struggle most, something that’s never come easily to me. I’ve started dabbling with VerbMaster’s Sentence Mode, which reads example sentences aloud, and the Sentence Bot, which generates even more sentences to listen to, so I’m hoping both help as I keep going.
I’ve ordered meals entirely in Spanish, had basic conversations about who I am and about other people’s lives, and at one point, told an obnoxious drunk man to leave and go home. I finally get to apply the skills I learned from VerbMaster with real Spanish speakers, and it already feels so rewarding.
Over the next couple of months, I’ll do my daily drills, learn more verbs, listen intently to locals, read and force myself into conversations no matter how scary they are.
I’m determined to learn this language, and VerbMaster finally feels like the key to my progress. I’ll report back with updates on how it’s going and how VerbMaster keeps helping.
Tips for Learning Spanish
- Pair it with other methods: VerbMaster isn’t meant to be a standalone method, but a supplement. The best way to learn is to combine methods that target different parts of the language: reading short stories, watching telenovelas, talking to native speakers, even just talking out loud to yourself.
- Consistency is everything: I love VerbMaster because the lessons are so short, you can knock out a couple in five minutes or squeeze in a Mastery Review whenever you’ve got a spare moment. It’s designed to send you those reviews at strategic intervals, right around when you’re about to forget a verb, so sticking with it regularly is what makes it work. The more consistently I practice, the quicker the forms come back to me and the more automatic they feel.
- Be okay with being embarrassed: When you reach the point where you start speaking Spanish, you will be embarrassed. That’s part of the learning process. Most people are thrilled you tried in the first place, and if you make a mistake, it’ll just be a funny story later. I once accidentally said “I want to be ugly” instead of “I want to surf”: quiero ser fea instead of quiero surfear. One tiny difference, one hilarious and oddly educational moment. It’s a great way to share a moment with a local and learn something in the process.
- Be patient with yourself: Sometimes I get so upset that I can’t learn the entire language overnight. So many programs sell speed: “Learn how to speak Spanish in 30 days.” That’s not realistic. Your brain needs time to learn, and it’s okay that it takes a while.
- Write down words you don’t know when you come across them: When you come across a new word in your general Spanish practice, write it down so you can learn it later. If it’s a verb, you can also look it up in VerbMaster’s reference dictionary, which includes every conjugated form for more than 600 verbs.
VerbMaster is what finally got me past the verb wall. If you’re gearing up for a trip and want to feel less lost in conversation, this might be your answer too. Learn more at verbmaster.co.
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