SpanishThroughSongs

#SpanishThroughSongs

Arriving in Mexico, I quickly realized that not knowing the language severely limits me here. For example, today I couldn't understand the cashier at the bus station when she was explaining something to me about the time, about how to get there, to where I wanted to go, and I wanted to go today to the "Olmec stone heads," located some 60 km from me — in La Venta.

In the end, silently handing her the money for the ticket (on a whim), she didn't accept it, saying something in her... native tongue. So apparently, I still didn't understand something from what she had explained to me before. Or rather, I understood nothing at all. I understood the most important thing — I wasn't going to get past her today. ))

I also didn't risk hitchhiking, since there's a high chance of not understanding the driver (or him not understanding me) and turning down the wrong road. And I just went home. Had a snack and started thinking about how to learn this Spanish faster. All these three months I'd somehow managed with English, but today I faced a situation where I couldn't overcome a measly fifty kilometers simply because I don't know how to speak.

What was I doing all this time, why wasn't I studying? There really was plenty to do, what can I say. I probably lacked a routine. I'm used to handling various tasks as they come up. Sometimes I wake up at 5:30, see messages from work colleagues in Telegram, pour myself some tea, and while drinking, I'm already getting drawn into the work process. Then more tasks. Then a workout. Practices before sleep. And then it's night, time to sleep. Maybe I lack a routine. That could use some tightening up too. Maybe I should do some things faster, and some things not at all. Maybe try to compress everything, not stretch it out. Yes, I need to reassemble myself...

But in my opinion, the key problem isn't this. It's that right now I treat learning Spanish as some kind of necessity, an obligation. It's not like with workouts, when I spend the whole day just waiting to get to the gym. And it's not like my practices — meditation, energy work, etc. — which I simply enjoy doing. I don't strive toward Spanish, there's no fire in me regarding it. This process doesn't smell of creativity to me.

Actually, why? Why is that? Apparently, it's because I don't fully understand what learning is. I approach learning this language with my old programs, my old self. And I'm sickened by the method I'm familiar with and would use (precisely that one, because it's the only one I know) if I were studying this language for a long time. That's precisely why I haven't learned it until now. I didn't want to.

But I'll still have to learn the language. Who knows how long I'll be stuck here. Maybe a month, two, six months, a year? English is known here about as much as it is in Russia — that is, very rarely. It's not needed here. So I definitely need to find some way to learn it and learn it fast, find some loophole, a secret path that I could latch onto and it would pull me forward on its own. So I'm lazy by nature, since I come up with various workarounds to get things done with minimum effort. But as they say, it's laziness that's the engine of progress, right?

I think I should look toward, firstly, pleasure. I need to understand how to do this with enjoyment. Secondly, it should be simple. The more complex the system, the less viable it is. Only what is simple works. What is complex doesn't work. I need one thing. At least for the first while.

And I think I've found it. Songs! Yes, to dive into Spanish songs and learn the language through them. I've heard about this method more than once from various YouTube teacher-bloggers, but I still haven't started using it. Why? Obviously — I don't like the songs that are usually offered in various TOP compilations. The thing is, I'm not a fan of pop music. I'm not a fan of meaningless lyrics. I don't like it when the song's author is an idiot and writes drug-induced nonsense. There was even a period in my life, quite a long one actually, when I listened to music without words at all. And even now, to be honest, I mostly prefer that kind.

And today after returning from the bus station, I asked myself — "Why the hell am I looking for what someone else suggests (I'm talking about TOP compilations), why don't I just look for what I like stylistically?" It's amazing how some things take so long to dawn on you. There it is, the habit of googling in any unclear situation... The downsides of our civilization. )) I've always loved rock, metal, especially with female vocals, I like artists like Metallica, Rammstein, Scorpions, Aerosmith, Aria and others in that vein. There are many of them. The point is this — why haven't I even tried to look for Spanish-language rock artists until now? Why hasn't such an idea even occurred to me?

And today I made a small discovery for myself — in the Spanish-speaking world there are tons of excellent rock bands, listening to which is a pure pleasure. I found a website with a huge number of Spanish songs translated into Russian, where you can play and listen to them right there. Beautiful, what can I say.

Returning to the topic of the need to get pleasure from the process, I'll say this — rest is natural for humans. We get tired. Don't you get tired? I think many people get tired, those with an active lifestyle, it's normal, it's natural. The question is different — how to make rest beneficial? Of course, I'll have to study the language during rest time — I simply have no other time for it.

And today I tried this method. After which I sat down and wrote this article for you, to share my experience. What did I do in an hour and a half?

First, I listened to the song three times. The first time — just listened, following the text with my eyes. Then I simply read the translation without listening, trying to grasp the meaning. Grasping it is very important, understanding the song's meaning will cement and hold the structure together. Meaning is the core, the trunk of the tree, whose fruits are the words (in this case, since the meaning of this process is language learning). The second time I listened, trying to repeat the words after the vocalist, that is, to sing along. The third time — a reinforcement, when I had one eye on the Spanish text and the other on the Russian, trying to understand the words and guess their possible meanings.

Then I started breaking the song down to its bones. I write down all unfamiliar words in a notebook and write the translation next to them. Then I look at the Russian translation of the song and try to remember it all, remember it in different ways, to remember it accurately. While I'm writing, the song plays. God... so many unfamiliar words ))) Almost all of them unfamiliar.

After that, I did a little cramming of all these words, putting them into my short-term memory, which took a few minutes. I tried to remember them visually as well, and also with the help of associations — the more types of memory are engaged, the more reliable the memorization will be. While cramming, I said them aloud. Lazily, unhurriedly, I chewed over the words with pleasure for a while.

There was no task to memorize them perfectly. I just needed them to settle in my memory somehow. So that, looking at the translation, I wouldn't confuse them with the word next to them. Besides, memorizing words in context is always easier than individually. Also, there's no task to memorize the words of one song in a single day. The song will need to be listened to tomorrow, the day after, all week — the cumulative effect will play a key role here.

And then I listened to the song once more, following the text with my eyes, but now with an understanding of the unfamiliar words' meanings. And then a few more times, so the new words would settle into my subconscious. I listened, listened, and listened. The same song on repeat.

I liked the band #HeroesDelSilencio not so much for the lyrical content (that's debatable in this case, but there's something there), but for the tempo of the performance. It's not fast, the words are pronounced clearly, and you can keep up with the vocalist when trying to sing along and understand what he's singing. And that's great.

Today I broke down one song, and started another. One song is roughly 40-50 new words. Not bad, I think. Now, when I listen to these songs again, I hear the words and understand their meanings. For me, that's a good indicator. Everything is moving in the right direction. We'll see what happens next.

Maybe soon I'll ditch the notebook — too slow, I'll try to remember words right after I translate them. A lot of time goes into it. Although, writing things down is also practice for memorizing words — when you write, you remember more steadily. Same as when you say them aloud.

Finally, I'll say that right now I'm not setting myself the task of learning the rules of endings, different word forms, cases, etc. For me now, it's more important to sketch a "blueprint" — the skeleton onto which I'll later string the structure, deepen my knowledge. But for now I'm only at the very beginning and trying to somehow approach this mountain that has been unassailable to me for three months now. ))

I have to say, I liked it. I wasn't rushing anywhere, I worked on the light side. I just listened to a song whose style I like, I was interested. There was no violence in me, I didn't force myself. It wasn't stressful for me. I want any knowledge to fly into my head on its own — easily and naturally, without stress and these pointless races. Today it was like a lazy memorization with minimum strain on my part. Surprisingly, the lazier I chewed over the words, the easier they flew into my head. )) That's the observation I made today.

The technique I described appeals to me primarily because it doesn't demand much from you, and the words really do get remembered. It's not just cramming — you could cram everything in 10 minutes, but I spent about an hour and a half on this song. And it's not for nothing.

Now this technique is the only one for me for the near future, which I'll immerse myself in and do only that. Later, when I feel it's time to introduce something else, I'll reconsider. But for now, only songs. Today one, tomorrow I'll repeat today's and learn a new one. And so on. Little by little, gradually. Perfecto!

Do you learn languages? If so, what's your favorite technique? Any personal tricks?

#SpanishLanguage #LearnSpanish