Hello,

Hope you all are doing great!

I have a query, I studied Spanish as a second language at university, however, it's been almost 4 years since I graduated and ever since, I haven't practiced it, nothing that I graduated as a topper of my batch back then, and whenever I watch videos/vlogs or podcasts in Spanish, I feel like I understand most of the content, and even if I don't know the meaning of a phrase, I'd just get it transcribed and translate it later, but when it comes to speaking, I feel like I don't have enough vocabulary and feel lost because I can only use simple phrases.

Do you guys have any advices on how can I improve myself in such cases? Also, I did a test last month, and I got an A2.2 level at Cervantes.

Thank you in advance!

Question

Hello,

Hope you all are doing great!

I have a query, I studied Spanish as a second language at university, however, it's been almost 4 years since I graduated and ever since, I haven't practiced it, nothing that I graduated as a topper of my batch back then, and whenever I watch videos/vlogs or podcasts in Spanish, I feel like I understand most of the content, and even if I don't know the meaning of a phrase, I'd just get it transcribed and translate it later, but when it comes to speaking, I feel like I don't have enough vocabulary and feel lost because I can only use simple phrases.

Do you guys have any advices on how can I improve myself in such cases? Also, I did a test last month, and I got an A2.2 level at Cervantes.

Thank you in advance!

Answer

Understanding a lot and speaking very little is the normal gap after years of only listening. Listening trains recognition. Speaking needs retrieval, and that only gets trained by pulling the words out yourself, even badly.

Something that works: after a video, pause and retell what you just heard, out loud, in two or three sentences. Same topic, same words you just met. You'll hit the exact gaps that freeze you in conversation, and those are the words worth looking up.

Also, simple phrases are fine. At A2 that's what speaking sounds like, and fluent speakers lean on them all the time too.

Answer

Hola.
Pienso que estás haciendo un buen trabajo. 
Yo te recomendaría explorar la ciudad y asociarte a algún grupo de intercambio.
También es posible hacer otros cursos e intentar exponerte a materiales cada vez más difíciles.
Te sientes atascado porque seguramente no has experimentado una conversación natural con algún nativo, después de eso puedes sacar tus propias conclusiones.

Mucha suerte y sigue así ;)

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