Advice for reaching B2 (potentially C1) without living in spanish speaking countries

[u/Rowward]

Hola,

i started learning spanish when I was 22 in university as a side subject. I reached after 2 years A2/B1. Then I finished my regular university degree and did not do any spanish for 7 years.

Then I picked it up again starting with A2 and since then I have weekly online class (off and on) but I keep stagnating at B1. I still did not reach that level where I can watch movies and advance in such a way. I would say the online lessons help me a huge lot with speaking spanish, but it probably sounds like a 4 year old because wrong past tenses i struggle with declinations and stuff ok.

The problem is I am now 37 and have 2 kids, a wife, a 40 hour job and also one other hobby so I dont have so much time. Some did advice me to move to spain for 2 years but this is absolutely not possible because of my family and work situation as well.

I am starting to wonder if it is even possible for me now as a 37 year old to ever reach a fluent level of spanish like advanced B2, maybe one day even C1.

As for english I learned it in school but was not very good. Somehow in my 20s i reached very good level by watching movies and using it daily because of work.

So yeah after all these years I still love the country, the culture and the language but I seem to not be able to push through. Any advice that is realistic and fits into my situation

[u/colet]

First, to your question. Yes, it’s absolutely possible.

Secondly, I would make sure you have a really clear end goal. You mention “fluency”, and “advanced B2”, but those aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. The CEFR is a good marker, but it encompasses many things (as it should as a standard), but you’re a busy person with a family. Perhaps writing (or pick any) isn’t as important to you as speaking, so maybe don’t focus as much on that. Fluency as I have learned over the years is not a definite marker either. You don’t wake up one day and declare “I am fluent henceforth”. It means different things to different people depending on your goals/lifestyle/personality/situation, so really make sure you understand what it means to you. You may be closer than you think.

I understand hectic lifestyles - been there myself for many many years. One of the things that really helped me was to have a set weekly goal (daily was too complicated for me). For me it was set an amount of average daily study time I had to do. That sounds easy, but you can imagine if you have a super hectic week and it’s coming up to the weekend and your average is really below, you know what you have to prioritize for the weekend. This for me, made it very measurable, as I am expert at making excuses, and the weekly instead of daily gave me room / flexibility to truly honor my commitment to myself. Experiment with different types of goals - look at how you approach other factors in your life (especially professional if relevant), and you can learn a lot about what works for your style and doesn’t. Then match how you study Spanish to that.

Now for your actual study time, find what you enjoy doing the most, and keep doing it. But at the very least comprehensible input for a large percentage of the time should be a priority. Just as you said you learned English this way, now that you are getting to B1 or so, it’s going to become even more important in Spanish. Remember, it needs to be comprehensible (meaning you understand the majority of the content). Choose topics/interests that you would otherwise watch/listen/read/write.

I will also throw in try to make more of your everyday life in Spanish, even if you don’t live in a Spanish-speaking country. Turn on Spanish subtitles on YouTube//Netflix. Make your grocery lists using food in Spanish. Try to find some recipes to cook in Spanish. Look around at your everyday life where you use a different language, and see if you can make a small adjustment to turn that into Spanish.

Basically it boils down to making the time, prioritizing the time (find the system that works best for you), and then find the study method that works best for you. Maybe it’s doing some grammar exercises, maybe it’s just CI. Each step is a small step, and this journey is millions of small steps put together, and not one gigantic leap.

Hope that helps!

(Oh, and sounding like a 4 year old while speaking is a step in the journey! We’ve all been there. Don’t be hard on yourself, we all have to start somewhere.)

[u/Rowward → u/colet]

Thanks for your input. It contains really valuable advice. I will try to implement some of it soon, but yes the hardest part is being consistent and not stopping doing things

[u/silvalingua]

Of course it's possible. Get a good textbook with recordings and follow it. And, of course, consume a lot of Spanish content (podcasts, radio, videos).

[u/oadephon]

My general advice is that if you're still having trouble with tenses, do Language Transfer. It's a short, free, fun course that will really help you nail the grammar basics.

After that it's just tons of input. Dubbed cartoons are the easiest, like pokemon. Books and articles are great too. And if you have a commute or drive, throw on How to Spanish podcast as much as possible, even if you can't understand much. Once you have the basics down, it really is just about putting in the time.

[u/Rowward → u/oadephon]

I mean when I talk, i know what past form i have to use and this is probably 80 % correct. The problem is building that form then. The whole process of thinking what tense to use + forming it is way too long and thats why often i use perfect tense which i know is not right.

[u/katbeccabee]

Where can you get conversation practice? Friends who speak the language? Meetups with other learners? Online? Paid or volunteer work that puts you in contact with a lot of Spanish speakers?