Let’s picture the next scene: you are on a cruise having a great time with your family, you’ve been swimming, playing volleyball, having some good drinks and awesome meals, and then you spot two people speaking Spanish spontaneously; you like the language and that’s when you tell your brother: “you know… one day, I will speak Spanish just like those guys”.
Time flies, and then on your next vacation, you go to Argentina. Again, you see people talking Spanish, that’s when you think to yourself: “One day, I’ll speak Spanish just like these people”. The next year you go to the movies; while watching a Spanish movie, you think to yourself: “it sounds so cool; maybe one day I’ll be able to speak like that”.
Does the “one day” sound familiar to you? … if it does, you need to know that you are not the only one who keeps postponing things, like Spanish learning. Thousands of people keep procrastinating every day, leaving their goals for a future that never comes.
Whenever you procrastinate, all you are really doing is finding an excuse not to do something. Here are 10 reasons that will lead you to procrastination, the sickness that will prevent you from making progresson what you have gotten, up until now:
1- I don’t have time:
Are you seriously saying that you don’t have time to learn Spanish, when all you need is fifteen minutes of listening every day? Think about it, if you say that time is the enemy you need to beat in order to learn Spanish, what you are really saying is that Spanish is not a real goal for you right now.
Try this: listen to Spanish five minutes in the morning, five minutes in the afternoon, and five minutes before going to bed, and I promise, over time, it will make a difference.
2- I am too old to learn a language:
This is such a worldwide excuse, it is so popular that I need to make the following question: who set such a rule? If you say that you are old to learn Spanish, you are just letting people know how lazy you are, and how afraid you are of what other people think of you if you fail. You just ask yourself: “Did I even commit and really made an effort to learn Spanish?”
Age is not an obstacle to learn a language. Our brains are designed to learn during our entire lifetime, there are no limits; but if you have doubts on this, ask the number of grandmas who learned how to use a cellphone in their 90s.
3- I am terrible for Spanish:
Don’t believe this lie, if you were terrible for Spanish, or for any other language, you couldn’t even speak your mother language.
If you say that you are terrible for languages, what you are really saying is: “I just don’t want to learn Spanish”
Your brain has the natural ability to learn languages, all you need to do is to use that skill and start learning Spanish right away.
4- English is enough for me:
Maybe English is the international language of the world right now, that’s true. However, think about this, if you learn Spanish, you would get a different perspective of the world, you could get to know new things, more people, places, it could be one more step on your personal development, and so many other advantages.
5- May be one day:
Go check out a calendar and look for the month “one day”, or try to look for the “one day” on the next month, you won’t find it because “one day” doesn’t exist.
“One day” will never come, you need to start doing the things that you keep postponing right now. Today is the day to start learning Spanish!
6- Google will translate for me:
I don’t think google will translate for you when you get the chance to make a million-dollar deal with those Spanish investors, or when you need to say something special to that beautiful Latina that you are in love with.
Nobody can take away knowledge from you, google will be there for as long as you have internet connection, and in my opinion, that’s not enough. Your brain however, is there 24/7 working hard for you, so train it to understand and speak excellent Spanish.
7- Spanish is too difficult:
If English is your mother tongue, you need to know that Spanish will be easy for you to learn because just like English, Spanish has Latin roots. There will be words that could sound familiar for you, but if you say it’s difficult, it will become difficult.
The only real obstacle is in your mind, you are the only one who makes it easy or difficult.
8- I am too lazy to learn Spanish:
Great, if you’re lazy enough not to fulfill one of your personal goals, then eventually, you will be a person full of regret in the future, not because you didn’t learn Spanish, but because you were used to being lazy to complete your life goals.
Ask yourself: “Why do I want to learn Spanish?”, make a list of reasons to do it, and review it before every time you plan to practice or listen to some Spanish.
9- My teacher didn’t teach me that:
As a language learner, I really can tell you that teachers are just a source of motivation, and your progress will never depend on teachers, it will only and exclusively depend on you.
Actually, one of my best pieces of advice to learn Spanish is to do it independently.
10- I am too shy to practice Spanish:
There is a beautiful world out there, full of interesting people to talk to, it is worth the effort to try to connect with Spanish people.
Besides, there are many Spanish speakers who will be glad to talk to you, Latinos’ culture is known for their warm and open personality, just relax, go out there and start connecting with people in Spanish.
As you can see, excuses are the obstacles created by yourself, all you need to do is to stop procrastinating, and start learning Spanish once and for all. No more excuses, just do it, you will find thousands of advantages and opportunities if you learn to Speak Spanish.
