This week Amy Whitney is on the podcast. Her story beautifully captures the idea that language learning is hard but truly worth it.
Amy has been a regular listener of the Real Fast Spanish Tips podcast for a quite some time. We first connected last year and it has been great hearing about her journey in language learning.
Amy is based in British Columbia, Canada. She has been learning Spanish for 14 years. And she has achieved a high level of Spanish.
I wanted to invite Amy on to the podcast to discuss her experiences with learning Spanish and listening to podcast.
I asked Amy to speak about her journey with the language. I wanted her to share some of the pain points she has experienced. As well as some of the highs that come with being able to speak a second language.
In the interview we explore:
- How she got her start in Spanish.
- Why she decided Spanish was the language for her.
- Her experiences with the Real Fast Spanish Tips podcast.
- What it feels like to make mistakes.
- Her advice for anybody who is feeling insecure about getting things wrong.
- We discuss her experiences traveling in South America.
- What to do about local dialects.
- And why it is all worth it.
It was great talking to Amy this week. Her experiences are similar to many other language learners that I have spoken to. We all feel anxiety about making mistakes. We all feel overwhelmed at some point—particularly on a first trip to a country that doesn’t speak english.
But in the end, we all get to enjoy the fruits of our labor when we start to make real connections with people that it would have been impossible to connect with before the hard work.
Amy has also started a website dedicated to helping foreign students learn english. If you want to contact Amy or offer some support, you can get in touch with her here:
http://
How can you use Amy’s experiences and advice to improve your Spanish?
Podcast: Play in new window
This was a fantastic episode Andrew. Amy was interesting and eloquent. Her points about the link between confidence and conversational fluidity are exactly what have been on my mind recently. This style of episode made me realise that there is a community here, and it would be amazing to build a way for us all to get in contact with each other, to help each other learn, or just to discuss learning itself.
Thanks for your feedback Alan. The idea of building a community is something I have thought a lot about. It is great to hear that it would be something that you would value. I’m also glad to hear you liked the format of the show.
I just listened to the podcast for the first time! … Yes, Andrew kept it a surprise from me until it was released as well. It was such a privilege to be part of this awesome podcast.
I hope that you guys can relate to the challenges I have experienced as well as the pride of accomplishment that comes with learning Spanish even if you are just getting started. I have written a blog post about what it was like to talk to Andrew, what I thought about the interview and also an exciting progress update about a major goal I have just accomplished in Spanish! Check it out here:
http://www.realenglishconversations.com/interview-about-learning-a-language/
Amy, it was great having you on the podcast. Thanks for your time. And thanks for sharing your journey with the other listeners.
great to hear Amy’s challenges and accomplishments in Spanish learning. I can relate to them very well as a native Spanish speaker who learned her English in the US. Thanks Andrew and Amy!!
Thanks Meritxell. Yes, Amy has a great story to share and I’m really thankful she took the time to record a podcast with me.