If you’re trying to learn Spanish and have a busy life, you know it can be a challenge to find time to practice.
If you’ve ever been in a language class with a bunch of other students, a teacher, and a textbook, you know the routine. The teacher asks you to do the following things before diving into a text:
- Read the title.
- Quickly scan the text (don’t stop for too long).
- Guess what the text might be about.
As annoying as this might seem, these steps actually help activate prior knowledge in your brain, making it easier to understand what you’re reading. You’re likely dealing with an original text that’s a bit challenging—but not impossible. By engaging your “previous knowledge” (from life or language), you help your brain prepare for new words or structures, which means you don’t need to understand every single word 100%.
Now, let’s break down how each step helps you and how you can use these techniques in your daily life in Spain to learn Spanish on the go!
How Each Step Works in Your Brain
Step 1: Read the Title
Titles or headlines give you a sneak peek into what the text is about, usually containing keywords that can trigger your previous knowledge.
For example, take a look at this headline:
El día de la Hispanidad (Source: Lingua.com)
Even if you know zero Spanish, you can focus on words that look like English ones. Here, the word Hispanidad might remind you of “Hispanic,” right?
Just from that, you know the text is going to discuss something related to Hispanic culture, and your brain is already getting ready to make sense of what’s coming next. This is what I mean by “activating your previous knowledge.”
Another word that might give you a clue is día (which means “day”), but if you’re unfamiliar with Spanish, you can skip that for now. Don’t worry—the next steps will help clarify things.
Step 2: Make a Hypothesis About the Text
With just the title, you can start making guesses about the content. Ask yourself: What could this text be about? You already know it’s about something “Hispanic,” but what specifically?
Maybe it’s:
- The discovery of America
- Spain
- History
- Language
- Culture
Sure, the range of possibilities is broad, but this little exercise prepares your brain to better understand the rest of the text.
Step 3: Scan the Text
Now, quickly scan the text. This doesn’t mean reading every word and pulling out a dictionary for every unfamiliar term. No!
It means skimming to spot:
- Words that look or sound like English (or any other language you know).
- Words you already recognize in Spanish.
Try this with the start of the text from the link above:
“El 12 de octubre es el día de la Hispanidad que celebra el descubrimiento de América en 1492. Este día coincide con la fiesta de la Virgen María del Pilar, que es la patrona de España.”
You might immediately notice:
- A date, hinting at the discovery of America.
- The word Hispanidad again.
- Celebra (sounds like “celebrate”).
- América (self-explanatory).
- Coincide (looks similar to “coincide”).
- Virgen (looks like “virgin”).
- España (Spain in Spanish).
Now, ask yourself: What could these words be saying?
Pause and think for a moment.
Did you think it might be about the day America was discovered? Or that the date coincides with a celebration involving a religious figure in Spain?
If yes, great job!
If not, no worries—there are more paragraphs in the text to practice with.
And that’s it! By following these steps, you’ll have a much better chance of understanding, even if you don’t know all the words.
Give it a try with the text in the link above!
I chose this B2-level text for a reason: it’s similar to the kind of texts you’ll encounter in your daily life in Spain. In my classes, we focus on materials you’ll understand almost entirely and practice real-life situations. However, real life doesn’t always offer simple texts, so I want you to have the tools to tackle these situations and not miss out on learning opportunities as you go about your day—whether you’re doing chores, running errands, or keeping appointments. This way, you’ll improve your Spanish much faster than just relying on classes alone.
