One of the statements you will commonly hear in professional baseball is “I should really learn Spanish”. There are many Spanish-speaking players in professional baseball, so it makes sense that players, coaches, front office, etc. would express a desire to learn the language. However, many times these are simply empty statements. “I should really learn Spanish” is about the same in baseball as a New Years resolutioner saying, “I should really lose weight”. Sometimes it has good intention with a poor plan. Sometimes it starts hot but fades quickly. Sometimes it’s nothing more than blowing smoke. I am one of those people who has said “I should really learn Spanish”, but I also mean it.

By no means am I an expert in the language or in the process of learning it. I simply want to give some ideas for those who are serious about learning the language (or any language really). It has been a fun but challenging process for me. I typically try not to commit to something of this magnitude (learning a language, learning an instrument, beginning a podcast or blog) without fully committing to the long-term process. There are going to be days where you think you are completely fluent and days where you feel like you don’t know a single word. The three keys are: consistency, discipline, and work ethic. Have a consistent approach to learning – 15-20 minutes every day is better than 1-2 hours once a week. Being disciplined means doing the work, even on days when you don’t want to or think you don’t have time. And of course work ethic is self-explanatory. With that being said, if you are serious about the long-term process of learning a language, I use the following daily approach:

For Listening Comprehension

To help with listening comprehension I usually will listen to a podcast (Charlas Hispanas or Coffee Break Spanish on Apple Podcasts) or go to YouTube. If I listen to YouTube, I go to the page “Why Not Spanish” for some lessons, or watch TV shows in Spanish (just search whatever show you want with “in Spanish” and you should be able to find something). Adding subtitles helps if necessary, and as you get better you can turn them off.

For Writing Comprehension

I have a notebook that I try to write in daily in Spanish. I used to do ten words or phrases per day with the Spanish written out followed by the translation in English. Recently, I have been keeping a daily journal in Spanish. The words/phrases were good for general vocabulary improvement, and the journal has helped with my critical thinking skills.

For Reading and Speaking Comprehension

In regards to speaking the language, I have the Harry Potter books in Spanish. I try to read a minimum of two pages out loud daily. It may not seem like much, but those books are long and reading in Spanish takes time. I used to search for Spanish passages online and read those out loud. Additionally, I’ve asked players to speak with me in Spanish to help my conversational skills. There’s a big difference between simply reading out loud and critically thinking to have a successful conversation with a fluid Spanish speaker.

Additional Practice

To put all the pieces together, I use two apps: Duolingo and Babbel. Duolingo is a free app that has both lessons and stories to follow (and also has a podcast associated with it now too). You can speak out loud, read, write, and translate in all of these lessons and stories. Again, this app is FREE (it’s not the greatest teaching tool in the world, but there is no excuse to not get practice in here, and it has honestly greatly improved over the years). Babbel is a paid subscription and is definitely the best app I’ve used in this learning process (better than Rosetta Stone). It has lessons and review for you based on what you’ve already learned and the path of learning that you are hoping to take. If you are going to pay for anything in regards to learning Spanish, I would highly recommend Babbel.

My wife is also fluent in Spanish (which is a big reason that I wanted to learn the language in the first place) and occasionally our conversations will be in Spanish (especially texting conversations). It keeps her sharp and allows me the opportunity to learn through her correcting me.

Finally, as mentioned, leaning on players to guide me has helped tremendously. You gain an extra level of respect when they know you are actively trying to improve and are incredibly willing to help you if they know you are putting the effort in. This is definitely humbling, and you need to allow yourself to be vulnerable and open to making mistakes, but the ability to communicate better is well worth it.

In a nutshell I try to do five non-negotiable things daily to improve my Spanish (Duolingo, Babbel, journal, listening practice, reading/speaking). Doing these takes 30-45 minutes. I try to do them first thing in the morning as I am more likely to make excuses in the evening. Any extra practice I get throughout the day (discussions with players or my wife for example) is just icing on the cake. If you are interested in learning you have to understand that you will need to commit to daily consistency for a very long time (much like anything else that you are trying to improve upon and/or master). I am not anywhere near perfect, but am committed to the process of improving over the long-term and because of this, I am lightyears ahead of where I started. I will be using this same process as I begin to learn Italian as well. Hopefully you will find something of value in this article to help you on your language learning journey!