Improving Your Conversational Spanish With Skype, Face-live or Google Hangouts Online Group Classes

By Sarah G.

When I traveled to Spain two years ago, I was super excited at the prospect of being able to practice my Spanish with locals. It had been a while since I had spoken Spanish or had done any formal studying of the language, but I was sure that I had enough vocabulary stored up in my memory bank to be able to engage in simple conversation. I arrived in Barcelona, Spain, eager to brush up. But as it turned out, I hardly spoke the language at all during my time there. This was in part due to the fact that I was staying with a host family who wanted to learn English. Also, I was only there for a couple months, so I really wasn’t going out of my way to improve as much as I could have. However, the little amount of Spanish I spoke wasn’t entirely due to my own laziness. I noticed something in Spain that would emerge as a pattern in much of my travels.

As soon as someone realized I was a native English speaker, they would stop trying to communicate with me in their language and instead switch to English. A lot of times, this seemed to be simply because their English was better than my Spanish (or any other language, for that matter), so it was easier on both of us. Some people were also just eager to practice their English with a native speaker, and for this I cannot blame them, it is, after all, the world’s most spoken second language and the language of travel. Barcelona is an international city, so English is widely spoken there among locals and expats. I even talked to some expats living there who said they really had to force themselves to learn Spanish because it was so easy to get by on only knowing English there.

While it is excellent that Barcelona and so many other large cities around the world are integrating English into their lives to make communication among some locals and tourists easier, it can be frustrating for someone truly trying to learn the language. From my own experience and from talking with others who have experienced this  same frustration, it seems that the best way to overcome the pressure to always talk in English is to get better and better at the local language. If you can carry on a conversation in Spanish with relative ease, most people won’t feel the need to switch to English.

But how do you get to this point? Getting to this point can be especially difficult if you live in the U.S. or anywhere else English is the first language. You need to speak in order to improve, pouring over textbooks and videos is only going to get you so far. An excellent way to get in the conversational Spanish practice is through  Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts or even Whatsapp online group classes. Online group classes at GOTALKTO offer you the chance to speak with others (in Spanish, of course) who have the same goals as you! An online class is a great support system for those who are first starting to speak Spanish. If you don’t feel super confident about your conversational skills and feel like you’re always stumbling over words, don’t worry, everyone is in the same boat. Learners in this platform are super patient with your mistakes because they are expecting the same courtesy in return from you. Learning Spanish with Skype online group classes is a great way to establish a network of peers who can assist and encourage you on your journey.

While one on one tutoring sessions are excellent and should definitely be utilized, online group lessons have the added benefit of being able to hear other accents. Spanish accents vary greatly from country to country, and while your peers may not have the accent down yet, they will at least all sound different when they speak. This can make for a great learning lesson in listening and hearing what you may sound like to a native speaker. Spanish Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts or even Whatsapp group lessons at GOTALKTO provide a low stress and supportive environment for anyone looking to improve their Spanish conversational skills. Let’s get connected to learn a Second Language Online today! Book Now your free trial class! Also, take our FREE LEVEL TEST and discover your level of English or Spanish, this will help you to feel more confident about your language skills!