In this post: Learn to shape up your Spanish and beat the intermediate plateau with surprising lessons from my fitness routine.

What if you could be just 10% better at Spanish? 

10% is not a total transformation. You won’t go from beginner to fluent. But that’s what makes it so doable–so within your reach.

By improving just 10%, you’ll see the subtle results in your life:

Maybe you’ll suddenly notice you can help people when you volunteer in your community--in Spanish. Or make new Spanish-speaking friends.

Maybe you’ll have a great talk with the mother of a boy your son goes to school with who speaks very little English. Or finally, book that trip to Mexico because you feel confident enough in your Spanish to navigate your way around. 

The point is that you don’t need a total transformation in your Spanish to see a change--and to feel the impact in your life.

Today, I’ve got some unorthodox strategies that will help you push past your barriers and become 10% better in Spanish. And they come from the most unlikely place:

The recent change in my fitness routine. 

What does my fitness routine have to do with your Spanish? 

More than you might think. 

In today’s post, you’ll get actionable (and doable) tips for breaking past your current “just getting by” Spanish so you can see real improvement in weeks. 

Read on to join me for your first Spanish “workout” session.

Your Spanish and being stuck at “not fat..but not fit.”

Does my fitness experience sound like your Spanish?

I’ve been pretty fit most of my life. I’m not overweight, and I don’t eat poorly, but recently, I started to get this unsatisfying feeling. 

I was feeling pretty weak and flabby, and I really wanted to get back to a place of strength—to be leaner and more toned. I wasn’t even exactly sure what I wanted to accomplish, much less how.

If I ever told anyone that I wasn’t feeling in great shape, they’d say, “Oh, you’re not fat.” But I knew that I wasn’t fit either.

If you’ve studied Spanish for years and are “just conversational” or feel stuck at “good enough” or “intermediate,” then you probably know how I felt. And you probably also know what it’s like to show up for years to train and practice--and not see any improvement.

But the story isn’t over.

One day, I was heading to my local Orangetheory to work out–a 1-hour, full-body heart rate zone, and strength training workout that mixes exercise from the treadmill, rowing machine, and the weight floor.

The workouts are intense, and I love tapping into my athletic, competitive side when I go. The problem, though, was that I wasn’t very consistent about going. I started just before the pandemic—about four years ago—and I’ve been sporadic ever since. 

You know how it is: I don’t always have the time to work out consistently enough to see results. Or the energy for the intensive workouts you need to see real progress. 

Working out was a pretty good idea I “kind of” committed to. I made it in about twice a week.

Then, one day, I was on my way to the treadmill when I saw the poster:  

8-Week Challenge! Work out 3 days a week, for 6 out of 8 weeks. Weigh in and body scan at the beginning and body scan at the end. Choose the weight loss or muscle-building track. Sign up at the front desk! Are you in?

I signed up that very same day. 

When it comes to your Spanish: a personalized approach = results

What worked for me in this fitness challenge was that I knew that going from showing up twice a week to three times per week was not a huge jump – it was totally doable. 

I also knew that 8 weeks was not a lifetime commitment. And that I didn’t have to do all 8 weeks to succeed: 6 out of 8 weeks was good enough. That gave me the space for life to happen but to still stay on track.

Now think about that in terms of your Spanish. Could you show up 3 times a week for 6 out of 8 weeks?

What would it look like to go from “stuck on a Spanish treadmill” and practicing once or twice a week to actually seeing progress?

If you’re currently practicing twice a week, can you bump that up to three times? 

Approach your Spanish like you would a successful fitness routine:  

• Don’t try to work on Spanish every single day. Find a Spanish study routine that is tailored to your own schedule and energy level--and see how great it feels when you stick to it.

• Don’t expect yourself to show up for intensive Spanish practice year-round. That’s setting yourself up for failure. Instead, strategically plan a 6-8 week Spanish sprint once or twice a year. 

You’ll see visible results in your Spanish that you’ll enjoy long after those 6 intensive weeks.

Remember: The exercise routine that finally worked for me was effective because it didn’t ask me to ignore my life, reality, or busy schedule. And it had breaks between workouts, so I didn’t get sore and give up.

I’m a strong believer in this kind of targeted, paced intensive practice that fits into your life.  I use a very similar structure in my VUELA Intermediate Spanish Course Series for intermediate learners.

Find a personalized, realistic approach that takes your life into consideration--it’s a game changer.

Take stock of where you are to see progress later.

When I signed on to the challenge, a trainer set up an appointment, weighed me and took my body fat percentage. That way, we are able to set a milestone: a nice, concrete number. 

That’s when I decided I wanted to improve 10% on my stats--to tone my body up and feel strong again. To gain muscle and see definition in my arms again.

And no, you can’t weigh yourself in Spanish–but you can measure your current Spanish level. 

You could do a simple self-assessment and think about what feeling “strong” and “fit” in Spanish means for you. Or you can even take a Spanish exam to understand your level better. 

Remember to track your progress in Spanish.

Here’s the next lesson I learned from that 8-week challenge: 

Tracking your progress is a game-changer.

That’s just the kind of clear understanding of where you are--and your specific objectives--that will help you track and see your progress over time.

As I continued to show up for my workouts, I tracked my progress by checking off the days on the calendar with a big “X.” A simple yet satisfying feeling. 

Even better, I saw that I was getting better at showing up for a few other keystone habits, like eating more vegetables, drinking more water, and feeling increased energy. 

In Spanish and fitness, remember that one great new habit can spill over into other areas of your life. Start listening to a podcast every day, and maybe you’ll start to understand a conversation here and there between Spanish-speaking colleagues at work.

Suddenly, your habits build on themselves, reinforcing each other. You’ll notice those results--because you took stock from the beginning--which will just keep you motivated to keep going.

One of the secrets to the success of the fitness challenge was having that visual checklist of my progress–I highly recommend using a similar system in your Spanish.

It’s no coincidence that I include trackers in my 6-week program that pushes intermediate Spanish learners toward more fluency in real-life situations. Every single time you check a practice session off that list, it reminds you that you’re working on a highly effective habit this time. One where you’ll see results.

If you’d like to try creating a checklist or tracking system, check out this post by financial planner Dave Ramsey on setting goals and tracking your progress.

Ramsey emphasizes the importance of having concrete goals that are yours alone. And he includes worksheets right on his website to help his readers get there.

There is a reason so many people use trackers in fitness, money management, and language learning.

That’s because you won’t see progress right away. You have to get into the habit of showing up and doing the work before you see results, which brings me to my next point.

Don’t share as you go—share when you cross the finish line.

Here’s another lesson I learned from finally finding a fitness routine I could stick to.

Don’t post about your progress. 

This is a lesson I learned from Rachel Hollis, a motivational speaker and woman who went from out of shape to running marathons. Hollis talks about sharing once you’ve crossed the finish line--not when you register for the race. 

According to Hollis, all that posting creates a “dopamine hit,” just like the one you’re hoping for when you reach your goal after doing all the hard work. But when you post, you get the “hit” before you do the work--and it sabotages your progress.

That’s why I chose not to share or post about that 8-week fitness challenge as I was doing it. I showed up to practice again and again, I tracked it in my tracker, but I did not share. 

I kept that challenge to myself until I reached that 10% stronger, 10% more toned milestone.

What does this mean for you and pushing your Spanish that extra 10%?

If you want to break through intermediate into the zone where you can actually use Spanish to have impromptu conversations with real people:

• Don’t tell people you’re joining a challenge or taking a course. 

• Don’t show a picture of your desk with your study materials at it.

• Don’t share until after you take the DELE exam and can see that you’ve moved from intermediate to advanced. Make your first post the one where you’re holding the certificate--and talk about all the work that went into it. 

Wait until you achieve your Spanish goal to share with your friends, family, and social media. Make sure your success and your progress are the “hit”--and not the sharing. 

So, how exactly do you know when you’ve made that 10% improvement in Spanish?

In your Spanish practice, there is no finish line to cross, sweaty and triumphant. There is no measuring your muscle mass or BMI. And you can’t slip on a pair of jeans and see if they fit better. 

But you can measure your progress. 

At the end of those 6-8 weeks of you showing up to train yourself for more fluent Spanish conversations, test yourself again. 

Use a practice level test, or challenge yourself to take the DELE exam and see if you’ve reached your milestone.

As you reach the end of your 6-8 week training session, you’ll not only be more “toned” and “stronger” in your Spanish. You’ll also find that your sense of commitment and motivation have improved with your Spanish challenge. 

Most importantly, you’ll have trained yourself to show up when the reward is not immediate:  

• You set that super specific and personalized goal. 

• You made sure it was something you could do as an adult with commitments--in real life.

• You tracked your progress independently, waiting to share or post until you achieved results.

All that time, there was no trainer pushing you--it was just you, the motivation you made for yourself, and the structure and habits you now know how to put in place to make your Spanish goals happen.

You have improved your Spanish by 10%, and you’ve changed the way you tackle challenges going forward.

Takeaways:

The commitment and determination to strive toward your Spanish milestones are muscles you can tone and train. 

And once you do that, there’s no telling what you’ll move on to do from there.

But one thing is for sure. You’ll have shown yourself that you can achieve something in the long term--and you won’t be reliant on instant gratification anymore to get there. 

You’ll start to notice how your achievements in Spanish make you stronger, more “fit,” and more agile in real-life situations. 

Maybe you’ll find yourself naturally jumping in to help a woman at your local bank in Spanish, or you might wind up explaining how to fill out a form to someone who has just entered the country at your volunteer center.

You may suddenly realize you can show empathy and connect with patients at your clinic instead of just sticking to the technical terms. 

Or have a conversation with the Spanish-speaking parents of your students without the awkward moments and hand gestures. 

When you improve your Spanish by 10%, you don’t go from beginner to fluent in a single bound. You don’t transform into a superhuman or a Spanish-speaking bodybuilder.

You’re just you, showing up in real-life situations as your entire self. 

It’s subtle, but you’ll know you’re there because you’ll find yourself saying:

“I just did that."

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