Learning Spanish as a couple Moving to Spain from Australia

Have I been a little worried about learning Spanish? Oh, absolutely! But hey, I’m an optimist at heart, and when I started using Duolingo, I kept telling myself, “The only reason I’m not remembering all the words is because I’m not in Spain yet. Once I’m there, hearing it everywhere, it’ll all click, right?” That was my mantra.

Remember that Taco Ad? That's about all the spanish I knew...

We started trying to learn Spanish before even stepping foot in Spain, and it was easy to stay hopeful. But after a few months of trying to learn this way, I began to wonder if there was a better approach. Was I just not absorbing it, or was there a more effective way to learn?

TikTok to the Rescue!

So, yesterday, I turned to my favourite teacher: TikTok (don’t judge, you know you’ve learned a thing or two from there!). I typed in “learning Spanish,” and after watching a few videos, I stumbled upon a guy saying something that made me pause—“Delete Duolingo and try Language Transfer.”

At first, I was skeptical. Duolingo is everyone’s go-to, right? But curiosity got the better of me, so I downloaded the app and started with lesson number one. Technically, it wasn’t even a lesson. It was more of an introduction to their learning style, but I already felt like I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

A Different Way of Learning

Okay, so here’s what makes Language Transfer stand out. It teaches you in a completely different way from all the other apps. Instead of just trying to make you memorise words and phrases, it gets you into the habit of understanding the language.

The app finds words and rules in English that are transferable to the language you’re learning. For example, in the very first official lesson, it teaches that all words in English that end with “-al” have Latin origins. So, if you see those words in Spanish, you can pretty much just change how you emphasize the letters, and you’ve got it!

Mind. Blown. 🤯 I was like, “Wait, maybe I can learn to speak Spanish!”

Oh and you know what?!… It’s FREE!!!

Communication Over Grammar

Another thing that’s made me fall in love with this app is its focus on communication rather than grammar. When moving from Spain from Australia, it's hard to let go of our love for slang, of our casual approach to grammar... Duolingo spends so much time teaching formal structures, like using “I” and “to” all the time. But in real conversation, people don’t always bother with that.

For instance, Duolingo would teach you to say, “Yo quiero” for “I want” But on Language Transfer, I learned that it’s often assumed who’s speaking, so you can just say “Quiero” (want) and skip the formalities. As a beginner, these little tricks make things so much easier, and they boost your confidence fast.

I’m not looking to become fluent overnight. Right now, I just want to have basic conversations, and Language Transfer has given me the confidence to believe that I can actually do that. What started as “I don’t think I can do this” quickly turned into, “Oh, this makes sense—I can totally do this!”

My Final Thoughts

Learning a new language is definitely challenging, but finding the right tools can make all the difference. For me, switching to Language Transfer has been a game-changer, and I’m already feeling so much more confident about learning Spanish.

If you’re on your own language-learning journey, I hope this helps you out as much as it helped me. Buena suerte! (Good luck!)

Adios!

Jasmine & Andrew