There are several difficulties people tend to encounter when they set out to become fluent in a new language. These are always practical difficulties and never learning difficulties.

We're going to assume that you have no difficulty learning Spanish or any other language because you, like more than 99% of the human race, have successfully learned your native language to the level of fluency. And hundreds of millions of people around the world have successfully learned 2 or even more foreign languages as adults.

If your experience with language instruction in the past was not positive, or if you were disappointed with the results, your language learning ability is never the culprit. Hopefully, by the end of this lesson you will have a better understanding of the real cause of your dissatisfaction.

But even if your experience with language instruction in the past has been very positive, you're still likely to run into one or more of the 'practical difficulties'.  So let's take a look.

Yes, it does take a long time to reach fluency - well over a year under the best of circumstances. But that really isn't a difficulty in itself. 

Learning anything worthwhile takes time. The real difficulties are:

1. How can I fit study time into my already busy schedule?
2. If the process (classes, study etc.) is boring or tiring, I don't think I'll be able to force myself to continue it for the long time needed.
3. If I have to take classes or private lessons, the cost could be too high.
4. If I have to travel abroad and 'immerse myself' in the culture (as everyone tells me I should do) - I don't know when I'd be able to afford the cost or the 'time off' for that.

These are real difficulties that, until now, people have faced when they contemplated becoming fluent in Spanish.

Let's take a look at each of these difficulties.

Getting to a Basic level in Spanish through a class or classes is fairly easy and doesn't require a lot of time - except for a month or so. But to go from that Basic level to the lowest level of fluency (where you can easily understand all Spanish-language films and series without the aid of subtitles) will require some kind of immersion over an extended period of time. 

Living and studying in a Spanish speaking country for an extended period may or may not lead you to fluency. But it's impractical for most.

But there is a way, through Designed Immersion to get the real benefits of immersion several hours per week in your own home, on your own schedule. (Practicing Designed Immersion while living abroad would be the ideal path to fluency).

Just as important as being able to 'fit in the time' is our ability to enjoy the time we put into any pursuit. When our study or practice time is both satisfying and enjoyable it means:

We have an intuitive sense that we are making real progress toward our desired goal (fluency), and

We will very likely continue with our study or practice - which is essential to reaching fluency.

An effective path to fluency must always feel satisfying and enjoyable. This may seem like an impossible task, but fortunately, we know, through our experience teaching thousands of students Spanish and English using Designed Immersion techniques, how to train you to do the same.