By knowledge, I don’t mean academic knowledge about different topics—although that kind of knowledge can help—but self-knowledge, relational knowledge, outside knowledge, and intercultural knowledge when conversing in a non-native language. How do you build confidence? Stage one: self-knowledge As always, we should start with ourselves. We should begin looking within […]
María Ortega García
30 posts
From stream-of-consciousness writing to guided journaling, jotting down what’s inside our heads has the power to make sense of the tangle of ideas in our brains. I started journaling when I was a teenager and have never really stopped doing it, but the format, the content and the language have […]
What is Meditation? According to the dictionary, ‘to meditate’ means to focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation. There exist different practices, such as mindfulness, mantra chanting, focusing the mind on a […]
Meditation in Spanish Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed. I have talked extensively about the benefits of meditation for your language learning practice. Having a calm mind will result in a more efficient Spanish practice, but what if you combine meditation with Spanish at the […]
The linguistic patchwork of you “At home, I feel free to speak Arabic peppered with words in French and English, and everyone understands me. When I am in Spain, I can only speak Spanish so that people would understand me.” This statement and its many variants share a common sentiment […]
“I don’t remember the time when speaking didn’t make me anxious”, she mumbled, still trying to smile but unable to look me in the eye. “I feel you, sister”, I wanted to say, to help share her painful load and to show her that I’m proof of living with that […]
Identity is not fixed. It’s more a multifaceted, fluid, ever-changing looking glass through which we view the world. Yet one of the most profound filters we use to interpret reality remains unchanged throughout our lives. As a migrant who left her native country 20 years ago, I have spent as […]
I originally wrote this article on 17th September 2011. Back then, I believed that the main purpose of language was communication. Now, ten years later, after ten years of teaching and exploring languages, my vision has changed a lot. In fact, I disagree with what I wrote back then. So, […]
I recently sent a questionnaire to my audience, asking them about their Spanish struggles and what they wanted or needed more of to improve and progress in their Spanish journey. One of the questions I asked was how interested they were in a poetry course in Spanish to improve their […]