We are officially heading to Mexico for our wedding! And with this choice comes some fun challenges and big decisions to be made. One of these being the personal challenge to learn Spanish. Thank goodness we have Babbel to help with learning Spanish!
We Decided To Learn Spanish With Babbel Before Our Mexico Wedding
Austin and I went on a family trip to Mexico in summer 2018. It was a great trip, but one of the biggest hurdles we faced was not speaking enough Spanish. Navigating from the airport to a rental car company… to eventually a taxi… to being on the resort and wanting to chat with staff. We could converse a little, but there was certainly a disconnect.
We both took foreign language classes in high school, but that’s been many years ago… and let’s be honest, most of what I learned was by watching movies in class with subtitles on. Yikes.
Austin said if we were going to get married in a foreign country, we should be fluent enough to carry on conversations with our wedding team, but also to help our families navigate a new country. His parents haven’t been to Mexico, and it can be overwhelming not understanding what you’re reading or hearing as you exit the airport.
PS- if you’re looking to book your own trip to Mexico, you should check out this Cabo All Inclusive Resort, these hotels in Puerto Escondido Mexico and this post about Playa del Carmen.
Learning Spanish with Babbel
We discovered Babbel a few weeks before our venue scouting trip to Mexico and decided it was the perfect tool for us to learn Spanish. Part of our Cabo trip was even spent going through lessons!
Each lesson takes around 15 minutes. The lessons in Newcomer (where we started) focus on greeting others, introducing yourself and the basics of conversing. You’ll see words and phrases in both English and Spanish (or whatever language you are learning). The app presents the information in various forms that way your brain has to think about the translation multiple times. I prefer this to a one and done! The early stages are a little repetitive since I know the basics, but I know I will need this as the lessons get more advanced. I could skip to later courses, but wanted to make sure I had a good foundation!
Not only do you have to match phrases, but you also get to work on spelling and pronunciation. I don’t see myself writing in Spanish often, but I know I’ll be doing lots of reading. It’s all part of the process, just like learning your first language when you’re younger! The pronunciation component not only lets you hear a word or phrase, but you can also speak into the microphone and practice. I’ve been dinged “wrong” a few times! Turns out I haven’t been pronouncing some words right for years… Thank goodness someone (or something rather) corrected this for me!
Another cool tidbit for those who have thought about taking a college course to learn Spanish… The CUNY study has shown that 15 hours of Babbel are equal to 1 university semester of language courses. That is way less time than you’d spend in a classroom, and it’s a much more affordable option!
How long does it take to learn a language with Babbel?
According to the Babbel experts, you can be conversational as quickly as 3 weeks! We aren’t quite there yet, but already feel 10x more confident having conversations in Spanish. But this is what’s so cool about Babbel, we all have the chance to learn at our ownpace!
Outside of the app, we try to practice what we’ve learned by using Babbel to have conversations with one another! It’s a lot better learning with a partner, whether it’s your roommate, significant other, mom, etc.
Is Babbel Right for You?
Well, you never know unless you give it a try! Don’t forget it’s risk free for 20 days… and you can can do it for 25% off. If you take the challenge, I’d love to hear about your experience and what language you decide to learn. Feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram (and if you’re learning Spanish, we can even practice typing and reading together!).
Thank you to Babbel for sponsoring this blog post. All opinions are my own.
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