Don't get me wrong; there is a time and place for such apps...

Mainly to get you interested in the language and teach you your first words and phrases.

But to seriously become a Spanish speaker, you need something else...

It's true that complicated grammar, lack of vocabulary or that native speakers are simply talking too fast are what's holding you back.

But the solution isn't some gamified app with a bunch of buzz words...

In fact, one of the very reasons you may be feeling stuck is because you've put all your trust into those apps to take you to the next level.

Sorry for the rant, but I really don't want you to fall victim for this.

I actually want you to reach your life-long goal to become a Spanish speaker.

I want you to feel for yourself, the joy of having conversations with friends and family in their local tongue.

Here's a crazy fact: Despite what the tech giants are trying to make you believe, the human brain actually hasn't evolved at all in over 10,000 years.

Yes, you heard that right; our brain basically hasn't changed since the stone age.

And guess what... 

The way we learn languages hasn't changed since then either. 

It's tempting (and wishful thinking) to think that these gamified apps have unlocked some special superpower inside of you that suddenly makes you learn faster.

The truth is that what these huge apps have really unlocked is the same thing that social media platforms unlocked and made the Zuckerburg's of the world billionaires several times over...

Do you know what that is?

If you've seen the popular documentary The Social Dilemma, you know what I'm talking about.

Just like Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok, the gamified apps have engineered their software to manipulate our 10,000-year-old primitive brains to spend more time using their platforms.

How are they able to do that, you might ask...

You see, our brains that haven't evolved in over 10,000 years have this one chemical that has saved our lives since the dawn of time.

When experiencing a perceived threat like a lion, this chemical would get triggered to make us more alert and get us out of this dangerous situation.

This chemical is called dopamine.

Dopamine is often referred to as the “pleasure chemical" and besides saving us from lions it serves several other purposes such as: 

Notice how I wrote "Reinforcement and reward" in bold?

This is the very thing that pretty much every app on your phone uses to draw you back in to keep you on their platform.

This is why Facebook and Instagram have the "like" feature. 

If you get a "like", you get a notification on your phone which you can't wait to check out because that sends dopamine straight to your brain because it's very rewarding to see that people like what you post.

This is also why some apps give you digital gold coins as rewards when you spend X amount of time doing Y amount of things in their app each day.

Because it triggers dopamine, which makes you come back...

Which ultimately makes them billions of dollars because our 10,000-year-old brains can't say no to easily accessible dopamine like that.

And this, my friend, you need to be very aware of.

Dopamine has NOTHING to do with how effective an app is at teaching you a language. 

This is why learning Spanish using some of these apps will feel something like running around in a hamster wheel.

Fun fact: The human attention span in the year 2000 was 12 seconds. Fifteen years later in 2015, it had dropped to 8.25 seconds. That's a drop of 31%!!!

This is because big tech corporations have figured out how to tap into our brains and trigger dopamine at levels we've never ever been exposed to before... 

The moral of the story... just because you think it's fun playing around with these apps, take it for what it is.

It's a game, designed to make you spend the most possible time on your phone while teaching you the basics of the language.

It may be fun, because it gives you instant dopamine kicks and makes you come back day after day for this dopamine kick...

But that doesn't make it effective, especially not in the long run when it's time to step up from beginner to intermediate and actually get to a level where you can hold conversations in Spanish.

Remember earlier that I told you that the way we are learning languages hasn't changed in 10,000 years either?

So how did we learn languages 5000 years ago and how are we still learning languages today?

In fact, this is not only how we learn languages... but everything.

Storytelling.

Think about it. 

Humans have been using stories to learn, teach and entertain each other since the dawn of time when we gathered around campfires and spoke of the wonders of the uncharted world.

Thousands of years later, this hasn’t changed at all! 

By telling and listening to engaging stories, we are able to implant ideas and lessons into our minds, just like children do while growing up.

Why else does storytelling work so well?

It’s simple. 

Our brain acquires knowledge quicker and easier when you’re learning in context and having great fun while doing so. 

Think about it. 

Aren’t you more capable of retaining information when the learning material is actually entertaining and relevant to you?

Of course you are! 

Better yet, stories give you more language exposure and proper context instead of just individual words and phrases.

Do you want to know the simple key to mastering a new language?

It's not some crazy gimmick or brand new artificial intelligence tool...

One word.

Language exposure.

Are you struggling with grammar, lack of vocabulary or locals speaking too fast?

We all do at some point and the only way around it is more language exposure. 

Exposure to the language will surely but slowly reinforce what you learn and with enough exposure, you'll also remember it.

That's why I always tell people that learning a language is a marathon and not a race. 

It's about consistency and having constant exposure to the language you're learning.

There's only one way of getting enough language exposure...

Stories, stories, stories and more stories.

But there is a shortcut to make the use of stories even more effective.

Fun fact: A study showed that reading while listening can be as much as 325% more effective than various other methods for vocabulary retention.

That is absolutely massive!

We call this the RWL Method (reading while listening).

This text is getting quite long so I'm going to keep this short but in essence, reading while listening gives you more language exposure using several sights instead of just one.

And as I told you before, language exposure is the one and only thing you need more of.

However, if you want to learn more about the RWL method, we've put together a
5-Day Masterclass on the topic.

It's totally free to join.

Do you see why we made you read this story on our website now?

We wanted to take full advantage of the power of stories and the RWL method.

But this story is not enough to give you the language exposure you need.

And as I told you, learning a language is a marathon, not a race.

So more stories and a habit of consuming them is what you need.

But how do you get that?

To buy individual books and their accompanying audiobooks for the number of stories you need will cost you a small fortune...

On top of that, you won't get the English translation or stories at the level you're at.

Because let's face it, you'll need hundreds of stories.

That's why we created Lingo Mastery Plus.

Lingo Mastery Plus is a membership designed to give you access to the tools and language exposure that you need with things like:

To better experience what Lingo Mastery Plus offers, watch this video and get a look inside.

If you want to get more language exposure using the power of stories and the RWL method, you can learn more and sign up to Lingo Mastery Plus here.

In any case, now you know what you truly need to become a Spanish speaker.

More language exposure.

Bit by bit, you'll learn all the grammar and vocabulary you need and those Spanish speakers that you always thought were speaking too fast you'll start to understand easier and easier.

But you need to be consistent and take advantage of learning with the power of stories and the RWL method to reach your goal of becoming a Spanish speaker faster.

Take care!