Your Daily Spanish Coach
A weekday podcast for serious adult learners who want to become fluent in Spanish. Host Timothy Moser, coach at LearnCraft Spanish, spends about three minutes on a single technique you can apply that same day. Episodes cover speaking without freezing up, choosing vocabulary you will actually use, memory devices for tricky grammar, and training your ear and voice. He also shares study habits that hold up even during a bad week, drawing on 12 years of coaching experience.
Episodes
33. Why you lose track in the middle of Spanish sentences
Do you ever follow about half of a Spanish sentence and then totally lose the ending? Research shows that we have a limit to how much we can process. Here's how to fit more Spanish inside that limit so you can understand more and more, based on brain science. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
32. No energy for Spanish today? Do this
Do you ever sit down to study Spanish on a day when you feel like you don't have any brain cells left for it? Give yourself an easy day (but don't do nothing). Here's the minimum amount of active practice that still keeps your Spanish growing, even a little. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
31. Your real-life Spanish conversations should turn into your study plans
Have you ever walked away from a Spanish conversation thinking it went OK but not great, and wondered what to do about that? Here's a tip for turning that conversation into takeaways for what to work on next. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
30. Find the right words for an upcoming Spanish conversation
Do you have an upcoming Spanish conversation, on a topic you don't know well? Don't use online vocab lists. Instead, here's how to find the words you'll actually need for the conversation, and how to practice them. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
29. Are you stressing the wrong syllable in Spanish verbs?
You know the conjugation rules, but you still pronounce the conjugations wrong? Spanish is a musical language, so if you say HAB-la-mos instead of hab-LA-mos, it can throw things off. Here's how to start getting this right, every time. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
28. What to do when Spanish grammar rules don't work
Does it ever frustrate you that the rules you've learned for Spanish grammar don't always hold true? Here's why you should learn Spanish grammar as vivid mental models, NOT as a list of rules. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
27. Why you shouldn't take a week off of Spanish
Do you ever come back to Spanish after a week away and feel like you've lost all your progress? If you've ever come back from a break and felt demotivated, here's why, and how to stop that from ever happening again. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
26. How to turn English confidence into Spanish confidence
Have you ever felt really proud of the way you said something in your own language? Maybe you currently feel proud of your English expression but nervous about your Spanish expression. Here's how to use the confidence you already have in your native language as a bridge to Spanish confidence. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
25. Some Spanish words need more work than others
Do you have a long list of Spanish vocabulary to learn, but no plan of attack for how to study it? Some Spanish words need a lot more practice than others. Here's a tip for which types of words to learn first and why that will make your learning much more efficient and effective. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
24. You knew every word. Why didn't you catch the meaning?
You hear a Spanish sentence, you (theoretically) "know" every word... and you still have no idea what you just heard. That isn't a sign your brain is slow. Every human brain has a limit. And right now, Spanish is pushing your brain to the brink. Here's what you can do about that. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
23. How to make a confusing Spanish rule finally make sense
You understand a Spanish rule perfectly on paper, but it still falls apart in a conversation? Fluent Spanish speakers don't use lists of rules! And you shouldn't either. Here's how to use mental pictures to develop a "feel" for Spanish grammar until it becomes second nature. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
22. Is translating in your head a bad habit?
You may have been told if you translate from English in your head, you're practicing Spanish wrong. That's just not true. Every adult learner makes use of their first language at the start, and that can actually help you think in Spanish faster. Here's how. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
21: How to prepare for a Spanish conversation that you're about to have
Conversations don't follow scripts! You might prepare a few things to say in Spanish, but then the conversation will go somewhere you didn't plan for. Here's how to practice creating Spanish on the spot instead of reciting it, so you can walk in confident without needing the conversation to follow your plan. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
20: Don't learn faster. Learn deeper.
Are you frustrated that you aren't learning Spanish words fast enough? Maybe you're using the wrong measure. Here's an argument for focusing on learning more deeply instead of just learning more and more Spanish faster and faster. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
19: Fix your Spanish comprehension with a pre-listening routine
Have you listened to Spanish every day for months, only to find your comprehension hasn't gotten any better? Maybe you need to give your brain something to grab onto. Here's a quick routine you can use, BEFORE listening to Spanish, that will help replace a passive habit with something that actively trains your ear. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
18: How to think of verb conjugations faster
You can recite a verb's conjugations from your notebook, but you can't think of the right one in the moment of a conversation? Maybe you should stop using lists. Instead, here's the "seats around the table" approach that will get the right conjugation right on the tip of your tongue (not the end of a list). Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
17: 3 steps to plan a whole month of Spanish
Have you ever sat down to study Spanish, but then spent the first ten minutes deciding what to work on? Planning and studying are two different jobs, so let's separate them. Here's a routine that will only take about ten minutes per month, freeing you up to just focus on the Spanish work every single day. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
16: How to make real progress without moving abroad
If only you could just "immerse" yourself in Spanish, that would fix everything! …Right? Maybe not. Hundreds of our students have tried this. But it turns out that being surrounded by Spanish teaches you about as much Spanish as being surrounded by water teaches you to swim. Here's what actually moves your Spanish forward instead. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
15: Practice using your new Spanish words
You've learned new Spanish words, you've reviewed them, but they don't want to flow in conversation? Here's a fun way to turn a simple creative writing project into Spanish practice that expands your expressive abilities, one word at a time. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
14: How to sound like the Spanish speakers you know
Copying a Spanish speaker you know is a good way to build an accent, but you might sometimes feel like a parrot. Here are some techniques for developing your own Spanish voice, even while you model it on the Spanish voices around you. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
13: Are memory tricks a waste of time?
If you're using memory tricks to remember Spanish words, you might wonder whether they're getting in the way of a real conversation. Mnemonics are meant to work as scaffolding, not as a long-term solution you'll constantly rely on. Here's what it looks like when a memory trick has finished its job. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
12: Go do something easy in Spanish
Serious Spanish learners have a way of spending most of their time working on their weakest areas. That's generally a good approach… but don't burn yourself out! Here's an argument for doing something fun and easy in Spanish for a change. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
11: Go blank when speaking Spanish? Let's fix that
You know the Spanish word perfectly… until the moment you need to say it out loud? It's one thing to "know" a word because you can recognize it on a test. It's another thing to come up with it from scratch, in a real conversation. Here's a way to practice coming up with the right words so you can say what you mean when you actually need that vocabulary. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanish
10: What are the next 10 Spanish words you should learn?
Which Spanish words should you learn next? Probably not what you think! Here's why your gut feeling will probably tell you to learn the wrong words, and the data-driven method Timothy recommends for choosing what you should learn next. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
9: How to make sense of crazy-sounding Spanish phrases
Some Spanish sentences just sound like a bunch of garbled sounds. Here's how you can turn the tables by making sense of Spanish phrases, giving them meaning, and reprogramming your brain to *think* the way Spanish speakers do. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
8: How to learn long, complicated Spanish words
Some Spanish words refuse to stick in your memory, and you have to keep looking them up. That doesn't mean there's something wrong with your memory! Here's a trick you can use to take advantage of the way your brain actually likes to remember Spanish words. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
7: Why the "boring" parts of Spanish are actually the most exciting
Some Spanish words and phrases feel boring; "lo que" and "por eso" don't really jump off the page. But here's why you should focus on these tiny, "boring" words that fall through the cracks, and how they make the whole Spanish language come alive. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
6: Turn one new Spanish phrase into six new phrases
A memorized Spanish phrase can feel like a dead end, since you're unlikely to ever need that exact sentence again. But it doesn't have to be a script; instead, you can think of it as a melody you can sing other lyrics to. Here's how to take any Spanish sentence and turn it into a whole set of sentences you can use in real Spanish conversations. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.co
5: How to find the exact words your topic needs
Want to talk about a new topic in Spanish, but can't pick which words to learn? Here's a data-driven approach to choosing the right words to learn, based on data, not gut feeling, so that you can quickly express yourself more deeply on any new topic in Spanish. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
4: Can't catch fast Spanish? Let's fix that
You know every word in the sentence, but still can't catch the meaning? Here's a two-step exercise to help you hear Spanish in bigger pieces so that you can make more and more sense out of the Spanish chunks you hear. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
3: How to learn dozens of similar-sounding Spanish words at once
A lot of Spanish words sound similar, but we can take advantage of that! Here's how you can turn similar-sounding Spanish words into a memorable group. This technique makes dozens of words easier to remember, all while improving your Spanish pronunciation. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
2: How to choose Spanish habits you'll actually love
A daily Spanish study habit is discouraging if it doesn't get you anywhere in real life. Here are three things to make sure your daily Spanish habits include. Use this to make sure your Spanish study is turning into real-life progress! Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
1: How to stop having the same Spanish conversation over and over
You keep learning new Spanish, but your conversations keep covering the same three topics? Here's a two-minute habit you can use right away to make sure every Spanish conversation helps expand your expressive abilities. Put today's tips into action at DailySpanishCourse.com.
Recommended
Dark Night Tales with Brian King
Fantasy Flex
زن بودن
Medicine with Meaning
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Collection
Take Back Your Health®
CBS Radio Mystery Theater | Old Time Radio
Solved Murders - True Crime Stories
紐約鳥｜New York Aperture
The Swerve Podcast: Obscure Topics | Conspiracy Theories
The Bread and Banter Podcast
The Church of What's Happening Now: The New Testament
