(These tips apply to any language. We use Spanish throughout as our example.)
Here is a link to this blog in Spanish.
Many people take our classes because they have a Spanish-speaking spouse, parent, or other family member and they want to be able to communicate with them more fully. We love supporting students on this journey and there is something so meaningful about wanting to connect with the people you love in their language.
Over the years, I have discovered several helpful tips for those well-intentioned family members as they try to support you, because here’s the thing: having a native speaker in your life is an incredible advantage for language acquisition, but unfortunately, there is a chance that they are accidentally making it harder for you.
Share this post with them (there is a Spanish version here (link).. It might be the most surprisingly helpful thing you do for your Spanish this year.
Here are our top 10 tips for Spanish Language Speakers who have a friend, family member, or co-worker who is learning Spanish
1. Don’t correct.
I know. You probably thought correction was helpful, but it’s not. Here’s why:
The “errors” your loved one makes are going to work themselves out over time. The best thing for them is to simply hear the language spoken correctly in natural conversation. It is rare that anyone truly internalizes a correction and changes their speech as a result. More often, correction has the opposite effect: it shuts people down. It makes them think too carefully before speaking, which is exactly what you do not want. The truth is, language flows when the speaker feels safe taking risks.
What matters is whether you understand what your loved one is trying to communicate. If they are getting their point across, that is a win. Who cares if the grammar is off? The brain will sort it out unconsciously over time, as long as it keeps getting good input.
2. Try recasting instead of correcting.
Recasting is the positive version of “don’t correct.” When your loved one says something with an error, simply use the correct form naturally in your response without flagging it.
For example: they say, “Yo fue al mercado.” You respond, “Ah, ¡yo también fui al mercado! ¿Qué compraste?” They hear the correct form, in context, in a real conversation. No shame. No interruption. And the brain notices because it is open and receptive instead of shut down from being directly corrected.
This is actually what skilled language teachers do in class, and you can do it effortlessly in daily life.
3. Don’t make them speak Spanish.
“Wait, what?” you might be thinking. Isn’t speaking the whole point?
In fact, the most important thing is that YOU speak Spanish to them and that they understand you. Their speaking will come on its own when they are ready. Being pressured to speak before that readiness arrives creates stress, and stress is one of the most effective ways to shut down second language acquisition.
Think of it this way: babies are not pressured to talk before they are ready. They spend a long time listening, absorbing, and understanding before they produce much language at all. And then, when they do speak, they speak. Your loved one is on the same path. Trust the process.
4. Speak slowly, but naturally.
Try to slow your speech down a little bit. You do not need to over-exaggerate it or speak as though you are talking to a small child. That actually backfires, because the speech stops sounding natural and becomes harder to process.
Natural slow speech means shorter sentences, clearer pauses, and letting words land before you move on. Think of it as giving your loved one a half-second more to process each phrase. That small adjustment makes a significant difference in comprehension.
5. Repeat yourself in different ways.
If they do not understand something, do not just say the same thing again, only louder. Instead, try a shorter sentence, a simpler word, a gesture, or pointing at something nearby. This is exactly what comprehensible input teaching looks like, and you can do it naturally in conversation without thinking of it as teaching at all.
If they ask, “Cómo se dice…?” give them the word in a full sentence, then use it again naturally. One isolated answer rarely sticks. Context is what makes vocabulary land.
6. Talk about real things.
Helping your loved one acquire Spanish at home is not about drilling vocabulary or running practice sessions. Acquisition happens fastest when the content is meaningful. Conversations about actual life, what happened today, what you are making for dinner, something funny the kids did, are more powerful than “practice sentences.”
Simply include your loved one in real conversations, even imperfectly. The realness is the point. When someone is genuinely interested in what is being said, the language goes deeper.
7. Don’t quiz them.
No testing. No “Do you remember how to say…?” It creates anxiety and puts the brain into the wrong mode. A brain under pressure is not a brain acquiring language. Just talk.
8. Don’t ask what they are learning in Spanish class.
If your loved one is taking classes at Express Fluency, they are working to acquire Spanish, not learn about it. They are hearing a great deal of comprehensible Spanish so that it can work its way into their unconscious and eventually become Spanish they actually speak.
This makes it genuinely difficult to answer the question “What did you learn today?” because the process is not intellectual. They are not studying the difference between ser and estar. But through lots of input and natural repetition, they will begin to understand and use both verbs correctly, in context, without ever having studied the rules. That is acquisition at work.
A better question: “Did you enjoy class?” or “What did you talk about?”
9. Celebrate communication, not perfection.
When your loved one tries to say something in Spanish, even haltingly, even imperfectly, that is the moment to affirm. Not “Good job with your grammar” but simply keeping the conversation going as if what they said was completely normal. Risk-taking is the engine of acquisition. The more they feel safe reaching for language, the faster they will grow.
10. Watch things together in Spanish.
A show or movie you both enjoy, with Spanish audio and subtitles if needed, is a low-pressure, genuinely pleasurable source of comprehensible input. It also gives you something to talk about afterward in Spanish, which doubles the acquisition opportunity.
This tip works especially well because it does not feel like studying. And the best acquisition rarely does.
The common thread takeaway:
The thread running through all of these tips is the same: your loved one’s brain is doing the work, and your job is to create the conditions for that work to happen. That means rich, natural, understandable input. It means safety. It means real conversations about real things.
You do not need to be a teacher. You just need to keep talking.
If you are the one taking classes and you found this useful, keep your eyes out for more blogs and tips about what actually supports Spanish language acquisition, and what gets in the way. Feel free to share this post directly with your family members. Or share the Spanish language version. It might open a great conversation.
