If you're not laughing, you're not learning!

A continued grievance of mine with standard school systems is that we take the fun out of everything in hopes to cram more into student's brains. Many adults later reflect that they took four years of Spanish, but don't remember a thing... I know there is a correlation there!
.
We need fun to learn and to learn well. Fun and learning are not opposites. They must go hand-in-hand if you want to learn quickly or efficiently at all.
.
The times I have learned easiest are the times when I have been actively engaged through curiosity, made a game out of something, and been around people I enjoyed learning with!
.
Use these as compasses for how you learn best. If you find yourself trying something new and getting stuck, ask yourself:
Am I making this too hard on myself?
Are my goals reasonable?
Am I trying a slow yet steady approach?
Am I learning through fun?
How can I make this more enjoyable for myself?
Who would help me be accountable that I enjoy being around?
.
My goal as a Spanish teacher is to provide accountability, constancy, and fun! If I am not engaging someone every session we have, then I know I'm not meeting my requirements as a teacher.
.
We know through the studies of comprehensible input, that if you're not engaged and enjoying what you're learning while you're speaking and reading and writing in Spanish, then you will not remember it as well as if you were engaged in the content.
.
That's called fun! It's fun when you enjoy what you're talking about. It's fun when you enjoy talking to who you're talking to. So fun is our number one goal and through actively accounting for fun, we learn Spanish in the most efficient way possible!
.
Have a wonderful day and remember to put some fun into everything your learning right now.
.
.
.
*Photo of Spanish client and I laughing, per usual! Photo by @pono_media