Common Difficulties in Learning Spanish

Thought, language, emotions and learning are closely interrelated.  These four factors interact constantly, and what happens in one is reflected in the others. At the same time, emotions regulate the human mind and individual behavior. Because of this, learning a second language requires not only study and commitment, but also a well-integrated functioning and appropriate interaction between these four factors of the human  psyche.

Over the past 95 years, the CCEE has been helping students from across the globe to learn Spanish as a second  language. Our experience has shown us that optimal acquisition of a second  language is a complex task that requires more than comprehension and  memorization of grammatical, functional and lexical content. Many other factors that are involved  in the language learning process must be taken into account and we offer, free of charge, additional help to our students in a way that is unique in the Spanish language teaching field.

Beyond Grammar: Comprehensive Support for Learning

The CCEE offers professional advice beyond those aspects usually considered when difficulties occur, such as anxiety, poor time management, or study skills. We do treat these general aspects but, as a Center dedicated  to teaching Spanish as a second language, we want to assist our students with their specific problems in a personalized way.

Among other aspects, we help our students to understand:

In a general way:

• What it means to learn a second  language
• Which are the best steps to follow in order to learn efficiently and make the best use of investments in resources: time, effort and money.

Specifically, we respond to our students’ concrete needs (in their requests for assistance).  The following comments are a sample of the kinds of difficulties they experience:

• “I am able to advance in grammar, but I feel stuck at my current level of speaking or listening skills.”
• “I write well but I can’t understand spoken Spanish.”
• “I can express myself well, but grammar is very difficult for me.”

We treat these kinds of difficulties in a personalized and specific way in a more appropriate context outside the classroom.

Our experts are psychologists and teachers of Spanish as a second language; from this optimal perspective they can offer the best help.

We work in short sessions and focus on:

• Maximizing students’ abilities by helping them to recognize and use them.
• Teaching them to utilize their strong points to improve their weaker ones.
• Helping them to discover the root of their difficulties; these are generally easily solved.
• Fostering  their autonomy and linguistic competence by giving them the tools they need.
• Helping them to study in a gratifying and efficient way, attaining more with less effort.

Our Psychopedagogical Tutoring  provides this help to students through free seminars and personal consultations, both at no additional cost and  by appointment. Seminars are announced on our home page.

Additional information about seminars, personal consultations and so forth is available at:

ccee.orientacion@pas.ucm.es