“Spanish has opened up a huge population of the world for me to speak with.” #BaselangStories

After years of on-and-off study, Amos, a farmer from New Mexico and a passionate Christian, felt called to finally take Spanish seriously. Despite trying classes, apps, and self-study, he still struggled to express himself and connect with native speakers. Through BaseLang’s Real World program, Amos has found the structure and live interaction he needed to confidently speak Spanish and share his faith with others.

BaseLangStories series puts the spotlight on BaseLang students – asking them about their motivations for learning a foreign language, what impact learning Spanish has had on their lives, advice they have for fellow students, and more.

1. What’s your name? Where are you from?

¡Saludos! My name is Amos. I live in New Mexico in the United States, about 4 hours away from the Mexican border.

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

I want to learn Spanish for 2 main reasons: First, because I am a serious Christian – I love Jesus with all my heart! – and I want to share the Truth about Him with as many people as I can. The more I learn Spanish, the more I can share Him with many, many people in this world. Second, I am a vegetable farmer. My wife and I sell our fresh products at a Farmer’s Market where many native Spanish speakers shop. I have lots of customers who ONLY speak Spanish.

3. In the past, what did you use to learn Spanish?

When I was young, I took Spanish classes in school; but honestly, they only helped a very little bit. We just didn’t interact with enough native speakers: we didn’t listen to enough Spanish; we didn’t speak enough Spanish. In the years after school, I didn’t really practice much Spanish like I should have.

4. Before BaseLang, which part of learning Spanish did you struggle with the most?

Recently, I believe God called me to start studying Spanish again – this time, seriously. I began memorizing vocab, trying different apps on the computer, reading the Bible in Spanish (with an English translation on the side), reading Spanish stories . . . etc. I could understand the language okay, at an intermediate level, but I really couldn’t find the words to say what I wanted to say. I had a real hard time speaking, and struggled a lot with the past tense, let alone something like the Subjunctive!

5. What obstacle would have prevented you from signing up for BaseLang before?

Well, in reality, money. But when God called me to start studying the language again, I was able to get a deal on Baselang for $150 per month and Jesus Christ made the way for me!

Frankly, there’s no cheaper program that has UNLIMITED classes per month. I looked around!

6. What did you find as a result of signing up?

In just a few months, my Spanish has improved. I can speak better, understand much better, and now, I’m learning the Subjunctive, and I understand it!

BaseLang is real-life Spanish, with native speakers!

I’m glad to have a Baselang teacher tell me, “No, that’s not quite right. Technically, yes, that is a Spanish phrase, but that’s just not how we speak in real life. This is how most native speakers say that phrase…”

7. What specific feature did you like the most about the Real World program?

I’m glad to have a Baselang teacher tell me, “No, that’s not quite right. Technically, yes, that is a Spanish phrase, but that’s just not how we speak in real life. This is how most native speakers say that phrase…”

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

Spanish has impacted my life by allowing me to share my faith in Jesus Christ, who completely changed my life by His sacrifice. It has opened up literally a huge population of the world for me to speak with and share who He is.

And of course, Spanish helps me communicate with my customers and strangers that I speak with wherever I am. I can talk to many people in the streets, supermarkets, and stores! And I’m able to understand much of what they say to me

9. Would you recommend this course, if so, why?

I recommend Baselang for any serious student of Spanish. You can read Spanish, and you should. You can watch Spanish lessons online, and that’s great too. But how else can some of us interact with native Spanish speakers and get LIVE feedback, which we need?

10. Complete the following sentence: “After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that…..”

After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that I really had a lot to learn, and having the help of native speakers was putting me right where I needed to be. Thank God!

11. Anything else to add (advice for other students, what you wish you had known, etc.)

To any other prospective student, I’d like to say, just make sure you also put in the time AFTER class. You can get so much help from certain Baselang teachers that you have LOTS to study, if you want that. It is worth taking the time. It is a push, a sacrifice of time, but it’s worth it. Think about it, it takes children years and years of listening to their parents/guardians before they can really speak their native tongue fluently. It’s listen, repeat … listen, repeat. So it takes time. But the more effort we put in, the quicker it can be. If we are serious about learning a language, we have to show extra effort.

Also, go ahead and ask your Baselang teacher to type vocab words in your Zoom chat, or type words and phrases correctly in the chat that you say incorrectly. Then save the chat and review it after class. It really helps!

Thanks again, BaseLang, for the opportunity!
¡Qué tengas un buen día! ¡Nos vemos!