How Kaleel ditched the apps and started speaking Spanish #BaseLangStories

Kaleel didn’t need another app giving him phrases he’d never use. He wanted to actually talk to people and understand them when they talked back. After years of half-learning Spanish through school and Duolingo, he found BaseLang. That’s when things clicked.

Now, he’s booking lessons whenever he wants, having real conversations, and finally making the kind of progress that kept feeling out of reach.

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 and where are you from

My name is Kaleel and I am from The Bahamas.

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

I like to travel, and I like history. So, learning Spanish helps me to immerse myself deeper in the culture of the countries I visit. It will allow me to learn more about the history and have more meaningful interactions with the people.

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

I learned very basic Spanish in primary and high school but it was not enough to have a prolonged conversation. I also tried Duolingo and other apps that just taught me so little, so slowly that I got frustrated with them.

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

Understanding natives when they speak naturally was my biggest struggle in learning Spanish, but now, I talk to natives all day so it has become much easier.

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

The only thing to prevent me from signing up was not knowing about BaseLang. As soon as I found out about BaseLang I wanted to sign up. A flat-rate for unlimited 1 on 1 classes with natives speakers 24/7 sounded like the best thing ever to me.

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

My Spanish has improved dramatically and very quickly. I can have prolonged conversations and speak about many topics. My fluency gets better every week and my vocabulary grows alongside my understanding of Spanish grammar rules.

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

To me, hands down the best feature of the app is being able to book a class every thirty minutes of the day and often being able to book a class only minutes before the start time. It is especially helpful for people like me with unpredictable schedules.

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

It has made the world much smaller by allowing me to communicate with so many more people. It has changed the lens in which I view the world and has allowed me to learn so much more about the history of the world in the process.

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

I would definitely recommend this course to anyone I know that is interested in learning Spanish because it is such a good platform to get an overall understanding of all grammar concepts and speak at length with natives.

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

There was so much more for me to learn about the language, and that it will take a while, but luckily, BaseLang has a very extensive and in-depth curriculum that is super helpful but is not overwhelming. I also realized how much of an enjoyable experience this was for me and how important it is to show up every day to maximize my results.

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

Once you start, keep going and remain consistent. There will be days that are super frustrating, where you feel like you don’t know anything, but stay the course and everything will start to come together.