“Learning Spanish has allowed me to build deeper relationships” #BaseLangStories

Frustrated by programs that only focused on vocabulary, Katy struggled to actually speak Spanish in real-life situations. Through BaseLang’s Real World program, she has the flexibility to take as many lessons as she wants and get conversational practice with teachers, which has allowed her to build deeper relationships with others and realize that fluency is truly an attainable goal.

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?

My name is Katy Igarta and I am from Las Vegas, Nevada

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

I wanted to learn Spanish because there’s a lot of people in my life that speak Spanish and I felt like I was missing out on getting to know their friends and family that all spoke Spanish. I also am in lending and there are a lot of Spanish speakers that need help with purchasing a home who are always looking for a Spanish-speaking lender and I want to be versatile in my career by speaking to languages

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

I have mainly just learned Spanish through friends teaching me but that only goes so far as most people don’t have a formal education on how to teach learning a language. During covid I decided to take my first course at the community college here in Las Vegas and that was my first formal Spanish class.

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

Before trying BaseLang I really just learned new vocabulary and how to put together basic sentences in the present tense. It’s enough to survive but people don’t really understand you well and vice versa

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

For other online programs before, and apps, and they really only taught me vocabulary. That is helpful but it really doesn’t teach you how to speak the language so I was a little bit apprehensive about trying another program.

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

What I found from BaseLang was that it was much more in-depth on educating you about how sentence structure occurs in Spanish and not just having you memorize words. I also found that having conversation with my teachers pushes me where you don’t get that with an app

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

The specific feature that I like about the Real World program is that I can take as many lessons as I want at a time. If I feel like I’m on a roll I can continue for the day whereas in some of the lower programs you only get a limited amount of classes. When I feel really strong about Spanish and like I want to learn a lot that day, it’s no problem. And that’s something that Spanish classes at a school also cannot give you is having time to do it when you can as much as you can

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

Spanish has impacted my life because it’s allowed me to do more things and created opportunities that I didn’t have before. It has allowed me to build deeper relationships with people that don’t speak very good English and people appreciate when I try to speak their language.

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

I would absolutely recommend this course and I think it has been the most successful program in me learning Spanish that I have done to this date

10. Complete the following sentence

“After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that…..”becoming fluent wasn’t just a dream I had in some distant future. It was actually an attainable goal and will come with time.

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

I would advise if anyone is doing a trial to go all in and do the Real World program. I made the mistake of doing the lower programs but I only got 30 minutes a day so I wish I would have done my free trial and I already would be weeks ahead of where I am now.