The 7 Blocks of Language Learning

There are 7 ways you can be BLOCKED when learning a foreign language. It doesn’t matter what language you’re learning, all of these blocks will be present to some degree.

I’m remember experiencing these block for the first time learning Spanish.

When I was 17, I traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico for 3 months to take Spanish classes and live with a host family.

I had gone on a family trip to Mexico a few years prior and became fascinated by the culture. I really wanted to explore the country on my own, make Mexican friends, and dive deeper into the culture.

But after several weeks of immersion, I didn’t feel like I was advancing.

I went to class and did my homework every day. I got good grades and was even making decent progress in my reading and writing ability.

But whenever I tried to have a conversation in Spanish, I felt totally blocked.

Even though I knew a lot of vocabulary, I couldn’t understand what Mexicans were saying when they spoke fast.

I just couldn’t make out the words when they were all blurred together.

Then even though I knew my conjugations, I couldn’t express myself the way I wanted to.

The words would get stuck in my mouth, and in conversations I’d get overwhelmed with nervousness.

At first, I just resolved to put my head down and power through it all.

I paid attention in class, hit the grammar books hard, and tried to put myself out there as much as I can.

Surely, if I just immersed myself in the country and my studies long enough, I would eventually have a breakthrough — right?

Despite all my best efforts, I still felt like my Spanish wasn’t going anywhere, and this was really starting to frustrate me.

Since I was so blocked in conversation, I wasn’t able to build any true friendships with anyone.

I lived with a host family, and went to a school with lots of Mexicans around, but I didn’t feel connected to any of them.

After months of isolation, my loneliness really started to depress me, and I almost decided to fly back home and give up on learning Spanish all together.

Then one day, I had an idea….

I decided to stop focusing on the grammar, vocabulary and translation activities my teachers gave me.

I realized those paths were dead ends for me, and if I wanted to breakthrough in my Spanish, I would need to try something completely different.

I decided to walk a different path — try out a different approach.

This new approach was very counterintuitive. In fact, a lot of people would have thought I was looney for even coming up with it.

But I gave it a try, and after a short period of time, everything changed.

Within weeks of trying this new approach, my Spanish finally started to unblock itself…

In my next post, I’ll explain what exactly I did differently. For now, I want you to get a better sense of how you might be blocked.

As I mentioned before, my experience working with thousands of language-learners has taught me that there are 7 primary “blocks” holding people back:

1. The Listening Block — “I can’t understand when they talk fast!”
2. The Speaking Block — “The words get stuck in my mouth!”
3. The Feeling Block — “I get stuck translating in my head!”
4. The Acting Block — “I’m afraid to seek out and speak up in conversation”
5. The Planning Block — “I don’t know how to organize my study time, and I’m afraid of wasting time on things that don’t work.”
6. The Learning Block — “I can’t recall new words and expressions when I need them”
7. The Connecting Block — “I can’t make friends to practice with”

Which blocks do you most struggle with.

In a later post, I’ll explain what I did to unblock my Spanish and reach levels of fluency I never dreamed possible.