I discovered a little-known app that has taken me from a novice Spanish speaker, to fluent

Fluenz gave me the ability to speak Spanish fluently (Picture: Lucy Pearson)

‘Un vaso de agua por favor, sin limón’ (can I have a glass of water without lemon please) and ‘lo siento, no entiendo, soy Inglesa’ (I’m sorry, I don’t understand, I’m English) might not seem like the *most* useful Spanish phrases.

But for a long time, these two sentences were all I could speak of that language – learning them from my late grandfather, who retired to Spain in his sixties.

I wish I had picked up more Spanish over those long summer holidays. But as a child, all I cared about was turning a deeper shade of brown than my three sisters, and reading at least six Sweet Valley Highs over the span of two weeks.

For years, as someone who considers themselves linguistically challenged, the idea of becoming bilingual was almost unfathomable.

But now, after an immersive experience, I’ve found an app that has made learning genuinely useful sentences so simple that conversational Spanish feels well within reach. 

I use Fluenz on both my laptop and phone, and the app is perfect for dipping in and out of. 

So, if I’ve got 10 minutes on the Tube, I’ll do a spot of vocab work on my phone, but if I’ve got an hour or more to spare, I’ll open my laptop and get to grips with a new verb or sentence structure.

Seeing so many of my bilingual friends while travelling in Bondi, Australia switching effortlessly between their mother tongue and English made me jealous, so I decided last year at the age of 36 that I’d put excuses aside and do my level-best to learn another language.

Being bilingual is a joy! (Picture: Lucy Pearson)

I can’t say I was wedded to any one in particular at first.

Originally, I toyed with Italian. My partner grew up near Venice, so it seemed like an obvious choice.

But I had a better understanding of both French and German from school and friends – and having once tried to learn Korean for an ex-boyfriend – I know from experience that languages and lovers often don’t mix.

I eventually settled on French. But after reaching the 50-day, 100-day and then 150-day streak on Duolingo, I realised that while my vocabulary had improved – of course it had – I didn’t honestly feel like I was getting much better at the language for whatever reason. 

Soon after I came across Fluenz – a company that offers Spanish language immersion holidays followed by ongoing software-supported learning, boasting serious results.

Having always imagined I might one day follow in my grandfather’s footsteps and live out my twilight years on the Mediterranean, I quickly gave up the idea of French, booked a trip to Mexico City, and set about learning Spanish instead.

A fresh new take on what a holiday usually is, and quite the opposite of a ‘fly and flop’, Fluenz don’t just offer classes. 

And at £5,500, the trip wasn’t cheap, but also included in the holiday is a bougie cultural experience, dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant and an after-hours tour of the National Museum of Anthropology – perfect for anyone with a penchant for travel.

Lucy now feels more comfortable to travel to Spanish speaking countries (Picture: Lucy Pearson)

During the immersion you have four hours of lessons a day – plus the chance to practise in your down-time while enjoying seeing the sights of the city.

Perhaps more importantly, in addition to the lessons, all students are given lifetime access to Fluenz’s language learning software, which we were encouraged to use in the lead-up to the trip as well.

Foolishly, I didn’t use it in advance, but I’ve kept up my learning since getting home.

On the last day of the immersion, during the closing party, a note of caution came from one of the tutors – ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it.’

And use it I have, with the sort of fervent commitment I’ve never had for anything before in my life.

Unlike some other apps and language learning courses, Fluenz uses a method they call building blocks, which means learning a verb, such as ‘I want or yo quiero and building a sentence from there. 

That means they focus on phrases that are genuinely useful when travelling, like ‘can I buy a charger?’ ‘I’m paying with a card’ or ‘I’d like to order drinks’.

I may miss the bespoke lessons and the undivided attention of the brilliant tutors, but the app has been an easily accessible way to continue my learning on the go – wherever in the world I am. The lessons are excellent.

Divided into speaking, listening, reading and writing, there’s an incredibly large collection to choose from, and they’re all designed to help users hone their grasp of Spanish.

There are five levels to get through, with about 30 different lessons per level, each lasting around 45 minutes.

There is also an old school flash card system, which offers a great way of practising new words and phrases.

However, there’s no autocorrect here – your spelling must be perfect.

In my case, video tutorials really help me get to grips with the most difficult aspects of the language so instead of learning the direct translation of a sentence or phrase by rote, I get a deeper understanding of why sentences are structured the way they are.

There is a fair amount of repetition, which can sometimes feel frustrating, but I’ve come to accept the reality that this is the only fool-proof way of becoming fluent in another language.

There is, however, nothing quite like practising in a Spanish-speaking country.

But while I’ve got an eye on another immersive trip in Costa Rica or Colombia, I’ll keep using every feature of the app to improve my intonation, increase my vocab, and, most importantly, order that cold beer in pitch perfect Spanish.

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I decided last year at the age of 36 that I’d put excuses aside and do my level-best to learn another language.