If you are constantly forgetting Spanish words, do this!

¿Me pasas el remoto?
(Can you pass me the remote?)

¿El qué?
(The what?)

La cosa para… turn on the TV.
(The thing to… turn on the TV.)

¡El control! Es para prender la tele.
(The remote! Lit.: The control) It’s to turn on the TV.)

Soy Paulísima de Spring Spanish. (I’m Paulisima de Spring Spanish.) In this video we’ll figure out why you keep forgetting words in Spanish and how to stop that once and for all!

1. Dile no al aislamiento (Say no to isolation)

Una de las razones por las que se te olvidan las palabras, es que las estás tratando de aprender aisladas. (One of the reasons why you forget words is because you’re trying to learn them isolated.) You learn them in isolation and the brain has a hard time retaining isolated information.

Do stay until the end, I’ll share some chunks you can use when you just can’t remember that word.

The best way to overcome this is learning by chunks. Chunks are phrases or word combinations than native Spanish speakers use all the time. Los chunks te ayudan a acelerar tu aprendizaje porque no tienes que inventar tu propia forma de decir las cosas. (Chunks can help speed up your learning process because you don’t have come up with your own way to say things.) Use chunks so you don’t have to try to remember that one word in the middle of a conversation. There’s a link to our Essential Spanish Chunking Kit in the description below.

Con el ejemplo del control remoto: (With the example of the remote control:)  

¿Me pasas el control? (Can you pass me the remote?)

Otro tip: (Another tip:) We also have to have a look at the way things are said in Spanish. We have to be aware of the differences. Not get obsessed with them nor trying to translate them.

In the same example: (En el mismo ejemplo: Can you pass me the remote?) ¿Me pasas el control? () In Spanish we pass the control, not the remote.  

¿Me pasas el control?
(Can you pass me the remote?)

¿Cuál control?
(Which one?)

¿Cómo que cuál?
(What do you mean which one?)

Pues, es que está el control de la tele, el control del aire…
(Well, it’s just that there’s the remote for the TV, the remote for the air conditioning…)

El de la tele, quiero prender la tele.
(The one for the TV, I want to turn on the TV.)

Prender la tele. (.) It’s an easier way to learn the verb prender in the commonly used phrase prender la tele (turn on the TV) than on its own. Other things you can prender?

Prende el aire, por favor.
(Turn on the A/C, please.)

¿Podrías prender la luz, por favor?
(Could you turn on the light, please?)

We have a whole series of videos where we teach the most important verbs in Spanish through the use of chunks. Check it out here.

2. No usar la palabra en el mundo real (Not using the word in the real world)

Otra razón importante de por qué se te olvidan las palabras, es porque no las estás usando en la vida real. (Another important reason why you forget words, is because you’re not using them in real life.)

To overcome this problem: Use the words! A few ways to do this:

• Puedes escribir algo en español. (You can write something in Spanish.)
• Aprenderte una canción o un poema que contenga la palabra. (Learn a song or a poem that contains this word.)
• Habla con hablantes nativos. (Talk to native speakers.) The more you are using a word naturally, the better it will be retained by your brain, that’s why practice is so important.

You can join the Spring Spanish Inner Circle where you get to practice your Spanish skills with me! Check out the link in the description.

3. Chunks útiles cuando no te acuerdas (Useful chunks when you can’t remember)

Sometimes even I and many other native Spanish speakers can’t remember words in our own language. Para esto, apréndete estos maravillosos chunks de español que usamos en México… todos los días. (To do this, learn these marvelous chunks of Spanish that we use in Mexico… everyday.)

• El dese (The thingy / whatchamacallit)
• El dese de la desa (The thingy of the thingy)
• El “¿cómo se llama?”/ La “¿cómo se llama”? (The “what’s its name?”)

¿Me pasas el dese?
(Can you pass me the thingy?)

¿Cuál dese?
(Which thingy?)

El dese de la desa.
(The thingy of the thingy.)

¡Ah! El control. Ten. ¿Qué quieres ver?
(Oh! The remote. Here. What do you want to watch?)

La serie esta… la ¿cómo se llama? Una coreana muy popular.
(This series… the whatchamacallit? A very popular Korean one.)

¿El juego del calamar?
(Squid game?)

¡Esa!
(That one!)

We have more tips to memorize Spanish words in the next lesson here.