Spanish Fossilization: How to Avoid the Big Spanish Mistake!

Have you ever felt that no matter what you do, you keep making the same mistakes over and over again in Spanish?

ALEX
Pásame la agua, porfa.
(Pass me the water, please.)

MAURA
“El agua” Alex, “el agua”.
(”The water” Alex, “the water”.)

ALEX
¡Ah! ¡Yo sé! ¿Por qué siempre me pasa eso?
(Ah! I know! Why does that always happen to me?)

Today we’re going to talk about a phenomenon that could be the culprit: Spanish fossilization, and how to overcome it so that Spanish phrases flow out of you smoothly!

1. What is brain fossilization in Spanish?

ALEX
¡No me asustes! ¿Qué es la fosilización cerebral?
(Don’t scare me! What’s brain fossilization?)

MAURA
Alejandra, ¿nos ayudas con esto, porfis?
(Alejandra, can you help us with this, please?)

ALEJANDRA
¡Claro que sí! El “British Education Council” describe la fosilización cerebral de la siguiente manera:
(Of course! The “British Education Council” describes brain fossilization as follows:)
“La fosilización se refiere al proceso en el que un lenguaje incorrecto se convierte en un hábito y no puede corregirse fácilmente.”
(“Fossilization refers to the process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot be easily corrected.”)

MAURA
O, para decirlo más claramente: si cometes el mismo error en español suficientes veces (especialmente como principiante), cometerás ese error para siempre.
(Or, to put it more bluntly: if you make the same mistake in Spanish enough times (especially as a beginner), you’ll make that mistake forever.)

ALEX
¡¿Que qué?!
(Say what?!)

MAURA
No te preocupes, no es tan malo. Y hay una forma fácil de evitarlo… Si sabes cómo entran estos errores en tu cerebro en primer lugar.
(Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. And there’s an easy way to avoid it… If you know how these mistakes enter your brain in the first place.)

ALEX
¡Auxilio!
(Help!)

2. Why does brain fossilization occur?

Well, let’s see how fossilization occurs in practice through what I call a “recipe for disaster”.

• Step 1: You learn a bunch of isolated words.
• Step 2: You learn a bunch of grammar rules.
• Step 3: You use the above hoping for the best.
• Step 4 (the disaster): You start repeating mistakes unknowingly.

ALEX
Pero, aprender todas esas palabras y reglas gramaticales es bueno, ¿no? ¿Por qué ocurre la fosilización y hay errores que no superas?
(But, learning all those words and grammar rules is good, isn’t it? Why does fossilization occur and there are mistakes that you don’t overcome?)

MAURA
¡Claro! Todo el aprendizaje es útil, pero hay que tener cuidado con la estrategia. Si pasas la mayor parte del tiempo aprendiendo palabras y reglas gramaticales en lugar de escuchar a hablantes nativos, no sabrás cómo lucen o suenan las frases correctas en español. Es como tener los ingredientes de una torta, pero no saber cómo debería lucir la torta al final.
(Sure! All learning is useful, but you have to be careful with the strategy. If you spend most of your time learning words and grammar rules instead of listening to native speakers, you won’t know what correct Spanish sentences look or sound like. It’s like having the ingredients to a cake, but not knowing how the cake should look in the end.)

ALEX
Claro. Es que terminas intentando traducir palabra por palabra de tu idioma natal al español.
(Of course. It’s just that you end up trying to translate word for word from your native language into Spanish.)

MAURA
¡Exacto! Básicamente estás inventando tu propia versión del español, basándote en algunas palabras, algo de gramática y tu idioma natal. Por falta de alternativa, estos errores se graban en tu cerebro, literalmente se “fosilizan”. Y es difícil deshacerse de ellos.
(Exactly! You’re basically making up your own version of Spanish, based on a few words, some grammar and your native language. For lack of an alternative, these mistakes become engraved in your brain, literally “fossilized”. And it’s hard to get rid of them.)

ALEX
Eso suena horrible.
(That sounds horrible.)

MAURA
Sí… Enfoquémonos en una mejor alternativa.
(Yes… Let’s focus on a better alternative.)

3. The alternative to fight Spanish fossilization: Conversation Based Chunking

ALEX
¿Qué debería hacer, entonces?
(What should I do, then?)

MAURA
Es tan simple que vas a pensar que no es nada o “¿por qué no lo pensé antes?”. No tienes que inventar tus propias oraciones en español basándote en reglas gramaticales. El trabajo es familiarizarte, entender y repetir las oraciones que ya están hechas por los nativos.
(It’s so simple you’re going to think it’s nothing or “why didn’t I think of that before?”. You don’t have to invent your own Spanish sentences based on grammatical rules. The job is to familiarize yourself, understand, and repeat sentences that are already made up by native speakers.)

ALEX
¡Los chunks! Pero eso requiere mucha memoria, ¿no?
(Chunks! But that requires a lot of memory, right?)

MAURA
No más que la que requiere memorizar reglas gramaticales. De hecho, simplemente escucharme hablar español ya te ayuda a “absorber” frases correctas en español. Y, te ahorra un montón de esfuerzo a la hora de usar esas frases.
(No more so than memorizing grammar rules. In fact, simply listening to me speaking Spanish already helps you “absorb” correct Spanish sentences. And, it saves you a lot of effort when it comes to using sentences.)

The idea is that millions of natives speak Spanish daily without having to learn grammar. On top of that, they’re saying exactly what you’re trying to say, because most of life is similar between people. Basically, you’re not the first person trying to say things like:

• Tengo frío. (I’m cold.)
• Quiero comer tacos. (I want to eat tacos.)
• A mí no me gustan las aceitunas. (I don’t like olives.)

People are saying this all the time everywhere.

The good news is that you can start using these sentences right away. This combination of words is what linguists, and Alex, call “chunks”. And, just in case, it’s what we teach at Spring Spanish. Once you’ve done this, you memorize, repeat and use these chunks. This way, it’s this natural Spanish that becomes fossilized in your brain. Better, right? Let’s put this to the test a little bit with some examples.

What would you say in Spanish if you had to say:

• I don’t exercise a lot.

The most common answer would be: Yo no hago mucho ejercicio.

Using the verb “ejercitarse” is less common. And we usually use the chunk “hacer ejercicio” instead. Let’s try another one, what would you say in Spanish to translate:

• I always try to rest on the weekends.

The most common answer would be: Siempre trato o intento descansar los fines de semana. We usually don’t use “Yo” (I) in Spanish and say “los fines de semana” (the weekends) not “en los fines de semana” (on the weekends.)

Now let’s see what happens when we listen to natives instead of translating:

MAURA
¿Y tú cuándo vas a clases de yoga?
(When do you go to yoga classes?)

ALEJANDRA
Suelo ir los lunes. Si no lo logro, voy los domingos por la mañana.
(I usually go on Mondays. If I don’t make it, I go on Sunday mornings.)

MAURA
¿Temprano? ¡Qué horror! Yo no me levanto temprano un domingo por nada del mundo.
(Early? How awful! I wouldn’t get up early on a Sunday for anything in the world.)

ALEJANDRA
Sí, por eso intento ir los lunes mejor. Además, así empiezo la semana de buen ánimo.
(Yes, that’s why I better try to go on Mondays. Besides, that way I start the week in a good mood.)

If you listen carefully there are several chunks you can take from this conversation. You don’t need to understand the grammar, you can trust because that’s how natives say it. For example:

• ¿Cuándo vas a…? (When do you go to…?): use this question to directly ask someone when they go somewhere.
• Los lunes, los domingos (On Mondays, on Sundays): we use “los” in Spanish with the days to talk about periodic activities. Use it with any day of the week in the plural!
• ¡Qué horror! (How awful!): these chunks are fun because they never change one bit. Express dislike for anything with this chunk.
• De buen ánimo (In a good mood): you could also hear “de buen humor” and it would be the same.

Now you know how to fight against brain fossilization! I hope you felt better knowing that it’s a very common thing and that it can be combated.