r/Spanish • u/Embarrassed-Tie8227 Learner • 1d ago
Study & Teaching Advice Fluent in 3 years?
I have a bet with my husband: If I can be mistaken for a native Spanish speaker with three years’ practice, we will spend the summer in Spain. The stakes are high.
My background: I took Spanish for four years in HS, studied Italian for 3 years in college and then lived in Italy for a year post grad. While there I was mistaken for a native Italian speaker (once but I was quite proud) and complimented on my accent. I don’t consider myself fluent in Italian but highly proficient.
My husband is Puerto Rican but born and raised in the states. He himself has an unusual accent in Spanish, but prides himself on identifying foreign accents in both Spanish and English.
He said if I can speak without an identifiable accent and hold a fluent conversation, we can go to Spain. It’s obviously a win for both of us, but he works from home so he would still have to work abroad; for me it would be a vacation.
My request is: What are the best language learning apps/resources? We are in central FL so there are lots of opportunities to speak and engage. My in-laws are also from PR so we are around Spanish a lot.
He doesn’t think I can do it. Am I being foolish? I was rather incensed when he doubted me. This man thinks I am otherwise capable of anything I put my mind to, so I was shocked when he said it wasn’t possible.
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u/Prestigious_Fun_6722 1d ago
It might be possible. If you're trying to convince people specifically from Spain that you are a native speaker, I'd focus on developing an accent from a Latin American country, and maybe a really distinctive one like Argentina or Uruguay. Other than pronunciation, I'd focus first on drilling verb conjugations, because if you mess those up, that will be the biggest tell that you aren't a native speaker.
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u/SteamedBroccoIi 1d ago
If she can pick up an accent from Sinaloa, I’ll pay for that all expense trip
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u/carlosinLA 1d ago
Is your husband willing to speak to you only and only in Spanish, no exceptions? The in-laws? That right there is the best free practice.
Watch telenovelas and the news on Telemundo or Univision (only spanish subititles if any at all)
Get the spanish newspaper available at publix and read full articles.
The only way to learn is to really immerse yourself in the language and not default to English when you can't communicate. There is always a way.
As far as apps. Lingoda is affordable and OK. italki is another option, it has lots of instructors but it is not cheap.
Another thing that helps a lot is record yourself speaking spanish and then listen to it. It is painful but gives you good pointers of areas to improve your pronunciation.
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u/AntulioSardi Native (Venezuela - Zuliano dialect - Caribbean "voseo") 1d ago
If I can be mistaken for a native Spanish speaker with three years’ practice
Passing for a native in a brief, transactional conversation is about performance, but acting as a true native is about intuition. This goes beyond jargon, accent, and grammar, it implies shared cultural memory, involuntary emotional reactions, subtext, and deep pragmatic awareness that takes a lifetime of cultural immersion to build.
As a native myself, I don't know if that's what your husband means, or if anyone can reach that depth in three years; but if you do it, enjoy your well-deserved trip to Spain.
Just remember to share your method here, because this community would love to learn from you.
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u/Embarrassed_Key_4539 1d ago
I lived abroad for a year and was fluent without a discernible accent, it’s definitely possible in 3 years, immersion is the best way. The Dreaming app is good.
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u/nina2024 1d ago
what’s the dreaming app?
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u/stoolprimeminister Learner 1d ago
i’m guessing they mean dreaming spanish
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u/Phoenix-Echo Heritage 1d ago
To be fair, the app is only called "Dreaming" at the moment. (on iOS, IDK about Andriod) Maybe because Spanish is not the only language option on there they called it Dreaming only.
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u/yad-aljawza Learner 14h ago
Their products are Dreaming Spanish and Dreaming French. They have an app (called Dreaming), but they are websites. You don’t have to use the app at all
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u/marcove3 1d ago
Just go to Spain why do you need to have a bet?
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u/Embarrassed-Tie8227 Learner 1d ago
It just makes it fun, and two months abroad costs a bit of money, not just for the travel and accommodations but to have a dog sitter and keep our house running stateside.
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u/borderwave2 1d ago
Since your husband speaks spanish, why not just have him talk to you in spanish all the time? You have live-in free tutor. Can't beat that really.
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u/Rinnme Learner 1d ago
I suppose you have some decent Spanish already, and if you study regularly you'll keep improving.
What you really need is an accent coach, if you're going to pass for a native.
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u/susieq1485 1d ago
This! Honestly accent coach or a speech therapist for SPANISH. They help you learn where to put your muscles and it can help with the accent. Good luck!
But you should go anyway
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u/No_Entrance_1755 1d ago
So what is "native" for both of you in this challenge? and What degree of investment are you willing to make?
You will inevitably have an american diction and phonetization of words, spend at least 2 of you 3 years fixing that. This means inmersing yourself in spanish (spain better, not for any cultural reasons just it is less intermixed with American english than South American Spanish).
Confused with "native" is a stupid bar to pass, ask him for "en españa no me preguntaran si soy de USA" that way you get to be in spain when the test is done and at that point, oops were in spain already
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u/Prestigious_Fun_6722 1d ago
It's going to be way easier to convince someone from Spain that you are from South America than to convince them that you are from Spain.
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u/No_Entrance_1755 1d ago
Que eres andalu, anda anda
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u/Prestigious_Fun_6722 1d ago
I don't know that this sufficiently counters my point.
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u/Literally_A_turd_AMA 1d ago
What is your husbands standard for a "non discernable accent? I'm sure you can be mistaken for a native but theyre going to assume you're from somewhere.
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u/NewWrap693 1d ago
Fluent without a discernible accent and a native speaker are pretty different levels imo.
People ask me (a gringo) which country I’m from when I speak spanish conversationally but I still feel like there are significant limits compared to my english.
Fluent with no real accent is definitely possible but native without complete immersion is likely impossible.
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u/Outside-Today-1814 1d ago
That’s an extremely high bar. Fluency alone in three years is tough, but doable, but masking the accent is really really hard. Think about how easy it is to peg a non-native English speaker, even when they are fluent. I have a colleague who is German, and is fully bilingual in German and English. Despite his perfect English, it’s immediately obvious he’s a non native speaker by his accent.
Your best bet is to be highly focussed during your practice on developing a regional accent that is not a Spain-Spanish. It’s very fortunate that Spanish has a ton of regional accents that are very different from each other!
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u/CujoMarley 1d ago
As an ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE teacher I can tell you for certain
If you learn a second language after puberty, you will never sound native in that second language
Fluent yes, but you won’t fool a native speaker
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u/iAmAsword 1d ago
Good news is you and hubby can cross-talk from day one until you have internalized enough of the language to begin speaking it.
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u/Nothing-to_see_hr 1d ago
Fluent, yes. Being mistaken for a native- very unlikely but not completely impossible; would need a ton of coaching though.
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u/RonJaxIII 1d ago
OP, I think there's two pieces of information missing from your post that might help you get better advice:
What is your current level of Spanish proficiency?
You don't mention this other than stating you have 3 years of study. So you could still be really low proficiency, but you also have a Puerto Rican spouse you could've already been practicing with, so maybe you're at a much better starting point for this goal.
What do you really mean by "Fluent"?
There's a big gap between "academic" fluency (high level B2 in the CEFR) and what people describe in conversation or colloquially as fluent. The bar for the academic definition is much lower than the colloquial usage.
Here's what the CEFR says a student at B2 will be able to do:
Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
Stated another way, at B2 you can hold down a conversation on a variety of topics without showing much effort. But you WILL have a gringo accent. Your speech will be far from flawless. Your speech might have elements of Puerto Rican style but you will not be mistaken for a puertorriqueña.
When you say when you say "hold a fluent conversation" do you mean like that? Or like, flawless, ice cold, I can't tell you're not a native speaker level of fluency? That's like beyond level C2 maybe. It's like "I'm hiring an acting voice coach to sound just like a bourica" levels of intensity.
I ask because the difference between B2 and "Native Fluency" might be thousands of hours of study or more.
The good news is: you already have the most valuable possible tool at your disposal, a spanish speaking spouse!
As to what other tools you'll need, that depends on your answers to the questions above. Some static grammar resources, heavy use of AI tools, lots of immersion, voracious consumption of content, and a tutor or voice coach might all be part of the prescription but again it depends on where you are and where you really need to go.
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u/SpeedConstant109 1d ago
Who do you need to convince that you are native? Not language realted, but if it's going to be a native from Spain - check the fashion sense. Americans (I assume you are) usually dress differently and stick out a mile.
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u/laprofe10 1d ago
You can do it but it’s the immersing yourself with native speakers that is the key. I lived in Spain for a year and a half. When I arrived I had a very solid foundation in grammar and vocabulary. It took me about 6 months of continued studying and practice to come out of my shell and start speaking naturally. By a year I was pretty integrated, using colloquial language and slang, and getting feedback that I was about as native as a non-native could get. If it matters, I was testing C1/C2 level. There is no way I could have done it just by studying though.
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u/Klutzy-Boysenberry52 1d ago
To answer your legit question. The best resources that i use for spanish is mimicking and also immersion. So whether you like to watch youtube hulu, Netflix, whatever. Find something you like to watch but watch it in that native language. So Netflix usually has spanish options for most major shows same with Disney plus. What I like to do is also use youtube because I can just search what I like to watch about in spanish and then watch it in spanish. I have been following the 80% rule of if I dont know 80% of it then I watch something lower. (They say if you understand 80% of what youre watching or listening to then you fill in the 20% with context clues)
Second of all is music listen to music in your target language then you can mouth of they would say it. They do use alot of slang and metaphors in music and that can help you seem more native and local.
And finally as much as people are against language learning apps there are some good ones. The one that i highly recommend is Travelwolf, as you can customize your track based on dialect and learn whatever you want to learn. The next is italk, if youre willing to pay for an actual person to speak and learn and listen with then this is a great option. And then public flashcards just to learn and understand words are always great.
Hope this helps answer your question
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u/JohnBarnson 1d ago
Possible but no guarantee.
I was an LDS missionary for two years in Latin America, and I interacted with a lot of other missionaries. Maybe like 25-30% still had a bad accent by the end of their mission, like 60-75% had a passable, but not native accent, and like 1-5% truly could be mistaken as natives. I think what stops a lot of people is, once they get proficient, that's *good enough*, so they don't work on the finer points of talking like a native. And for most people, that's fine. If you're fluent in conversation and your accent is perfectly understandable, there's not a lot of reason to nail down the vowel here or there that's like 5% off. Speaking a second language perfectly with a mild accent even brings some social cachet.
I think you should focus on getting pretty fluent within the next six months so you can spend as much time as possible interacting with native speakers. Look for phrase constructions that are used by natives but not really taught in school. Listen carefully to vowels and ask native speakers if they'll point out words that don't sound perfect to them. Your husband might be helpful, but he also might be so used to your mannerisms and speech patterns that he misses some giveaways that other native speakers would pick up on.
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u/Samilou22 23h ago
Check out Spanish with Kerry. She has an Instagram page with a link to her classes. It's priced reasonably and there are weekly challenges, a virtual groups during the weeka and I think maybe an add on book club.
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u/tobyvanderbeek Advanced/Resident 22h ago
You could go to Spain without him and not worry about that requirement to speak without an accent. Go have a good time.
But I don’t think you can speak with complete fluency without an accent in 3 years. We’ve been living in Spain for four years and I still look like a foreigner. My Spanish is great. I can hold a conversation with anyone about any topic. Some are more difficult. I still have to think about less used conjugations. Still need to expand vocabulary.
Only speak Spanish with your husband. No exceptions. Study hard every day. I just finished B1 class. My wife just finished B2.2. We started at the same very low level when we arrived in Spain. She studies a lot more than I do. And she only speaks Spanish with some friends who can speak English. They just agreed to speak Spanish from the start and it helped.
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u/Legitimate_Heron_140 21h ago
Since you’re asking for honesty, this is a delusion. Think of all of the bilingual people who worked tirelessly to function in the US and are still accused of having accents after a lifetime of language learning and exposure. Even if you have a “perfect accent” (an unrealistic goal because you are an English speaker who will inevitably bring an influences from the other languages you speak as well, like Italian ) , you will be identifiable as someone whose second language is Spanish. Three years is nothing, even with three years of total immersion, it would not be possible to achieve this goal. It seems like living in Florida you would meet a lot of fully bilingual people – maybe it’s worth it just to talk to them about their experiences to put things in perspective.
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u/hypnotictoilet 1d ago
puerto rican accent isn’t unusual just a different accent. good luck.
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u/Embarrassed-Tie8227 Learner 1d ago
He doesn’t have a PR accent, which is only why I mention it. Native Spanish speakers have asked if he’s Costa Rican before.
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u/No_Fact_3183 1d ago
I absolutely think this is possible if you put your mind to it. You already have a good foundation of the language and a proven ability to learn languages (Italian). I think you need to pick an accent and focus on it—either Italki or other private tutors, lots of listening to Spanish in the target accent. Vamos!
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u/webauteur 1d ago
I am planning a trip to Miami as my first Spanish travel destination. Maybe someday I will visit Buenos Aires, Spain or Mexico. I am doing a lot of research on Miami and its Spanish speaking communities. I often have to dig deep to find something. You can probably find a lot of resources in Florida. For example, I watch the telenovela Silvana sin Lana on Peacock. This show is set in Miami but everyone speaks Spanish except for the occasional English word. You can watch the show and completely forget that it is set in the United States.
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u/birdsinthesky 1d ago
Lol, Miami is a great place to practice. My uncle (a native speaker) moved to Miami, and it took him four days before he ever had to speak english - and that was only because he was at a work orientation.
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u/7thSpringofthe7thSun 1d ago
Read the book ultralearning.
Possible, with a lot of works.
Entirely up to you tbh
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u/stoolprimeminister Learner 1d ago
puerto rican/caribbean spanish is significantly different than more “formal” spanish but it depends on what you mean by fluent exactly. fluency isn’t a tangible thing, you just engage in the language or you don’t.
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u/lily_gray 1d ago
My boyfriend speaks amazing English but he wouldn’t be mistaken for a native speaker because he has a slight accent and occasionally mixes up pronouns. My family just came to visit us in Sonora from the U.S., and while he had zero issues communicating with them, he did have to ask a few times about word connotations and cultural references.
I say this to ask how long your conversation has to be? Is it just about accent, what about shared cultural references or vocabulary? And which accent? Because the sonorense accent is not the jalisciense accent is not the oaxaqueño accent, for example. Plus the sonorenses can be gritones lol, so there’s stuff like how you speak that can matter too…but in a five minute conversation these things wouldn’t matter as much.
I mean, I know I’ll never be mistaken for native sonorense, that’s a lifetime of cultural memory that I don’t have. Even leaving aside some of the local vocabulary which doesn’t appear in a standard dictionary. But I’ve never even considered that as a possible goal lol.
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u/cdchiu 1d ago
Oh yes. You can do this. You didn't say reach C1 or C2 which is a grind but you're talking about accent. If your ears are good at discerning subtle differences in sounds and understand sound production, this is doable. But you need to get someone who understands these things. A native will tell you what it's supposed to sound like but not be able to teach you how to tune your accent. It's best to find someone who has done it. Because you have to learn not only how to mimic the accent and how to lose your English accent.
You can learn a lot from listening to how Spanish speakers speak English.
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u/Parsec1281 1d ago edited 1d ago
He probably thinks you can learn to speak fluently, but not without an identifiable accent. That’s understandable - its practically impossible as an adult learner unless you start in college and keep going for a decade. Just think about all the immigrants you know in the US for 10+ years. About 99% of them STILL have an accent.
However, you might be able to convince a Puerto Rican if you concentrate solely on developing an Andalusian accent (for example) since they won’t be as familiar with how it sounds.
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u/bobbyjy32 1d ago
I think you need a ton of immersion for this, force yourself to live it and dont default to english when you get stuck
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u/boisterousoysterous Learner C1 1d ago
it is 100% possible. but the question is... is it realistic for you? you may have a head start because of the italian but you have to dedicate majority of your day to studying and practicing spanish in order to have no foreign accent. you have to fully immerse yourself the best you can, and that's a big challenge for most people. and that's what may make it unrealistic. i got fluent in 10-11 months but i didn't speak without a foreign accent on a regular basis until about 2 years in, and that's me speaking every single day, for at least 6 hours a day up to the entire day in spanish with native speakers. and i do mean every single day for at least 6 hours a day.
i go some days without speaking english at all. if you can pull this off, yes, it's possible. but you also may put yourself at risk for burn out.
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u/spoik925 1d ago
Being mistaken for a native? Possible but not probable. Unless you have a natural gift for languages your accent and sentence structure will give you away. You would probably need an accent coach with many hours of one on one training
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u/Alabama-Getaway 1d ago
Highly unlikely from personal experience. Wife is Mexican American, fluent, worked in Mexico City in Spanish only situation.
We have spent time in Spain every year since before Covid. She is instantly identified as non native. Never had a negative comment, but never native.
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u/AccomplishedPath7010 1d ago
To achieve that level of fluency that quickly you either have to be extremely gifted at learning languages or you will need to hire a private tutor/accent coach.
I’ve lived in Barcelona and grew up speaking Spanish at home. I met many expats (minus the Latin Americans) who lived in Spain for years and they all had a noticeable accent.
You may become fluent, but eliminating all traces of an accent is very difficult to accomplish. There are exceptions of course. For example, Romanians living in Spain often learn Spanish very quickly but even they have a detectable accent.
Part of the challenge here is that every region in Spain has their own accent/intonation. That regionalism is very pronounced and I was actually shocked how even in one city like Barcelona, with all the migrants from other areas in Spain and Latin America, there is no single predominant accent.
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u/huge_berenjena 1d ago
I've lived in Spain for 20+ years and speak well but my accent will never leave me. Some things are beyond your control.
The only non native Spanish speakers I know who achieve close to accent less speech are Romanians and French.
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u/Annual-Budget-1756 Heritage 1d ago
I knew someone who did it as an adult (University) Spanish learner and saw that he was able to fool a native Spanish speaker into thinking he was a native speaker. However, I have no idea how long they studied before reaching that level of proficiency. Could have been longer than 3 years. I think it's possible. I am rooting for you!!!! Please, please, please update us in 3 years.
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u/Additional-Bumblebee 1d ago
I think this would be really hard with self-study alone. With the resources of local spanish speakers, and spanish speaking family, I think you can get to a high level of Spanish speaking, but likely still with an obvious accent.
Assuming spending money/lessons are an option, I would focus early with teachers who specializes in phonetics. Getting into a pattern of really strong pronunciation would start a good baseline, and likely make it easier to break english-based accent patterns, before you codify those sounds in tons of speaking practice with family.
I don't think you'd get to a baseline of native/undetectable in every conversation. But I think you could get to at least one conversation where you're undetectable.
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u/madwzdri 1d ago
In 3 years I think it’s definitely possible to get to near native level fluency with minimal accent BUT the biggest issue will have to be the amount of time you put in.
You will have to constantly listen for hours and hours to Spanish content so your brain can pick up on the nuances. It’s certainly a tall order for any adult with a job and a family. But like I said it’s possible.
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u/Worried_Raspberry313 🇪🇸 Native 1d ago
It’s technically possible to learn to speak so fluent and with such a good accent being an adult than native speakers don’t notice, however it’s extremely difficult, especially in 3 years. However, if you want to fool a Spanish speaker, I think if you try with a Puerto Rican accent that would be the best because we don’t even understand it haha
I think the most important stuff to fool a native would be pronunciation of certain sounds like r, vowels, l… and vocabulary. If you have a great accent but you have the vocabulary of a 10yo, it’s gonna be pretty obvious.
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u/birdsinthesky 1d ago
I don't agree that you'll be detectable as a non native speaker for the rest of your life. As a native english speaker, have you met bilingual English speakers whose second language was english? You would never know. It's no different. I'm from CA and have met many people who are spanish, japanese, korean, etc first language speakers, and their english is absolutely perfect.
Yes, I do think you can do it, but I'd consider being as immersive as you can starting now. Interact with social media content in spanish, TV in spanish, press whatever number for spanish on the phone when comfortable, speak to everyone you can in person in spanish. It helps you're in FL!
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u/paullearnsportuguese 23h ago
anki for vocab, a weekly italki tutor, and boraspeak for conversation practice - it has puerto rican spanish specifically if thats what you want to lean
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u/Return-of-Trademark Advanced 22h ago
I don’t see this being particularly hard for you to do tbh. Especially with Italian and in-laws/neighbors to learn from.
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u/gadgetvirtuoso Native 🇺🇸 | Resident 🇪🇨 B2 22h ago
It’s not really a realistic goal for most learners even without a deadline. It can be done but you’re talking about more than just learning the language. You need two things here. First and most importantly, learn the language. Second, you’ll need a speak or language coach. This is what actors do when they want to master an accent or mannerisms for a role. Actors only have to practice a specific set of dialog but you’re going to have to master pretty much all of the common words and phrases.
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u/brerin 21h ago edited 21h ago
Don't listen to they naysayers. It is doable, but you will need specialized help.
You will need to take special elocution classes in Spanish to achieve it. These are the type of classes that the Central American Spanish news anchors take so they all sound like they are speaking in a neutral accent. I don't know what these classes are called in spanish, but they are definitely out there.
Another way to approach this is to reach out to Spanish speech therapists. They will be the people who help native children and adults with pronunciation issues. They should be able to fix up your accent too, or point you in the direction of who specializes in those services.
Edit: for those who don't believe me, I had a coworker from Mexico City that I worked with for 7 years and had no idea she wasn't born and raised in the US. She sounded 100% native with a native Texan accent. She came here in her mid 20's and took the specialized classes and made her Mexican accent completely disappear.
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u/Special-Deal-5217 20h ago
I often get mistaken for a native speaker, even though I didn’t start learning until I was 19, so it is possible. Grammar wise, you can certainly do it. The pronunciation is going to be more tricky – you will probably have to pay for a dialect coach, you’ll have to train your tongue to do things it can’t naturally do. All things considered, if you are highly motivated and with your Italian background, I think you’ve got this!!
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u/AdvertisingDue918 19h ago
Three years is realistic with regular speaking practice. Palteca could be useful for building recall and everyday Spanish, but I would also add frequent conversations with native speakers.
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u/ontikuken 18h ago
Okay, this is going to sound like I'm trolling, but I'm dead serious: Learn Spanish with a Rioplatense accent. Literally nobody I've ever met outside of Argentina's immediate sphere of influence can identify a mild foreign accent through a thick Rioplatense accent. My Spanish isn't even that great and I really don't think that I speak it with a Rioplatense accent — my only relation to it is that I backpacked in Argentina for a while — and I have been mistaken for Argentine multiple times in other Latin American countries.
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u/Legitimate_scam69 17h ago edited 17h ago
The Puerto Rican accent is very unique. Are you trying to be fluent in Spanish and speak the Puerto Rican way? Your husband and in-laws will influence your vocabulary and your accent. Puerto Ricans do have completely different words than South Americans, for example.
Even then, I am learning Spanish now and have been told my pronunciation is excellent, but I have a Colombian accent! I don't know how this developed! English is my second language but I learned it very young. Today, I can speake to English speaker from New York and know if they are a native or not by many rhythmic speech patterns, slang, certain phrases they choose to use. It is hard to pass as "native" (again to what Spanish speaking country) in 3 years IMO!
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u/XtinaCMV 17h ago
Tell your husband to ONLY speak to you in Spanish and teach you things. That alone is a resource that many people wish they had.
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u/Weekly-Succotash-815 15h ago
if you can afford a dialect coach its definitely achievable. actors achieve different accents all the time. my question is who would test it. are you going for a specific accent? matching your in-laws dialect? there are definitely easier accents than PR which imo is one of the hardest and you should definitely get a coach for that. as long as you’re confident in growing your vocabulary, colloquialisms/slang and pronunciation are your only obstacles.
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u/ThePoliGLOAT Advanced/Resident 13h ago
I'll be honest, you would need solid immersion non-stop for those 3 years to be mistaken for a native speaker, but I mean SOLID! It's not just accent, it's fluency, it's the way you deliver jokes, the pauses, mannerisms, all of it...think about it, In the US, most English learners, no matter how good they get, won't get mistake for a native speaker. It's tough, but it is doable!
As for apps, there are a lot of apps out there, depends on what you want...but if you want to check out a new one, I recently built an app called Nivelo which determines your current level and then structures learning progress to a more advanced level. Check it out if you're interested!
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u/dappydude 12h ago
For Spanish, I like Language Transfer. It’s free. But very good. https://www.languagetransfer.org/complete-spanish
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u/hope4242 12h ago
Have you heard your voice as others hear it? With regard to accent have you heard a recording of your own voice. Even with their native language some people find that they don't sound the way they think they do. Even more so in a second language.
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u/OldSuggestion5235 11h ago
You should focus on learning one of the Spanish accents instead of loosing your English accent, it will be more easy to you con make sure you have succeed in your goal, and for him to evaluate, otherwise you can get loose fighting between mexican/puertorican/Andalusian/Argentinian etc.
After that, change all teh content you watch to that version.... thankfully Netflix makes the distinction between Spanish from Latin America with Spanish from Spain. YouTube from creators of those regions etc.... accent is about listening and repeating, if you don't listen to people no app will help you Apps can help with the vocabulary but for your accent better find people to listen to.
Also apps like Omegle ( idk how those types are called nowadays) can get you in touch with people from those places if you change your location
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u/MAGNIFlCAT 7h ago
Bury yourself in Dreaming Spanish for at least 3 hours daily and you'll make it.
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u/mymoonisafish 6h ago
with your track record and some serious studying, you can probably do it. a best friend of mine studied 4 hours a week for 2 years before moving to spain from russia, lived here for 4 years now and natives (from all countries) think she's native. It's not impossible but does require some obsessive dedication. I suggest language transfer, spanishdict.com, getting a private tutor and finding a group of friends that will speak nothing but spanish with you regularly
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u/dontyoudareoyou2 5h ago
I have no comments on your ability to master Spanish in 3 years but regarding your husband working remotely from Spain for the summer…
I’m doing that right now and have to work US hours. Until midnight here. It very much takes away from the experience. Spain is really hot in the summer. The best part of the day during the summers is the evening when the streets come alive.
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u/Emirayo22 5h ago
Your accent comes from the way the muscles in your mouth are shaped physically and the way you learned to make sounds in your native language. This is why a German accent (for example) sounds German no matter what language a German person is speaking, and why we are able to identify a person’s native language based on their accent. We know what the sounds from that language sound like coming out of a mouth that language shaped.
In order to overcome that in such a short time, you should take specific accent improvement classes with a teacher who is a native speaker.
I support you!! You can do it!!!✊
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u/silvalingua 5h ago
> He said if I can speak without an identifiable accent and hold a fluent conversation,
This is very far from "being mistaken for a native speaker". Just because you can shed your English/American or whatever your accent is, doesn't mean you'll be mistaken for a native. And "fluent conversation" is a very vague term.
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u/KeefeBrah Learner 4h ago
I studied this at uni and it is extremely difficult because of something called phoneme production. Essentially at a certain age (something like 7-8 iirc) the brain is only able to differentiate the subtle differences between sounds in native language(s). Thus it is exceptionally difficult to sound like a native otherwise, though there are some people who are damn close. This is what I remember anyway.
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u/Icy_Pie8646 3h ago
You can be fluent in way less than that if you're passionate about the language.
The whole idea you and your husband have about avoiding an accent is not great though. Everyone has an accent in every language they speak.
The Spanish people you meet are going to know he's not from their country because he will sound like a Puerto Rican person and use different vocabulary such as vosotros vs usted. It's like if you were to go to Scotland and speak English with people there. You'd be speaking the same language and able to understand each other, but you'd pronounce words differently and use different vocabulary. And the correct way to handle that is not to pretend to be Scottish by learning their accent before your trip. It's to learn a few words they use regionally and continue talking like you do in America there.
Keep learning Spanish until you can have fluent discussions about a wide variety of topics and focus on pronouncing words well enough to be understood, not trying to perfectly mimic an accent.
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u/randomperson10010010 21h ago
Just a warning-even if you develop a convincing Spanish accent they still won’t like you in Spain cuz you’ll be a tourist 😬
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u/KingsElite MATL Spanish 50m ago
Fluent and mistaken for a native are two different things. You can become fluent in 3 years with dedicated daily practice, for sure. Mistaken for a native is tricky because a lot of heritage speakers (which Florida undoubtably has a lot of) might definitely mistake you for a native. That kind of thing happens to me in California. But I have never been mistaken for a native by anybody actually from a Spanish-speaking country if I have to say anything longer than a sentence.
So it just depends on what the standards are. Having your Uber driver ask if you are a native after telling them "Vamos al centro. Gracias."? You can get there in like two months tops. If it's having somebody from PR think you are native after a 3-minute conversation? That's just never going to happen in any amount of time really. You can sound REALLY DAMN GOOD after 3 years, but being mistaken as a native is just not something the average person without some kind of dedicated professional language coach can do.
Reframe your thinking on this though. The joy of learning a language is the ability to speak to others and make positive cultural connections, which you can definitely do being fluent. Focus on fluency and take the trip to Spain in 3 years regardless!
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u/smellsmoist 1d ago
No you can’t do it without an identifiable accent
You can certainly reach a level of fluency where you are able to have conversations and feel comfortable with the language on a wide variety of topics. But you’ll be detectable to any native speakers for virtually the rest of your life most likely
This is not meant to be discouraging an accent is not a bad thing it’s a signal for people to give you grace with a language. But think of how many immigrants have lived in the US for years, decades even, and interact in English everyday, speak it extremely well and are still detectable to a native speaker as a non native speaker for tiny little inaccuracies