Self-studying Spanish has been one of the wildest roller coasters of my life—full of false starts, random breakthroughs, and plenty of “Qué carajos…?” moments. But it all started way back in 2011, on my Contiki tour through Europe, when Barcelona stole my heart and accidentally kicked off a lifelong obsession.

I remember standing in a little souvenir shop, grabbing a tiny English–Spanish phrasebook. I still have it to this day—kept in a plastic sandwich zip-lock bag and held together with a hairband because, honestly, it has survived countries. Back then, everything was just… words. I didn’t even know conjugations existed. If only past-me knew what was coming.

When I got back to Australia, I did what everyone does: I downloaded Duolingo. I smashed out a few weeks, got bored, stopped… then months later started again from scratch. This little cycle repeated itself far too many times. It was a ride, but not one that actually went anywhere.

Fast-forward to 2017. I was living in Canada, working as a housekeeper at Wya Point Lodge, when I found the podcast Coffee Break Spanish. And honestly… it was great! But once again, the interest faded. Story of my life up until then.

It wasn’t until I accidentally/on purpose got stuck in Costa Rica during Covid that my Spanish journey finally got serious. While Vastty, my Tica hermana, worked online for eight hours a day, I’d sit outside soaking up the jungle vibes, watching YouTube, Googling every random question that popped into my head, and Google-translating basically every thought.

That’s when I found Ana from Butterfly Spanish—a quirky, fun Mexican teacher with amazing free lessons. She helped me so much, but my brain still felt like a messy drawer full of random grammar bits. I’d constantly think:

• “What the actual f…?”
• “How does THAT make sense?”
• “Why is this verb doing that?”

Spoiler: these thoughts disappear once you just accept Spanish on its own terms.

Eventually, I got myself a local Costa Rican tutor for a month to organise all the chaos in my head. That alone helped things start to click.

Then—game. changer.

A friend introduced me to a book called Step-by-Step Spanish by Barbara Bregstein. If you’ve read my post about learning Spanish through listening, you already know I’m obsessed. You can actually find the audiobook on Spotify Premium at no extra cost, or on Amazon Audible if audio is more your vibe.

This book literally breaks everything down in the clearest way possible. Suddenly Spanish wasn’t a chaotic mess—it was logical. Understandable. Doable.

One thing that massively accelerated my progress was making my own flashcards.

I’d sit down with a stack of cards, write a verb on one side, and then every morning I’d test myself by saying all the conjugations out loud—present, past, future, subjunctive, everything. It sounds simple, but honestly… it’s powerful.

It trains your brain to:

• recognise patterns
• build muscle memory
• stop freezing when you need a verb quickly in conversation

Some days I’d absolutely smash it. Other days it felt like my tongue forgot how to move. But the consistency? That’s where the magic happens.

Another surprisingly helpful trick I added into my study routine was practising trabalenguas—Spanish tongue twisters.

These help you loosen your mouth, train your tongue to move the Spanish way, and seriously improve your pronunciation, especially with the dreaded rolling R.

My favourite one—the one that almost snapped my tongue in half—is this classic:

“Erre con erre cigarro,
erre con erre barril,
rápido corren los carros,
cargados de azúcar al ferrocarril.”

Say it slowly first, then speed it up.
If you can say this without spitting everywhere, you’re basically fluent.

Practising trabalenguas is fun, weirdly satisfying, and perfect for building confidence before speaking with real people.

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But the true hero of my Spanish self-study journey?

Qroo Paul and the Qroo Spanish Crew.

I cannot hype them enough. Paul is an absolute legend when it comes to explaining Spanish in a way that finally makes things obvious. His way of breaking down grammar, mindset, and patterns honestly matches how most of us naturally think. He fills in the gaps the textbooks miss and makes Spanish feel like something you can actually use in real life.

Self-studying can be hard, messy, and overwhelming—but with the right resources, the right teachers, a stack of flashcards, a few trabalenguas, and a little bit of Costa Rican jungle magic, you really can go from confused to confident. If you want more tips, check out my blog pages: Learn Spanish by Reading, Learn Spanish by Listening, and the Qroo Spanish Crew for practical lessons and guidance.

And if my disaster-to-breakthrough journey says anything, it’s this:

Don’t give up on Spanish. It might take you a while… but when it clicks, it becomes addictive.

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