A Step of Faith: Confidence and Fluency in Spanish /Un paso de fe: confianza y fluidez en español / 5 minutes of Spanish +Podcast- English version

Hi! How are you?

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are or what time you’re listening.

Welcome to podcast 280. Thanks for being here. So, what’s today’s topic?

Audio

We’re going to talk about a very small word with a lot of meaning: faith.

Faith? As in religious faith? You know, Male, our motto is not to talk about politics, religion… or soccer…

Ha ha, that’s what we say in Latin American families—we get a little passionate about certain topics—but we’re not going to talk about religion. The word “faith” can also express trust or confidence in something or someone, even when we don’t yet have all the evidence.

So I can have faith in myself.

Exactly. You can have faith in yourself, or self-confidence.

And where does the word come from?

It comes from the Latin *fides*, which means trust, loyalty, or faith. And here’s an interesting detail: in the past, the word “faith” had an accent: *fé*.

Ah! And why doesn’t it have one now?

Because the spelling changed. Today we simply write “fe,” without an accent. It’s a very short word and doesn’t need an accent.

And how do we normally use the word?

We can say, “I have faith that everything will turn out well.” Or, “I have faith in my project.” Also, “I have faith in my students.”

So it’s similar to saying “I believe in...” or “I have faith in...”.

Yes. For example: I have faith in you — I believe in you / I have faith in you.

I prefer “I have faith in you” to “I believe in you.”

Both expressions are possible, but they have nuances. “I believe in you” is very common and means that I trust in your abilities. “I have faith in you” can sound a little deeper, as if to say, “I trust you, even though I don’t yet know exactly what’s going to happen.”

Nuances

And that brings us to another important word: will.

Exactly! Willpower is the ability to decide and want to do something, especially when it’s not easy. How do we translate “willpower” into English?

It depends on the context. It can be “will,” “willpower,” or even “determination.”

So “to have willpower.”

Yes. For example: “He has a lot of willpower to learn Spanish.”

I like that for our students.

Of course. Because learning a language takes a little bit of everything: willpower, patience, and confidence.

And faith.

Faith, too. Faith that you can do it, even if you don’t understand a whole conversation today.

That happens all the time when we’re learning another language. One day we understand everything, and the next day it seems like we don’t understand a thing.

Absolutely! And that’s when we need willpower. To keep going. To try again. To listen again. To speak, even if we make mistakes.

So faith doesn’t mean being sure that everything is going to turn out fine.

No. And that’s the interesting part. Sometimes it means moving forward without being completely sure. Like taking a leap.

Sí. Un pequeño salto de fe: a leap of faith.

There’s a very famous quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that I love: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

 “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

It’s a beautiful image for learning Spanish

Because when you start studying, you can’t see the whole staircase. You don’t know how much you’re going to learn in six months. You don’t know if you’ll ever understand an entire movie, speak naturally, or have a long conversation.

But you can take the first step.

Exactly! Today you can learn five words. Tomorrow you can listen to a podcast. After that, you can talk to someone. And little by little, you build confidence.

So, confidence is also built.

Yes. Confidence is built through practice.

And can we say “to have confidence” and “to gain confidence”?

Yes. “With practice, you gain confidence.” In English: you gain confidence. You can also say “to have confidence in yourself.”

And here’s another word I really like when we talk about learning a language: fluency.

Fluency? How do we use it?

We say “to gain fluency,” especially when we’re learning to speak a language. It means starting to speak more easily, naturally, and confidently.

In English, we can translate it as “to become more fluent and comfortable” or “to gain ease and confidence when speaking.” So I can say, “I want to gain fluency in speaking Spanish.”

Of course! I want to gain fluency in speaking Spanish.

I want to become more fluent and comfortable speaking Spanish.

And is that the same as speaking fluently?

They’re closely related expressions, but not exactly the same. Speaking fluently means speaking continuously and naturally, without many pauses.

In English: to speak fluently 

 Can you give me an example?

Of course. “After several months of practice, María speaks Spanish very fluently.”

After several months of practice, María speaks Spanish fluently.

And I can also say: “I don’t speak Spanish fluently yet, but I’m gaining confidence.”

Of course! And I love that phrase because it talks about the process.

I’m not yet fluent in Spanish, but I’m gaining fluency.

In other words, I don’t have to wait until I speak perfectly to feel like I’m making progress.

Exactly! You can gain fluency little by little. First, you dare to say a sentence. Then you have a short conversation. After that, you can tell a story, explain an idea, or talk to someone without thinking so much about every word.

So, fluency also has to do with confidence.

Yes, when we practice, we gain fluency, and with that fluency, we often gain confidence. For example: “With classes and practice, I’m becoming much more fluent.”

Yes. With classes and practice, I’ve become much more fluent and comfortable.

And someday we’ll say, “Now I speak Spanish fluently.”

Exactly. But we don’t need to think about that day right from the start. We can just focus on the next step.

Like Martin Luther King’s staircase.

Exactly. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. You just have to take the first step.

And then another.

And another. And that way, little by little, you gain fluency, you gain confidence, and one day you’ll discover that you’re speaking Spanish much more fluently than you ever imagined.

Like now that you are listening all in Spanish!

Thanks for sticking with the podcast all the way to the end—with lots and lots of Spanish.

See you in class or at the workshops, whether in Los Cabos or on Zoom, or we’ll catch up on the next podcast.

See you soon.

Bye, bye