As I progressed from a beginner, to an intermediate learner, and finally an advanced user of Spanish, I found that different areas of my Spanish ’skill set’ (reading, writing, listening, speaking) developed at different rates. One month I was speaking really well but having real trouble listening, three months later I suddenly felt that my listening comprehension had overtaken my speaking skills!

Once or twice a year it pays to identify where your Spanish is weakest, and concentrate hard on that area for a while, to choose a ‘Primary Focus’ for a month or two. Feel like your reading comprehension is a little behind your listening? Focus on that for a month by reading as many web pages, news articles and books in Spanish as you can get your hands on. Feel your spoken Spanish is falling behind? Get an intercambio, join a meetup.com group, talk to yourself in Spanish in the car, take some classes with Marina…

By occasionally choosing to work extra hard on one piece of the puzzle, you should make progress in giant leaps. Try focusing on one area of your Spanish for the next month, and why not let us know if you notice a big difference at the end of that time. Then you can go back to an all round approach until, a few months down the line, you notice that your grammar for example, or writing, need a month at the top of the agenda again!