In many school subjects, such as sciences as social sciences, we need to learn and understand information on that topic. Often, when it comes to tests and exams, we will have forgotten quite a lot of the information that we have been learning in class and will need to go back through it and refresh our memories so that we can use it in the exam, either by proving that we have memorised the information or by applying it in some way, like using formulae that we have memorised to make the correct calculations.
Languages are a skill
Languages, including Spanish, are learned and tested in a different way. There is definitely a lot of information in languages that we need to learn and understand, just like in the subjects above. For example, vocabulary or verb tenses. We need to learn and memorise them so that we can then use them. However, languages are also a skill and that’s why the different language skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) are tested in exams.
In this way, you might say that learning languages is similar to learning how to play a musical instrument or learning artistic techniques. These are not about learning information. Instead, they are about practising the skill to get better and better. Or, you might think of it like training for a sporting activity, such as a match or a race. No professional athlete would turn up for an event without having been training for a long time beforehand.
Give yourself time to develop your Spanish skills
That’s why we need to think about time when we are preparing for a language exam. In order to be ready for an exam, we need to have been working on our language skills as much as possible. The more time we dedicate to reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish, the more progress we’ll make. It might take some time for us to even notice that we’re making any progress, but this is simply the nature of learning a language. It won’t be long before you go back to some easier work and realise how far you’ve come.