Ordinarily, the ability to speak more than one language with reasonable degree of accuracy and understanding is considered to be a demonstration of above average intelligence.  However, since every human being above vegetable level has some language skills, there probably is not a direct correlation with intelligence.  It goes to prove that learning Spanish or any other language is best done by speaking Spanish. 

 

The child learns to speak Spanish by speaking it.  You can be well on your way to learning Spanish if you put yourself in a situation where you must speak Spanish. Learning Spanish is not being able to pronounce the words correctly while reading a Spanish language text.  Learning Spanish is not being able to translate a written text, or even to read it.  Learning Spanish to the point of mastery is being able to express your own ideas and concepts in the language.

 

Certainly, being able to understand what someone is saying to you is important in English, Spanish or any other language, but it is pointless if you can't formulate a reply which will get your point across.  Although you may have learned the alphabet before you went to school, knowing the alphabet without understanding the concept of phonics and how letters form words and words form sentences, is not reading.  You can only be said to understand English when you can respond to a question with the correct answer because you understood the question. 

 

The same is true when you are learning Spanish.  You can memorize a list of words, indeed hundreds of words and translate them accurately into English and back again, but that doesn't mean you have learned Spanish.  You can also memorize all the verb conjugations and masculine and feminine articles and noun endings and even use them correctly but that still doesn't signify an understanding of Spanish any more than memorizing a list of spelling words means you understand English.

 

Perhaps the most difficult part of language learning particularly for those people who are very shy and uncomfortable about communicating in English, let alone Spanish, is that they must speak the language in order to learn it.  They must be able to hear their own voice and to allow themselves to be corrected without undue emotional trauma. The audio-lingual language approach demands that verbalization of the language in order to perfect the pronunciation and intonation, but the student must still step beyond the comfort level and attempt to use the language to speak and understand native speakers.

 

The wonderful thing about Spanish in the United States is that there is almost always some native speakers within learning distance and many are willing to just talk with and listen to you talk. An important part of the process is the communication of questions and ideas to the Spanish speaking person in Spanish.  In fact, if at all possible, you should refuse to let yourself speak English while in their presence. Make the effort to communicate in Spanish even if you make errors.