Alright folks, buckle up. Gonna share how I actually tried tackling learning Spanish through drawing this week. Did it work perfectly? Heck no. But maybe you’ll find something useful here.
The Staring-at-the-Blank-Page Phase
Honestly, started feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it. Drawing? Spanish? Combining both? Sounded ambitious, probably was. Grabbed my regular sketchbook, some pencils, and my phone for translation. Stared at the blank page for like ten minutes. Felt dumb. Knew I needed rules, a way to actually do this thing.
Option 1: Labeling Stuff Like Crazy
Okay, simple start. Drew a quick mug on my desk. Looked wonky, whatever. Then pulled out my phone. Looked up “mug” in Spanish – “taza”. Wrote “taza” right under it. Next, drew my damn keys beside it. “Llaves”. Wrote “llaves”. Basically turned my desk clutter into flashcards. Felt repetitive but kinda useful? Started jotting down verbs too. Like drawing the mug: “Dibujo una taza”. Scribbled that down too. Simple. Direct. Focused purely on vocabulary.
Option 2: Copying Stuff & Hunting Down Labels
Tried switching it up. Saw a cool picture of an owl online. Copied it – well, my version sucked, looked kinda like a lumpy pigeon. Then the real “learning” bit: hunted down the Spanish words for all the parts I drew. “Owl” is “búho”. “Wings” are “alas”. “Eyes” are “ojos”. “Big crazy owl eyes” might be “ojos grandes y locos de búho”? Wrote them all down around my sad little owl drawing. This took way longer than expected, spent more time looking up words than drawing. Helped with vocab recall though, forcing me to connect the visual with the word search.
Option 3: Trying to Think in Spanish Doodles
This one felt the hardest. Wanted to draw something simple expressing an idea or action directly in Spanish. Chose a verb: “Saltar” (to jump). How to draw jumping without labeling it “Saltar”? Drew cartoon stick figure bending knees, arms flailing mid-air. Added little squiggly lines under the feet to show motion. Added little “¡Hoo-ray!” above its head. Put “Saltar” in small text beside it, not underneath. Kinda cheated? Was trying to show the concept of jumping triggered by the Spanish word, not just label an object. Did the same with “Comer” (to eat): drew a stick figure shoveling tacos into its face. Got weird looks from my cat.
The Messy Reality
Here’s the real kicker: it wasn’t smooth sailing. Forgot words five minutes after writing them. Got frustrated when my brain froze looking up “beak” (“pico”, btw). The “thinking in Spanish” doodle was messy as heck. Biggest lesson? It made the vocabulary way more active than just reading a list. I had to use the words while doing something else (drawing). Was it magic fluency juice? No. Did it make those words stickier? Absolutely. Kept catching myself muttering “la taza” while grabbing my actual coffee mug later. So yeah, sucked at the start, pushed through the awkward middle, ended up with a funky sketchbook and slightly less-terrible Spanish recall. Would recommend the attempt, just don’t expect perfection.
