4 Steps to Crush Your Foreign Language Interview—Follow My Process
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Table of Contents
Step 1 - Sharpening listening skills and preparing for all types of questions
Step 4 - How selective flashcard use can boost your speaking confidence
So you have an upcoming interview in your target language?
You understand quite well when listening, but your speaking skills are lagging, so you're not sure if you'll be able to pull it off.
This is exactly what I was faced with recently when I got a request to be interviewed on the Spanish YouTube channel “Spanish Hacks”.
I was both honored and excited by the invitation. I love any chance to talk about language learning and share the insights I’ve gained to help others.
I was, however, quite nervous about the interview because I wasn’t very confident in my Spanish speaking ability.
I wasn’t sure I could get my thoughts across in a way that would make sense in an interview like this.
Luckily, I discovered 4 key steps to ensure a successful interview.
If you have an upcoming interview—whether it’s for a job opportunity, newspaper, podcast, or any situation where you need to improve your speaking skills quickly— this post will show you a very effective way to do so.
We’ll use my experience and preparation process for a YouTube interview as a concrete example of how these 4 steps work.
From understanding to speaking: preparing under pressure
Even though I didn’t feel very confident in my speaking abilities, I had one thing going for me:
My level of understanding.
Thanks to all the Spanish listening input I’d gotten, I knew understanding the interviewer wouldn’t be much of a struggle for me.
This is key because how can you answer interview questions well if you don’t understand the questions?
My weak point was in expressing myself, which I need to improve by quite a bit.
The challenge was that I only had weeks to do this!
On top of that, it was right after the birth of our second son, which meant I didn’t have a ton of time on my hands.
3 key areas to level up speaking for an interview
Speaking is quite a broad concept, so what exactly did I need to improve? What areas are key for you to improve to have a successful interview?
Here are 3 main areas:
Area #1 - Increase speaking flow
This is arguably the most important thing to develop. Making mistakes is not a huge deal, but where it can become awkward and uncomfortable for both you and the interviewer is if your speech feels chopped up. Where you end up constantly saying “uuumm” because you can’t find the words quickly enough. This is mostly a matter of practice volume (i.e. speaking a lot so the language will start to flow more effortlessly).
Area #2 - Learn certain specific expressions related to the topic
Interviews usually focus on a few key topics. I had a good idea of the types of questions likely to come up, but I needed guidance on how to respond and express myself naturally in Spanish. Learning specific and relevant expressions helps you build confidence in answering them.
Area #3 - Become more aware in Spanish
Often, we make mistakes when speaking a foreign language without even realizing it. Being more aware helps you self-correct in real-time, and you’ll notice more how natives say things when you listen. That’s why developing awareness is very important. Getting feedback on your speaking is one of the best ways to improve awareness.
Next, we’ll talk about the 4 steps that I took to improve the above 3 areas.
I’ll show you exactly what I did. You can watch the interview at the end of this post to see the end result.
Step 1 - Sharpening listening skills and preparing for all types of questions
Although my main goal was to improve my speaking, I still wanted to work on my listening comprehension.
I mainly focused on topics like language learning (which the interview would focus on), but I also prepared for questions about where I live and details of my life, just in case.
I listen to Spanish every day anyway, and since the YouTube channel I was going to be featured in had tons of interviews, this gave me a lot of content to listen to. Hearing what kind of interviews they conduct is a great way to prepare as you’ll get a better idea of what questions are likely to come.
I also listened to YouTube vlogs from Spanish-speaking tourists visiting the town where I live in Finland. Just in case I would be asked about it (I learned that “Lapland” is “Laponia” in Spanish for example).
In general, I just wanted to listen a lot to have the language “swirling around in my head”.
I then wrote down different questions that were likely to come up during the interview, such as:
“Why did you start learning Spanish and why?”
“What is your method for learning languages?”
“What is the reason you decided to start the blog Lingtuitive?”
“Do you believe there’s such a thing as talent in language learning?”
“What advice would you give others who want to learn Spanish?”
Questions like this came in handy for steps 2 and 3, which we will talk about next.
Step 2 - AI speaking practice: your ultimate speaking coach
The main thing in preparing for an interview is to activate your speaking. To get the flow going and unlock specific vocabulary that you’re going to need.
However, one of the biggest obstacles you’ll face in improving your speaking is getting enough practice.
Listening and reading you can do by yourself, but speaking requires another person. It takes more planning and often more investment financially.
Well, at least that used to be the case…
Now we have AI, which is why I decided to use it.
I had briefly tried out AI before, but now I decided to try out for real to improve my speaking skills.
This turned out to be the most important step I took to increase my speaking ability. It was absolutely crucial and a lifesaver.
I used Langua’s phenomenal AI tutor (use code LINGTUITIVE20 to get 20% off any annual plan).
It not only has the most realistic AI voice out there, but in my opinion, it’s by far the best AI tutor for language learning.
I’ll show you exactly how I used this AI tutor to rapidly take my speaking skills to the next level.
How AI helped me message the host of the podcast
Before I even started practicing speaking, I needed to message the host of Spanish Hacks to respond to the interview invitation.
Langua’s AI tutor was super helpful in this because I’m not used to writing and sending messages in Spanish.
It helped me formulate my message to make it sound more natural.
I just told the AI that I was going to send a message to a host of a show I had just been invited to and that I needed help in doing so.
The AI asked me to speak the message (you can also write it) and then I asked for feedback on it.
The AI then sent a revised version of my message, correcting some mistakes and helping the message sound more natural in Spanish.
If I said something along the lines of: “Add this also so it sounds more casual and clear” it then added that to the message and read the updated version including the new part.
I did this a few times to make sure the message was exactly what I wanted to say.
It was such a cool experience to go back and forth with the Langua AI tutor on it.
It’s also a great way to sharpen your writing skills in general.
The AI tutor interviewing me as a podcast host
When it comes to the actual speaking practice, how do these AI conversations work? If you’d like to know more in-depth, you can read my blog post Everything You Need to Know About Langua [the most human-like AI tutor] to find out more.
Here, I'll show you how I used AI to improve my speaking for my interview—and how you can do the same.
It will give you an idea of how to practice with AI and just how incredibly beneficial it is.
The following Spanish conversation had been going on for a while. I was speaking with one of Langua’s AI tutors (called “Maria” who speaks Castillian Spanish. There are different dialects you can choose from.) I mentioned to the AI tutor that I have an upcoming interview about language learning I’d like to prepare for.
The AI tutor then gave me the following response where it suggested to interview me, including what types of questions it could ask me:
(I activated the English translation for those of you who don’t know Spanish)
Nailed it. That’s exactly what I wanted to practice.
The AI tutor then said it would ask me questions, pretending to be the host of Spanish Hacks, and started with the first question:
Here’s the answer I gave to the question above. Part of it involves me asking, 'How do I say X in Spanish?'—a key question to help you expand your ability to express yourself:
Next comes the interesting part, which is when the AI tutor started giving me feedback on what I said.
It offered suggestions for how I could say things more correctly. Even more than that, what to say to sound natural in Spanish. When appropriate, it will also teach you local expressions and slang.
You don’t have to get corrected in the same way if you don’t want to. I had just specified that this is what I wanted earlier in our conversation. That’s the great part. You tell the AI tutor exactly how you’d like to receive feedback, and it will adjust accordingly.
To give you an idea, here’s the feedback I got:
Getting feedback like this is incredibly helpful because it shows you exactly how to say things correctly in your target language. Removing any kind of ambiguity you might have of how to say things.
To give you an idea of how authentic and real-sounding Langua’s AI tutor is, here’s another part of the conversation:
Quite incredible isn’t it?
Since the AI tutor sounds just like a real person, I even considered these conversations a quality source of Spanish input, making them valuable for improving both speaking and listening skills.
The interview questions I got from Langua were spot-on! It asked very pointed and intelligent follow-up questions.
It was like it somehow just magically “knew” what I needed to practice for the interview (I know, crazy right?)
This conversation went on for a long time—actually, for several days.
This is the power of using AI for speaking practice—you can pause and resume the conversation whenever it suits you.
I had most of these AI conversations when cooking or washing dishes. Langua’s hands-free mode makes this super convenient.
What’s so great is that you can practice specific topics over and over again. If you do that every day with a real person, it pretty soon starts feeling quite awkward, doesn’t it?
“Yeah, we have already talked about this five times” (yawn).
However, AI doesn’t mind. It doesn’t get tired of repeating the same topics, which eliminates any awkwardness when you need to practice them repeatedly.
Want to know how I learned 3 languages without breaking my brain?
Download my guide Intuitive Language Secrets (currently available for Free, but not for forever)
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Step 3 - Improving your speaking with real teachers
As effective as AI is for speaking practice, nothing is like talking to a real human being.
Which is why I decided to take some online classes to complement my AI speaking sessions.
I used LanguaTalk (←take a free 30-minute lesson with a teacher of your choice), which is my favorite platform for language lessons. It’s created by the same team as Langua, so having an account on one gives you access to both platforms.
The last time I took a Spanish lesson (about 7-8 months ago), I struggled to speak. I often felt tongue-tied and couldn’t get my thoughts out.
Now that I had gotten all that practice with AI, things were different. It was so encouraging to see how much my speaking had improved after practicing with Langua.
My speaking wasn’t mistake-free by any means, but my level of comfortability and fluidity had quadrupled!
These lessons helped me practice interacting with a real person, which is always different from speaking with AI. I also picked up useful vocabulary and expressions, which my teacher wrote down for me. This made it easy to add them to a Google sheet and import them into Langua’s flashcards (more on that in a moment).
If the teacher allows, I recommend recording the lessons so that you can go through them afterward. Both to get an idea of where you’re speaking is at, and also to write down useful expressions and phrases that your teacher maybe didn’t write down.
I got some helpful feedback from the teachers too. Such as that I could use a bit more spoken language expressions such as “pues”, and “bueno”, in between words, to sound more native.
One positive feedback I got from one of the teachers was that:
“It doesn’t sound like you’re translating from English to Spanish. It sounds like you’re repeating something you have heard someone say”.
This is why listening is so key when learning a language.
Instead of translating from your native language into your target language, you’ll repeat what you’ve heard natives say, which results in a much more natural and native-sounding language.
Language lessons help you pick up on even more of these types of expressions, that you can then use in your own speech.
Plus, they’re just great fun and a wonderful way to connect with native speakers
Having a Spanish lesson with the amazing LanguaTalk tutor, Agustina (book a Free 30-minute trial lesson with her here).
Step 4 - How selective flashcard use can boost your speaking confidence
Usually, I focus on long-term growth, so I don’t feel the need to focus too much on specific vocabulary.
By getting enough input from listening, reading, and conversations, you’ll eventually acquire the vocabulary you need anyway, without intentionally doing so.
When I'm practicing speaking it's different. Especially when I’m at a beginner or intermediate level, or I need to prepare for something specific, like an interview.
Flashcards then become very useful.
I’m however very selective with what vocabulary I save to flashcards. I only save what I like to call "high-value words and expressions".
In other words: words you’re likely to want to use in your own speaking.
Imagine you're having a conversation with an AI, and you struggle to find the right words. The AI gives you the exact phrase you need—that’s the one you’ll want to save to your flashcards.
This helps fill in those holes where you're lacking in your speaking ability. It also improves your sense of correct word order and grammar as a bonus, making you sound even more native-like.
As you keep doing this, you’ll get better at expressing yourself, gradually adding more and more useful words and phrases to your toolkit—ones that are relevant to your life and will help you articulate your thoughts and ideas clearly.
This will make your speaking confidence grow a lot.
I used Langua’s built-in flashcards, which turned out to be incredibly handy. I could save words and sentences directly from my AI conversations, making the whole process quick and convenient.
They also provide a Google Sheet where you can easily import words and sentences you’ve learned elsewhere. Langua then quickly converts all of them into flashcards in one go.
I used this Google Sheet whenever I wanted to only save part of a sentence, or easily import words from my LanguaTalk lessons.
Examples of high-value phrases and expressions for flashcards
A great example of a high-value phrase or expression was when I talked to the Langua AI tutor about my blog. The AI asked me why I created the blog, so I wanted to answer:
“I wanted to create something I would have liked to see when I started learning languages.”
I just didn’t know how to say it in Spanish. Specifically the “I would have liked to” structure. The rest I had a hang of how to say.
The AI tutor told me this was “Me hubiera gustado ver…”
Okay, gotcha. It’s using “me” (and not “yo”) and “hubiera” to express “would have”.
It put the phrase in a flashcard so I could later review it and remember it.
This was something that I ended up using during the actual interview (later in this post, I’ll give you an exact reference of when I used it in the interview).
To get you an idea of the types of expressions I would save to flashcards, here are a few others that I made:
The “front side” of a “recall flashcard”, with a sentence taken from one of my AI conversations.
The “back side” of the recall flashcard (when you choose to see the English translation).
Next is a good example of where I got to practice adding the word “a” to “conocí a una mujer”. I wouldn’t have known that you would add the “a” when you talk about meeting someone.
By continuing to repeat sentence structures like this, it eventually becomes a normal part of your speech:
“Unless” (“a menos que”) was an expression I found myself wanting to use it a lot, so I added that as well:
Or an expression like “me he dado cuenta” (“I have realized/noticed”) was a handy one to know:
It’s, of course, impossible to know 100% what questions and topics will come up during an interview.
However, the goal is to increase your ability to express yourself.
By doing that, your confidence grows, which will help you more than anything else to have a successful interview, no matter what the questions are.
Flashcard tip:
I recommend mainly saving full sentences to flashcards. Being able to speak well is about stringing words together in a way that flows. By learning blocks of more than one word, you’ll be able to achieve this flow much better. Because we speak in whole phrases and blocks, rather than just individual words. This will help with your language not sounding as chopped up. It also helps the words stick better in your memory when they are learned in context. The occasional individual word is fine to add as well, though.
I used the “recall” review option in Langua’s flashcards. I find it the most effective, but you can experiment to see what works best for you.
Watch my interview on "Spanish Hacks"
Here you can watch the interview I did on Spanish Hacks
It has both Spanish and English subtitles.
It was a true pleasure and honor to be featured on this podcast. The host Juan is an excellent interviewer and all around great guy. If you’re learning Spanish, he has lots of interviews and videos for Spanish learners.
When I did this interview I had 600 listening hours and 850.000 words read under my belt.
That’s quite a solid intermediate level and it laid the foundation needed for my speaking to improve quickly.
My honest thoughts on how the interview went
At 00:20:19, you’ll see me use the expression “me hubiera gustado ver” (“I would have liked to see”), which we discussed earlier. I was able to use it naturally in conversation after learning it from the AI tutor and reviewing it with flashcards. This is just one out of many examples of how I was able to apply what I had practiced.
During the interview, you might notice me searching for a word or even saying something in English and asking how to say it in Spanish. This is totally fine in an interview when you get stuck—we do it even in our native language.
I also got some questions that I didn’t expect. Not only is it tough to answer questions where you haven’t yet formulated an answer, but it’s especially challenging in a different language!
One thing I noticed was that I spoke quite fast—a skill (or perhaps a habit) I developed by getting in a high volume of speaking practice with AI. While a certain speed can help maintain the flow of a conversation, speaking too quickly can lead to stumbling over your words. This was helpful feedback for me to get, and in the future, I’ll try to speak a bit slower to ensure greater clarity.
After an interview, it’s natural to think, "I should have said this" or "I should have said that." I had those moments too. While it’s valuable to learn from these moments, the key is to let go of them and move forward.
Even though I made plenty of mistakes (which is expected at an intermediate level), my Spanish was leaps and bounds better than it was before I started using Langua’s AI tutor. It was, by far, the fastest speaking progress I’ve ever made in any language.
I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment that I was able to participate in an interview like this in what I currently consider my weakest language (out of the six languages that I speak).
What I’m most happy about is that I was able to maintain the flow of my speaking and keep the conversation going—something I wouldn’t have been able to do just weeks earlier.
Conclusion
Summing up the 4 steps that improved my speaking for the interview:
Listen to content related to the topic of the interview
Have daily AI conversations with Langua
Occasional lessons with teachers at LanguaTalk
Save high-value phrases and expressions to flashcards to review them
By following these steps, you’ll be able to prepare effectively for any interview, whether it’s for a job opportunity, a newspaper feature, or, as in my case, a YouTube video.
Being good at speaking boils down to two main things (in order of importance):
Listening A LOT
Practicing speaking a lot
The better your listening skills are the faster your speaking will develop.
It still takes time and effort and doesn’t happen overnight, but I was shocked at how quickly my speaking level increased.
To practice speaking, there’s nothing that I have found to be more effective than using AI to improve your speaking level.
And right now, Langua is the nr #1 AI platform for language learners. They have quite a few languages available, not just Spanish.
Use code LINGTUITIVE20 to get 20% off any annual Langua plan (that’s like getting 4 Free months compared to the monthly plan)
You can create a free account first and try out the AI tutor briefly:
Related posts:
Everything You Need to Know About Langua [the most human-like AI tutor]
I Used Lingopie for 73 Days [here’s what happened to my Spanish]
7 Killer At-Home Language Immersion Hacks You Must Know About
LanguaTalk vs iTalki - Which one is better? [head-to-head comparison]
9 Reasons AI Is the Fastest Way to Improve Your Speaking Fluency
