As every mother will know, from the moment we find out that we are pregnant, the days where we may have put ourselves first are numbered. Finding a quiet moment to read a book, taking a bubble bath, watching our favourite TV programme or flicking through a glossy magazine by the pool all become distant memories.

And for expat mums in Spain who became pregnant shortly after arriving in the country or made the brave move to a new country with young families, they have so many other things to think about that learning the local language can easily be overlooked.

There are many regions of Spain where it is conceivable that you could cope with speaking no or very little Spanish. But having a young family tends to make that unlikely, or at best more difficult. Something as simple as registering your baby’s birth can become a complete nightmare if you aren’t able to make yourself understood at your local town hall.

Enrolling your little one in the local school might seem a thoroughly daunting task when you struggle to understand the application form or the admission instructions. The lack of language skills coupled with bureaucracy can make the process of registration become more laborious and painstaking.

And when all that’s done, and your child is now in school, you find yourself hoping to blend in the background as you wait outside the school for your child lest someone talks to you and you don’t understand.

But like everything, it is possible to find the time as long as you take a brave step forward.

Julia Mattey, language coordinator with Abla Lenguas, has students who have lived in Spain for years and sign up for a total beginner's course. “They hadn't found time to learn the language so far and were quite happy getting by with half a dozen sentences” said Julia.

So many of us are guilty of this, and to be perfectly honest depending on where you live in the country it would be possible to get by, but you risk missing out on so much.

Of course enjoying the experience of learning anything is also key to long-term commitment and success. “We try to make our classes lively, fun and full of student participation with the main emphasis on speaking practice” Rosa Renuncio of Fun & Culture, “Our classes are very much designed to increase confidence”.

It is one thing to speak in the classroom, but it can be all too easy to simply seize up when we step outside this protective environment!

A good friend of mine used to say to me “feel the fear, and do it anyway” – I used to feel that way myself when I first started practising my shaky Spanish but with the right encouragement and preparation this fear doesn’t have to engulf you!

If you happen to be a mum who might be considering improving their Spanish or even starting from scratch, it can be so easy to put up hurdles for ourselves and hide behind certain excuses.

But there are lots of professionals out there who are able to offer you flexible class times and even if you aren’t able to consider going to classes regularly for whatever reason take a brave step and reach out into your Spanish community, maybe smile and say hello to a Spanish mum at the school gates.

Embrace your life in Spain, there is no need for you to blend into the background.

Claire Ogier / Expatica

The article has been reprinted with permission of www.mumsinspain.com