El progreso en mi español me da más confianza.

In Spanish, abstract nouns often take the definite article more often than in English. So El progreso sounds natural, where English would usually just say progress.

Here, El progreso en mi español means something like the progress in my Spanish or more naturally my progress in Spanish.

You could also say Mi progreso en español, but El progreso en mi español is perfectly understandable and focuses a bit more on the idea of progress itself.

The preposition en here means in or with regard to. So el progreso en mi español means the progress in my Spanish.

It does not mean physical location. It is talking about the area in which the progress is happening.

Similar examples:

• He mejorado en matemáticas = I’ve improved in maths
• Tengo dificultades en gramática = I have difficulties in grammar

Yes. Mi español means my Spanish, meaning my ability in Spanish or the Spanish I speak/use.

English does this too:

• My Spanish is getting better
• Her French is excellent

So mi español is very natural when talking about your level or performance in the language.

Yes, and that is often a bit more common.

• El progreso en español me da más confianza = progress in Spanish gives me more confidence
• El progreso en mi español me da más confianza = progress in my Spanish gives me more confidence

Adding mi makes it more personal and specifically about your own command of the language.

Me da literally means gives me.

• me = to me
• da = he/she/it gives from dar

So the structure is:

El progreso en mi español + me da + más confianza
Progress in my Spanish + gives me + more confidence

In Spanish, this kind of idea is often expressed with dar:

• Me da miedo = it gives me fear / it scares me
• Me da alegría = it gives me joy
• Me da confianza = it gives me confidence

Because Spanish normally uses an indirect object pronoun before the verb.

So:

• me = to me
• te = to you
• le = to him/her/you formal
• nos = to us, etc.

You can add a mí for emphasis, but you usually still keep me:

• El progreso en mi español me da más confianza a mí.

That would sound emphatic, like it gives me more confidence.

But in a normal sentence, me da is the standard form.

They mean different things.

• más confianza = more confidence
• mucha confianza = a lot of confidence

So the sentence is comparing your confidence now with before. Your progress is increasing your confidence.

If you said me da mucha confianza, that would mean it gives you a lot of confidence, not necessarily more than before.

Because after dar, nouns like confianza, miedo, alegría, pena, etc. often appear without an article when used in a general sense.

So:

• me da confianza
• me da miedo
• me da pena

Adding an article would usually change the meaning or make it sound more specific:

• me da la confianza necesaria = it gives me the necessary confidence

But in your sentence, más confianza is the natural general expression.

Not exactly. Confianza can mean confidence, but it can also mean trust depending on context.

Examples:

• Tengo más confianza al hablar = I feel more confident when speaking
• Tengo confianza en ella = I trust her

In your sentence, más confianza clearly means more confidence/self-confidence, not more trust.

Sometimes, but not always.

• confianza is often the best word for self-confidence
• seguridad can mean security, safety, or confidence/certainty

In this sentence, confianza sounds the most natural if you mean growing confidence in your Spanish ability.

For example:

• Me da más confianza hablar = It gives me more confidence to speak

If you used seguridad, it might sound more like certainty or assurance rather than personal confidence.

Because the subject is El progreso, which is singular.

So the verb has to match:

• El progreso ... me da = singular
• Los progresos ... me dan = plural

Even though más confianza comes later, it is not the subject. The subject is El progreso.

Yes, grammatically you can. That would mean the improvements / the bits of progress in my Spanish give me more confidence.

But in many cases, Spanish prefers the singular abstract noun:

• El progreso en mi español...

The singular sounds a bit smoother and more general. The plural los progresos makes you think of separate improvements or individual advances.

Because object pronouns like me usually go before the conjugated verb in normal statements.

So:

• me da
• te da
• le da

And más confianza comes after the verb as the thing being given.

This is a very common Spanish pattern:

• Me da hambre = It makes me hungry
• Me da alegría = It gives me joy
• Me da más confianza = It gives me more confidence

It is similar, but not exactly the same.

• me da más confianza = gives me more confidence
• me hace sentir más seguro/a = makes me feel more sure / more confident

The second version focuses more on the feeling it causes. Also, seguro has to agree with the speaker:

• seguro for a man
• segura for a woman

Your original sentence is nice because confianza avoids that issue and sounds very natural.

Yes. In Spanish, names of languages are usually written with lowercase letters.

So:

• español
• inglés
• francés

This is different from English, where you write Spanish, English, French with capital letters.

Yes, it sounds natural and understandable in Spain.

A speaker from Spain might also say:

• Mi progreso en español me da más confianza.
• Progresar en español me da más confianza.
• Los avances en mi español me dan más confianza.

But your original sentence is perfectly good Spanish for Spain.