Learning Spanish Recommendations
Discussion
I'm trying to learn a bit of Spanish for occasional visits to friends in Spain and the like.
I downloaded a series of Audiobooks (Collins Learn Spanish with Paul Noble) which I went through in the car and got to a decent basic level but didn't realise at the start that there were only the four available so no scope to move on to an intermediate level. The problem I now have is that trying to pick up another course at intermediate is hampered by them teaching different sets of basics in a different way. Also a lot of the audiobook type stuff is for the American market so focuses on Latin American Spanish whereas I've started and intend to continue with Castillian/Iberian dialect.
I've been considering buying a Rosetta Stone course but not sure how much of it would need be done physically sitting at a computer. I really liked the audiobooks because I'm in the car for at least a couple of hours a day so it was quick and easy to rattle through. I've also taught my six-year-old son a bit and he seems to like it so I'm keen to get something we can do in the car together while he's still at the "soak it up like a sponge" stage.
Any recommendations please?
I downloaded a series of Audiobooks (Collins Learn Spanish with Paul Noble) which I went through in the car and got to a decent basic level but didn't realise at the start that there were only the four available so no scope to move on to an intermediate level. The problem I now have is that trying to pick up another course at intermediate is hampered by them teaching different sets of basics in a different way. Also a lot of the audiobook type stuff is for the American market so focuses on Latin American Spanish whereas I've started and intend to continue with Castillian/Iberian dialect.
I've been considering buying a Rosetta Stone course but not sure how much of it would need be done physically sitting at a computer. I really liked the audiobooks because I'm in the car for at least a couple of hours a day so it was quick and easy to rattle through. I've also taught my six-year-old son a bit and he seems to like it so I'm keen to get something we can do in the car together while he's still at the "soak it up like a sponge" stage.
Any recommendations please?
I've been learning a bit for about 6 months. Not sure where I'd grade my self but really enjoying it.
If you haven't tried Duolingo then I'd definitely give it a go. Has a place, I haven't used it for maybe 6 or 8 weeks but I will be going back.
From an audio POV I am loving Language Transfer. Really feel like I am learning a lot of tools and ways of processing that can be broadly applied rather than trying to memorise lots of words.
There is a TV show I have been trying to get hold of to move on to after I run out of language transfer lessons called Destinos - meant to be very good.
I also listen to a lot of spanish music - through Apple Music and TuneIn radio. I listen to proper cheesy Latin pop music basically - I quite like it! You get a lot of similar themes in songs and Latin pop is verse heavy so lots of opportunity to listen. My go to radio station is RNE Radio 3, which I think comes out of Madrid and/or Barcelona. They quite often interview American groups with a translator which is interesting. Again lots of similar themes in radio broadcast.
I also put my phone into spanish sporadically.
Hugely enjoying it.
If you haven't tried Duolingo then I'd definitely give it a go. Has a place, I haven't used it for maybe 6 or 8 weeks but I will be going back.
From an audio POV I am loving Language Transfer. Really feel like I am learning a lot of tools and ways of processing that can be broadly applied rather than trying to memorise lots of words.
There is a TV show I have been trying to get hold of to move on to after I run out of language transfer lessons called Destinos - meant to be very good.
I also listen to a lot of spanish music - through Apple Music and TuneIn radio. I listen to proper cheesy Latin pop music basically - I quite like it! You get a lot of similar themes in songs and Latin pop is verse heavy so lots of opportunity to listen. My go to radio station is RNE Radio 3, which I think comes out of Madrid and/or Barcelona. They quite often interview American groups with a translator which is interesting. Again lots of similar themes in radio broadcast.
I also put my phone into spanish sporadically.
Hugely enjoying it.
Cheers, I shoIlene mentioned that I've got DuoLingo. Need to get back on it. It gets a bit repetitive and I know it throws quirky stuff in to test you but I'm not sure I'll ever need to say "The monkey cleans the ceiling" in conversational Spanish.
I think I've got to a reasonable standard then sit outside a bar earwigging conversation in the street and pick up one word in half a dozen if I'm lucky!
That said, last time I was over with a few of the lads, my mate's dad had a few of the villagers over for a bite to eat and one of the women was talking about the spice in the chilli taking its revenge on her arse the next day thinking that none of us uncouth English lads spoke the lingo. Should've seen her face when I passed her a bog roll and said "¡para su refrigerador!"
I think I've got to a reasonable standard then sit outside a bar earwigging conversation in the street and pick up one word in half a dozen if I'm lucky!
That said, last time I was over with a few of the lads, my mate's dad had a few of the villagers over for a bite to eat and one of the women was talking about the spice in the chilli taking its revenge on her arse the next day thinking that none of us uncouth English lads spoke the lingo. Should've seen her face when I passed her a bog roll and said "¡para su refrigerador!"
You need to be speaking with Spanish speakers regularly so do "intercambio's" which are language exchanges over coffee/beer where you spend 30 mins speaking Spanish and 30 mins speaking English. I lived in Spain for 3 1/2 years and speaking with the locals made a massive difference. Books and CD's are good, but the locals will miss out words, pronounce them differently and speak how real people speak. When choosing an intercambio, try for one from the country you want e.g. Spain as someone from Argentina will speak Spanish, but a different version e.g. Me llamo will sound like Me Jaamo
I also used spanish grammar books to help with the conjugations and me and my wife only spoke to each other in Spanish at weekend between 12pm and 8pm to force us to look up words. Not suggesting you have to do this, but it helped a lot
I also used spanish grammar books to help with the conjugations and me and my wife only spoke to each other in Spanish at weekend between 12pm and 8pm to force us to look up words. Not suggesting you have to do this, but it helped a lot
If you follow Greg's good advice, be careful to make sure the radio station is actually in Castilian Spanish, not Catalan, which it quite likely would be if it's coming from Barcelona!
I learnt a fair amount of Valenciano by accident on my university year in Spain before learning enough to differentiate between the two!
I learnt a fair amount of Valenciano by accident on my university year in Spain before learning enough to differentiate between the two!
DRFC1879 said:
That may be why I struggle; my friends live in a small village in Communidad Valenciano so the dialect could be quite different although the bar owner I chat to there quite helpfully speaks slowly in fairly standard Castilian.
That could well be the case, depending on where you're going. To make matters worse, the accent changes immensely from one town to the next. After 6 months living in Denia, I could understand their Valenciano (already speaking French when I arrived helped), but going 20 miles or so up the coast to Gandia, I couldn't understand a word they said, even though the words were actually the same!Worth remembering, though, is that they will all speak Castilian as well, and won't mind doing so for a foreigner learning the language. If you were a Madrileño going to Barcelona and expecting them to speak to you in anything other than Catalan, though, you might well struggle!
The thing I found absolutely critical, if you actually get to speak Spanish with Spaniards on a regular basis (and the idea of looking for a local language swap group is an excellent one) is to regularly insist that just understanding your meaning is not enough. You need people to correct you when you get it wrong (even though they understand your meaning), or you won't learn to correct your mistakes.
TooMany2cvs said:
Michel Thomas.
i asked the same question as he OP a couple of years ago and Michel Thomas was recommended. Its not going to give you a complete understanding of the language but i do see why he/they are a big name. The pace of progress is huge and you really do learn the mechanics of the language in short order.My mrs is learning Italian and i got her the MT cd's. English is her 2nd language and she agreed the method of teaching is so much easier to approach than traditional methods.
I've now ditched Spanish for MT Russian [can you guess where my mrs is from?] and it does seem a cookie cutter approach. Simple, easy, but really just one of several tools you should be using. MT, duolingo, and some scholarly material for grammar and tense, and you'll be fine.
Chris944_S2 said:
After trying all different kind of medias, I signed up to evening classes to learn German. Far better than any audio books or websites for really learning and progressing.
Oh, and language classes tend to attract wimmin too, for added motivation
I agree with Chris.Oh, and language classes tend to attract wimmin too, for added motivation
I've just done a term of beginners Spanish at the local adult college. Anyone can learn vocab by rote, but courses like this give you a better feel and understanding of the language and equip you better for further learning on your own. You also get access to a lot of useful learning aids and the interaction with other studentsgives you some measure of how well you are progressing.
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