Best way to learn spanish?

[KAgantua]

Anyone learnt spanish (Or any other foreign language for that matter) and what did you find the best method?

Online course?
CDs in the car?
CDs while asleep? (Hypnosis/ subliminal type bks)
Classroom?
Move to Spain and work as a waiter for a few months? (Might be a challenge with work...)

Thanks

[craigjm]

There is no substitute for conversing with native speakers if you want to become fluent

[Saleen836]

I did an evening class to learn introduction to Spanish a few years ago, 90min lesson once a week for 8 weeks didn't really work as the tutor had to cram so much in, I picked up a little bit but what helped me was meeting a Mexican lady who helped me learn a bit more while I helped her with her English

[MC Bodge]

Michel Thomas CDs and a girlfriend who lived in Paris helped me with French.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

MC Bodge said:

Michel Thomas CDs and a girlfriend who lived in Paris helped me with French.

C'est à gagner maintenant!

[Frank7]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

MC Bodge said:

Michel Thomas CDs and a girlfriend who lived in Paris helped me with French.

C'est à gagner maintenant!

Twig, you’re usually pretty good with your posts, at least IMHO, but I have a feeling that you wanted to say something like, “we have a winner”, or “this is a winner now”, but colloquially, what you said, translates to “anyone can win it now.”
To learn a language properly, there is no substitute for complete immersion, by moving to that country, but I imagine that that must be a b*tch.
My French family took no prisoners, and fired it at me remorselessly, it was sink or swim.
Quand j’etais très jeune, j’ai parlé français très bien, mais maintenon je suis vieux, parfois j’oublie les mots.

[SeeFive]

Been learning a little Spanish myself very recently, and because I am a cheapskate I use free YouTube stuff for common words and phrases to be polite, get about and ask to find stuff from the locals. Yo hablo Espanol un poco pero quiero aprender mas. Yes it really is that bad!

I started at the link below and top up with a few words as I visit and want to buy goods that I don’t know the words for, I just ask (que es eso en Espanol seems to get me there) and they don’t mind helping if you make the effort it seems, my latest failing was buying avocado (aguacate evidently). Grammatically I suck and still can’t remember the genders properly. It also seems (what appears to be) the slightest mispronunciation renders your Spanish useless with some people, maybe local dialects kick in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j_HkpKDUdaY

Talking to a few folks I know down there (Galicia, Balearics and rural non-tourist Alicante areas), they suggest that if you take a Spanish course in the UK, the only people likely to understand you when you get down there are other Brits who have done the same course. I still think it is worth a go though and shows the locals a commitment to at least try. The pisser is when you get something reasonably right and they fully understand but answer in perfect English ! (Hablame en Espanol pour favor!!).

My brother goes further and says that if you want to learn a language properly, you need to sleep with a native speaker(s) for some considerable time. He is fluent in Thai, Erdu, Swedish, Flemish, German and Kernow the dirty bd.

[The jiffle king]

I learned Spanish when I moved to Spain with a mixture of the following
- lessons every week with a tutor who only spoke in spanish with me
- intercambio’s which is where you meet a native and speak in English for 30 minutes and Spanish for 30 minutes
- watched TV in Spanish and at first with English subtitles and then turned them off
- my wife and I only spoke Spanish with each other on a Saturday and I really do mean all day. It made us work hard and after about 2 hours my brain started to think in spanish

[anonymous-user]

I lived in Germany for years and my German is still terrible!

I found lessons really didn’t work for me, but the books / annotated worksheets did.

Plus German sounds horrible, I picked up a lot more French / Spanish just from being there.

As my old boss used to say, there is no substitute for a ‘long-haired’ dictionary when it comes to learning a language and I’m sure he spoke 5 or 6!

[Cliftonite]

Frank7 said:

Twig, you’re usually pretty good with your posts, at least IMHO, but I have a feeling that you wanted to say something like, “we have a winner”, or “this is a winner now”, but colloquially, what you said, translates to “anyone can win it now.”
To learn a language properly, there is no substitute for complete immersion, by moving to that country, but I imagine that that must be a b*tch.
My French family took no prisoners, and fired it at me remorselessly, it was sink or swim.
Quand j’etais très jeune, j’ai parlé français très bien, mais maintenon je suis vieux, parfois j’oublie les mots.

Les mots comme 'maintenant' peut-etre?

[Ayahuasca]

Move to a Spanish speaking country.

Like the USA or Spain.

[Dog Star]

Live and work in somewhere that speaks the language and nobody speaks English.

I spoke what most people thought was pretty good French, then (back in 1989) I went to live and work in France (Amiens). Back in those days there was no access to UK television (I had a 12" B&W tv with six French channels), phone calls home were an expensive luxury, no email (except text based internal, although my girlfriend used to send me telexes and faxes (which the receptionists would attempt to translate)) and nobody where I worked (analyst programmer) spoke a word of English. All the friends I made (who are friends to this day) didn't speak English. They've all had kids since and they, however, do.

IMO this total lack of exposure to English (I wasn't allowed to speak it in the office) is key. I learned it at a prodigious rate.

I think nowadays because of the internet and cheap communications it would be much harder.

I've always thought that being lobbed in a foreign prison would be another good, if extreme, way of learning a language.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Frank7 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

MC Bodge said:

Michel Thomas CDs and a girlfriend who lived in Paris helped me with French.

C'est à gagner maintenant!

Twig, you’re usually pretty good with your posts, at least IMHO, but I have a feeling that you wanted to say something like, “we have a winner”, or “this is a winner now”, but colloquially, what you said, translates to “anyone can win it now.”

What I was trying to say was "it's up for grabs now". But you'd need to be a football fan to get joke.

[MC Bodge]

Dog Star said:

I've always thought that being lobbed in a foreign prison would be another good, if extreme, way of learning a language.

The French foreign Legion is a bit like that.

How did you land the job in France?

[AlBondigaz]

To improve my Spanish I've been watching the España Directo program on TVE1 (Spanish eq. of BBC 1) at 6.30 pm UK time weekdays.

It's like the One show on BBC1 but much better in content. Lots of text on the screen giving you an overview of the story they are reporting on, so I have Google translate handy.

It streams on-line, we get it on Satilite Astra 19.2 I think.

[Ayahuasca]

MC Bodge said:

Dog Star said:

I've always thought that being lobbed in a foreign prison would be another good, if extreme, way of learning a language.

The French foreign Legion is a bit like that.

How did you land the job in France?

Those girls who were caught with drugs in Peru and did time came out speaking Spanish like natives. There could be a new language teaching opportunity there.

[bazza white]

Duolingo is ok to pick up some basics but it doesn't explain anything. YouTube is pretty handy for that.

If you cant access a tutor or spend much time in a Spanish speaking country then indent think there is a single best method you need to use a few.

[Ayahuasca]

A Spanish speaking girlfriend can help, if that is an option

Just thinking about the ‘best’ way to learn...

[AmosMoses]

To prepare for an Italian holiday I listened to a couple of seasons of a podcast.

Most of the episodes are free on apple podcasts:

https://coffeebreakacademy.com/p/coffee-break-span...

I have no affiliation with this I just found it very useful!

[Dog Star]

MC Bodge said:

The French foreign Legion is a bit like that.

How did you land the job in France?

Did a degree in Computer Science and French - best thing I ever did in my life. Not even sure if you can do anything like that here any more; I remember looking for degrees I'd like to do, and that was like a shining beacon. Sandwich year (actually more than a year as I went early and left late) in France; I worked in IT for Yoplait on DEC VAX stuff. Totally immersed in the French bit. Even spent time going to dairy plants and so on and visiting farms - I'd end up on the same farms on a Sunday sometimes as I'd be at friends house and we'd trot around the Somme on horses visiting everyone in the vicinity for "an aperitif".

Subsequently worked in France again, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany (Munich in the internet age - almost impossible and un-needed to learn German apart from working windows and keyboards - which confirms my point).