Learning a new language

[thirstyboots18]

I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.  I want to learn Spanish...and I am not particulary adept at languages.  What do you thing would be the best way...take a conversational class?  Rosetta Stone?  I won't have time to start in until summer, but wanted to set up some parameters.  Thanks in advance for advice.

[Redz]

No se!

I failed Spanish in High School.  I still know a lot of words, but the conjugation was difficult.  I wish we spent more time conversing in the language than strictly trying to memorize how to conjugate.  Maybe they teach it differently now.

Spanish is a lot easier than English though.  The rules are much more consistent.

Good luck!

[barefacedmonk]

I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.  I want to learn Spanish...and I am not particulary adept at languages.  What do you thing would be the best way...take a conversational class?  Rosetta Stone?  I won't have time to start in until summer, but wanted to set up some parameters.  Thanks in advance for advice.

Here is my experience....I couldn't speak English 7-8 years ago. What helped me was reading and conversing with people who spoke the language. I read a lot....and I wasn't embarrassed to make a fool of myself when talking to people....learnt from my mistakes. Any instrument(books/cds) to help you with with the basics first would be a good start....and then you could try using what you've learnt in converstations with people who speak Spanish...and yea watch Spanish movies/tv shows etc....they won't make much sense to begin with...but later you'll realise that they actually help you with the learning process.

[guava_wrench]

I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.  I want to learn Spanish...and I am not particulary adept at languages.  What do you thing would be the best way...take a conversational class?  Rosetta Stone?  I won't have time to start in until summer, but wanted to set up some parameters.  Thanks in advance for advice.

There is no one method, since we all learn differently. I became fluent in a foreign language through textbooks and tapes, but that is what works for me. I am not the type to use trial and error in public, and I need to see rules written out to internalize them. Some people are better at immersion.

I would recommend listening to repetitive audio tracks. Put some language tracks on your mp3 player and listen to them over and over, repeating what it tells you to repeat. I consider repetition to be key so that you can comfortably internalize some basic usage and basic sentence structure.

I found that listening to a foreign language was the hardest part of learning a language. I find repetition to be the best. Listen to the same educational materials over and over again, and perhaps watch the same movie with and without closed captioning (not translated subtitles) repeatedly.

Keep in mind that it is hard to learn idiom and that if you are learning Spanish, there will be many variations. My understanding is that a movie from Spain will sound different from a movie from Mexico.

[Roy Hobbs]

Lots of one-on-one time with Edgar?

[thirstyboots18]

Lots of one-on-one time with Edgar?

Sounds like a plan!   

[Edgar]

Lots of one-on-one time with Edgar?

Sounds like a plan!   

Encantado.

Puedo hablar español, soy alergico a los crustaceos...

[thirstyboots18]

Lots of one-on-one time with Edgar?

Sounds like a plan!   

Encantado.

Puedo hablar español, soy alergico a los crustaceos...

Boy, am I in trouble!  I don't want to learn any dirty language!  The closest I can come up with for that (using my four years of high school Latin....and that wasa long time ago)  is....something about speaking Spanish, and being alergic to Lobsters!   ha ha ha ha  If I study for a couple years do you think I will know what it means?

[Eja117]

pimsleur tapes/cd at your local library for free. Stick em in the car and learn while not using any free time to do so.

If you don't like pimsleur try the others. Possibly tape stuff onto blank tapes to review and go at your own pace.

I've listened to like 20 languages this way

[Kwhit10]

I have a Rosetta stone for Polish.  I haven't used it that much but from the little  I have done with it I must say it works very well. 

[bdm860]

I have the Rosetta Stone for Spanish and I like it, and thought I learned a lot more from that than from the Spanish I took in high school.

In case you don't know, what Rosetta Stone does is show you a picture of an apple, then the computer says manzanas, and then you repeat it.  Then it does the same thing for like a banana, orange, and pear.  Then the next screen just shows you the picture of each of those fruits, but this time doesn't say the name for you.  Then it does the same thing for colors, it will show you something red and then say rojo and then you repeat what the computer says, then same for blue, purple, yellow, green, etc.  Then it builds on all that by showing you a red apple or a green apple, and then you have properly say it in Spanish.  Then it adds in numbers (3 red apples, 6 yellow banans), and then possessive case and tenses, and then full sentences, etc.


Hears my opinion about my experience with Rosetta Stone:

• It's expensive, when I bought mine lit was like $400, and you can only install it on like 2 different computers, so be aware of that
• It takes work, you have to put in the time to get anything out of it (sounds obvious, but a lot of people think the computer program will take all the work out of it) I seemed to get the most out of it when I put about 15-30 minutes in everyday.
• If you have any Spanish speaking friends, let them know you're trying to learn and ask them questions and try to learn, they're usually more than willing to help you learn.   I would just point to an red apple and say manzanas or rojo and they'd let me know if I was right or wrong and give me tips or correct me or even quiz me.
• The most difficult thing is you use a mic and the program determines if you said the word right or not.  It gets really frustrating when you keep saying "rojo" and you say it the same exact way 5 times but the first 4 times it tells you you're wrong, but the fifth time it accepts it.

Overall I'd recommend the Rosetta Stone, but it works best if you can put in a little bit everyday and if you have Spanish speaking friends you can try it out on and practice with, otherwise you don't really know if you're doing it right or not.

[thirstyboots18]

Thanks everyone.  TPs all around.  (Except for Edgar, because I don't know what he said.    )

[wdleehi]

I took spanish 1 three times, and never failed. 


I took it in middle school.


Then, I took it in high school.



Finally, I took it in college.



Surprise surprise.  Still can't speak it.

[thirstyboots18]

Ha ha ha, wdleehi, I still can't speak latin either....can still "almost" understand it, though.  Hoping for more from Spanish, after all I am older and running out of time to educate or perfect myself.  (I am sort of running in place, I think...)

[Drucci]

I don't know any book that would help your but a good advice (although it sounds like a cliché) is to listen/watch and read a lot of things in the language you're learning. Of course you have to master the basis of the language at first but once you've got them it comes quite easily when you watch movies, series or whatever in that language.

(Sounds stupid but the basketball broadcasters' comments really helped me to improve my english)