Good "Learn Spanish" products?

[smokeycoffee]

Hey everybody    I really want to start learning some basic Spanish. I work in healthcare, in a geographical area with a high Spanish-only speaking population, and really want to be able to start communicating with those who don't know English. I know Rosetta Stone is the best of the best, when it comes to "learn language at home" products, but it's a little out of my price range. Looks like there's a ton of "Spanish for Dummies" type products. Anyone here ever tried a language-learning program other than Rosetta Stone? Know any good ones? Any bad ones not worth wasting money on?

[TimDaisy]

uh, i find that anything that is audio is the best thing for me. If you can find anything for less than $100 I would go with that if you're serious. Also, if you use podcasts (which everyone should IMO) you can download from a large number of audio language programs, and just put them on your iPod and listen to them when ever or where ever you go. They're surprisingly decent too, for being completely free. Hope that helps.

[cmonpilgrim]

You're going to have a ball :-) Spanish is such a beautiful language to learn!

My uni degree was in Languages and Applied Linguistics, so we had to tackle a few (I took Spanish, French and Japanese).

Are you going to tackle it on your own or join a class? A lesson once a week can really give you confidence, but if you can't afford it and want to tackle it on your own, try to order a copy of "Fast, Easy Way To Learn a Language" By Bill Handley. TERRIBLE name for a book, I know - sounds like a get-rich-quick method, but if you can ignore the terrible name, it actually it has some really great ideas on helping you structure your language learning if you're doing it solo, including advice on choosing textbooks and learning materials. I've lived in different countries and studied languages at 3 universities as well as on my own, and one of the hardest parts is managing your own learning; you have to cover grammar, vocab, listening, speaking and enjoy it at the same time.

Also, you'll have plenty of chances to practice at work by the sounds of it, so make sure to give it a shot every opportunity you get. It's all about practice!

¡Buena suerte!



Oh, am happy to try and help if you have any more questions!

[cmonpilgrim]

A note on products like Rosetta Stone:

While it's great to have a wealth of materials at hand, many if not most of these can be found stashed in a cupboard and mostly unused at a later date. This is because it's your drive and motivation that are the most important thing - an expensive language course won't take away the need to put in enough time and dedication. The good thing is, once you start having even the tiniest successes in communication, it's incredibly motivating and so much fun. And if you're committed, then you'll surpass the need for costly tools :-)

 

[Czad]

Don't waste money on Rosetta Stone.

Go Here. http://www.livemocha.com/

It's a free online alternative to Rosetta Stone. It's interactive, with lesson plans, tests and everything. I've used it to learn a little German. As an added bonus it's a social networking site. Native speakers can leave comments on your work, helping you along, something you don't get with Rosetta Stone.