Newbee thinking of learning spanish

[jonesy77]

anyone got any tips on trying to learn spanish and the best way to do it?

[Jeff S]

Hang out in Santa Ana California for a while.

[whitey]

This recent thread has a lot of ideas:

http://www.planet-love.com/forum/index.php?topic=5773.0

[Bob_S]

Junior college night class.

[Researcher]

  The best way is total immersion.But if you can't do that then take some classes and find someone to practice with.Watching Spanish TV helps.

   Researcher

[Zon]

I used to think I was very intelligent until I tried to teach myself Spanish.  It turns out I am just an average knucklehead   If I had it all over to do again, I would have taken classes at a junior college.  I would have saved 100's of hours just working through workbooks.     It takes a longer time that I would have imagined to develop intermediate competence.   Once, you get there, learning can accelerate ... but it still talks years to speak very very well.

[euforia51]

Besides hanging out in Santa Ana (that is just funny) ... the first tip I can think of for you is motivation. You don't sound so sure you want to learn Spanish given the subject line of your post?

The second tip is, of course, your decision based on your time contraints and how much money you can sink into such an undertaking. I am using a computer based software (not Rosetta Stone) which is good for me because I am lazy and I like to sit on the couch with my laptop when I study. The first introduction level was less than $100 and it comes with the interactive software and some 10 audio CDs you can listen to in the car or wherever. And like any other company, they will try to sell you upgrades, more audios, etc. as you progress. I also bit on a few of these.

Taking a class at a community college would be a good thing also.

There is another poster on here who mentioned he is going to meet-up groups in his city to practice his Spanish with other people. To me, this sounds like an excellent way to go about it as well. These are typically free and run by volunteers.

And finally, at least in my case, nothing will motivate you more than having a woman (or women) to correspond with who can only speak Spanish. Not only will you feel more compelled to learn it, she (they) can also help and practice with you through conversation, etc.

Good luck!

EDIT:
If you want to try something out for free, do a Google search for Rocket Spanish. You can sign up for their newsletter and they will shoot you some short, conversational MP3 lessons about once a week or so. These are good for getting your feet wet to see if you want to go further.

[Colgando]

Hi Jones, I think the recommendation of taking Spanish 101 and 102 at you local community college is a fantastic idea, if you can do it. I was taught Spanish at the community college by native speakers, I took 101, 102, 201, 202, 4 semesters over a one year and a half period (Summer sessions are a great way to accelerate this). Summer sessions are coming up and you should be able to take 101 and 102 in the two 5 week summer sessions. Go to class everyday, do the homework, this will allow you to build a solid grammatical foundation and get you accustomed to the flow of the language, and all of this taught by a native speaker and teacher. Community classes are relatively cheap, probably to late to sign up for spring semester but you could look into summer sessions. The college conversational classes usually kick in at an intermediate level, so you may want to search meetup.com for a beginner level conversation meet-up in your area. If at all possible, learn and practice with a native speaker and teacher, they are adept to teaching gringos Spanish. I think once you get this foundation, you then have to start speaking, the more frequently the better. I was fortunate to be placed in an immersion situation, which is the best of course, but not really feasible for many of us after we are finished with college. Computer based learning was never good for me because I get bored, can't focus, I always do better when I am surrounded by people while learning, I feed of the energy of the group/class. Plus, if you are a goal oriented person, classes will give you a goal to strive for. The meet-up group would give you a place to be held accountable for showing up and trying. Last and not least, a girlfriend who only speaks Spanish, that will put some pep in your step for sure!

[Alabamaboy!]

chatting every night on MSN in Spanish. It is great because you can ask your girl how to say things (if she is bilingual). Writing letters in Spanish is cool, you can write them as best you can, looking up the words, putting them all together in the letter, then have your girl critique it and learn that way.

Another way I had good results was watching whatever DVD and change the subtitles to Spanish. Then you can match words in English and Spanish. Once you start getting really confident you can change the DVD so that the speakers are speaking Spanish and you can have the the subtitles in English/Spanish so you can learn the pronunciation better. Then you can change to pure Spanish and see if you can follow along with the conversations.

There are a bunch of free sites on the computer. You can google: Spanish Vocabulary Flashcards and there are a bunch of sites that are cool. Not all of them are boring because they have games associated with them as well.

I also have used People in Espanol, and try to read as best as I can and highlight words that I do not know, then I look them up in an old school dictionary. At the beginning almost all the page was highlighted, now just a couple marks on each page.

The classes at the community college can be a good idea too if you have the time.

[Gato4Astrid]

  The best way is total immersion.But if you can't do that then take some classes and find someone to practice with.Watching Spanish TV helps.

   Researcher

I do not know about 'hearing' people (listening Spaniah), but reading subtitles are little too fast for me to catch up!!  lol

I watched SINNISTER ISLAND with Spanish subtitles - and got worked out and even understood the film more than my ex-novia!!

[Bob_S]

Another way I had good results was watching whatever DVD and change the subtitles to Spanish. Then you can match words in English and Spanish. Once you start getting really confident you can change the DVD so that the speakers are speaking Spanish and you can have the the subtitles in English/Spanish so you can learn the pronunciation better. Then you can change to pure Spanish and see if you can follow along with the conversations.

I like this idea.  In fact, I recommended something like it to my Japanese students when I taught English in Japan.  I broke it up into 3 steps:
1.  Watch an English movie with the Japanese subtitles turned on so you can follow the story.
2.  Watch it again with the English subtitles turned on so you can now follow what they are saying.  By the time they reached my class level, most of my students could actually read and write English fairly well, they just needed help with speaking and listening skills.
3.  Watch it a 3rd time with the subtitles turned off.  See how much of the native level English they can still catch.
As they progress and their listening skills improve, they can start to skip steps.  Just do 2 and 3 or 1 and 3.  Since you'll have to watch it over and over, pick a movie or genre you like.
The same approach should help with developing Spanish listening skills in addition to a formal class setting.  Note that it will only help your listening skills (and maybe reading skills), not your speaking skills.  Listening, speaking, reading, and writing really are 4 different skills.  Don't think one will develop on its own if you focus on the others.  Eventually you can move on to trying to follow Sábado Gigante!

[beginthebeguin]

From one Jones to another, here is a FREE resource that I like and I have tried a number of FREE resources on-line in the past 2 months. These exercises are fun to do. And I do recommend the espanol lessons at your local community college to supplement these exercises. BTW I'm still using these on-line lessons for now. No money for tuition for me at the moment.

http://www.spanishdict.com/learn

[latina1988]

Spanish is a relatively easy language to learn and speak. The secret to learning Spanish is to speak Spanish as soon as possible. So as you learn you practice and practice verbally. Some people recommend you watch Spanish TV or videos to help you learn Spanish, but this is not the best way especially not for beginners. Speaking to native Spanish speakers about certain topics is by far the best and easiest way to learn Spanish. When learning new Spanish vocabulary, always try to use the new Spanish words in sentences rather than just the Spanish word itself. Use internet sites that offer free online spanish courses and lessons.


a practicar muchacho!!!
 
Spanish words are pronounced as they are written. This makes it really easy to learn Spanish. If you spend more time speaking Spanish you will be able to write Spanish. Rather spend more time speaking Spanish than writing. Speak and read aloud.

[Gato4Astrid]

If you spend more time speaking Spanish you will be able to write Spanish.

Welcome to this site, Latina 

What would you advice for a deaf person like me?  My Spanish is already in the intermediate level - but only by reading and writing.  I learnt it by myself through MSN, CR-Rom (Rossetta Stone) and from books.

and how did you learn English?  "spend more time speaking English and you are able to write English"?   

[Jeff S]

Yes, hi Latina and welcome.

You're right, once you learn how Spanish is pronounced, it becomes easy to read and know how to pronounce it.

I supplied the adult beverages for a Latino party a few years back and was questioned about what pah-lay ah-lay was. It took me a while to figure out they were asking about the pale ale.

[latina1988]

You must first learn to speak and then learn to write. If you try to pronounce the words before moving on to the written language. is much better for you

  Deaf people have more developed the ability to read lips.
  If we speak slowly can understand the message.
  and understand so much more
 and Spanish is just associate the words if you know the alphabet, vowels. is easy
 congratulations for your great effort
 will you reach your goals
 

[latina1988]

gracias por su bienvenida !!! 

[Gato4Astrid]

  Deaf people have more developed the ability to read lips.  

It is not true!  I am not good at lip reading, neither does most deaf people.  They all talk too fast anyway.    Most deaf people can only lip read to these people whom they know very well.  It will be more difficult to lip read in Spanish when they aren't from any native Spanish-speaking countries.   For example when you say "vendo", you say "v" as "b" and they will lip read you as "bendo", but deaf people (not from Spanish) will not understand this.  They will expect "v" as "vendo"

These deaf people who can lip read - most of them are hear of hearing (e.g. 1/2 deaf).

I can lip read women far better than men's but only when they talk directly to me and slower than they normally talk.  But overall, I am not very good at it.

[Gato4Astrid]

gracias por su bienvenida !!! 

de nada

[utopiacowboy]

Be careful learning Spanish - some people will say you're a Latino wannabe. OTOH, it's nice to be able to listen to your wife's telephone conversations and know what's going on. Justified or not, I've noticed that not being able to understand what is being said can lead to a degree of paranoia.

[z_k_g]

Spanish is a relatively easy language to learn and speak.

Latina1988, Very nice avatar!  

Is this you?

Have you introduced yourself in the newbie section so everyone will know who you are and why you are here?

Welcome!

Zulu