Learning Spanish

I dont know if this has been covered before, and cant seem to locate the thread, so I apologize if this is reiterated.


But I took 4 years of spanish in High school, and a year in college. Havent used spanish since, and i never was fluent at it or even halfway decent in writing or reading even after those 4 years (let's just say, i was an unmotivated fellow during my teens and early 20s)


These days i find myself more and more immersed in a community of spanish-speaking people, especially here in Orange county and los angeles.

It's like a whole other world out there that i cant communicate with. I want to be able to immerse myself amongst them and take advantage of the benefits of learning another language for my future.

What is the best course, book, program out there for learning casual, spoken Spanish (besides going to Mexico). What cds or book can you recommend? Ive looked into Rosetta stone but that thing costs 500 dollars. I dont mind spending that much if i know that it would be a good investment but dont know too much about it but heard alot of stuff about it (through advertisements).

Should i just pick up a textbook from the local junior college here and pick it up myself or what?

THanks.

if you have a rudimentary knowledge of the grammar, i've heard rosetta stone is good for building vocabulary. you can get it cheap on craigslist.

pick a spanish newspaper, it think they sell la opinion in o.c.

talk to your neighbors.

Get a hot latina housekeeper or nanny.

spanish is for mexicans.


just kiddin. rosetta stone is good...

Originally Posted by matadorpoeta

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if you have a rudimentary knowledge of the grammar, i've heard rosetta stone is good for building vocabulary. you can get it cheap on craigslist.

pick a spanish newspaper, it think they sell la opinion in o.c.

talk to your neighbors.

i think the newspaper thing is a good idea. havent thought about that one.


talking to my neighbors would be conceptually good idea, but i have to find a spanish speaking neighbor first (my apt complex is from what ive seen all english speaking. )
and i want to be able to immerse myself so, just a 'hello' or 'que tal?" doesnt suffice. if i do anymore an hour a day they may get p.o.ed like go learn your spanish at a class or something. i would understand.

Originally Posted by EL72

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Get a hot latina housekeeper or nanny.

yeah that would be fine.

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

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i think the newspaper thing is a good idea. havent thought about that one.


talking to my neighbors would be conceptually good idea, but i have to find a spanish speaking neighbor first (my apt complex is from what ive seen all english speaking. )
and i want to be able to immerse myself so, just a 'hello' or 'que tal?" doesnt suffice. if i do anymore an hour a day they may get p.o.ed like go learn your spanish at a class or something. i would understand.

do a search of the forum. i posted on a request for things to read in spanish a few months ago.

Study the "grammatical" aspects of Spanish, i.e. closed class lexical categories, study the verb tenses, and all the while look up vocabulary that you don't know, which will build your knowledge of open class categories. It can be difficult to independently put together a program of study like this, so in addition, you might want to download some audio courses (Michel Thomas is a good one) that will help you with oral proficiency, vocabulary, and grammar. Personally, I don't like Rosetta Stone, but you might find it useful.

Try to read in Spanish and watch TV or movies in Spanish, and if you're really motivated, find some online forum or chat where Spanish is spoken and contribute, which is a great exercise in expressing yourself in a different language.

Originally Posted by bach

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Study the "grammatical" aspects of Spanish, i.e. closed class lexical categories, study the verb tenses, and all the while look up vocabulary that you don't know, which will build your knowledge of open class categories. It can be difficult to independently put together a program of study like this, so in addition, you might want to download some audio courses (Michel Thomas is a good one) that will help you with oral proficiency, vocabulary, and grammar. Personally, I don't like Rosetta Stone, but you might find it useful.

Try to read in Spanish and watch TV or movies in Spanish, and if you're really motivated, find some online forum or chat where Spanish is spoken and contribute, which is a great exercise in expressing yourself in a different language.

nice. thanks. i think i shall just pick up an intermediate level spanish textbook from a local college. i got like 50+ different spanish speaking channels on my tv i think i will utilize that as well.

Don't give in, make them learn English, not the other way around. If you must, I found es.yahoo.com useful for learning Spanish. Also take a refresher class at the local community college. Jump into the middle class, not the most basic. Rosetta Stone is a waste of money.

I'm trying to do the same thing. I have a bunch of resources I can tell you about if you're willing to step into the wide world of piracy. I also know of some decent textual resources and websites. PM me if interested.

Read a lot and look up the words. Watch TV to acquaint yourself with the speed at which its spoken. Do you have access to CDs you could listen to in your car?

Feel lucky that Spanish is ridiculously easy to learn.

Originally Posted by nate10184

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Read a lot and look up the words. Watch TV to acquaint yourself with the speed at which its spoken. Do you have access to CDs you could listen to in your car?

Feel lucky that Spanish is ridiculously easy to learn.

yeah, i felt that way when i was in school, and i still feel it is grammatically and written wise very easy to learn,

but you hear some of the los angelians out there who speak spanish? speak so fast. and use all these colloquial expressions that i cannot find in the text.
like all i know is "que lastima" and "caramba"
but who uses those expressions these days?
cant understand a word they say.

For any language, the Pimsleur method is the way to go. You learn (mostly) just by listening. Like real life. You didn't learn English from a book (most didn't) you learned it from hearing.

Pimsleur method drills things into your brain, 30 mins a day. I can still speak very basic French, from the tapes I listened to 15 years ago.

Pimsleur is ok for phrases, but sucks for vocabulary.