DBASS

Hi there we are in the process of buying a house in ronda - we are determined to learn the language. Any tips on the quickest way to learn the language - we are using the micheal thomas cd's at the moment.

Mitzyboy

Are you ... what are they like. I've got the set on my desk just waiting to start it. Any good?

In answer to your question, theres no easy way. It seems to me the best way is to live there. Every time I go over I pick up more, but when I get back here I forget it

I see you're in Warwickshire, and I am as well. Anywhere near Leamington?

Linken1647

As you are buying a house, you probably want to learn a lot more quickly than I did but CDs/DVDs really only deal with how to book hotel rooms, how to ask for directions etc - holiday Spanish.
I visited Spain twice on holiday back in 1985 and after that fell in love with Spain and started to visit more frequently. After 2 or 3 more visits, I felt that I really needed to learn the language. I was fed up with not being able to converse. I enrolled to a beginners class for a year but after the first 6 months enrolled in an intermediate class. Whilst it was hard work, I was half way through the beginners class and at the same time was struggling through an intermediate class but found it really worked. I was upfront with the college and told them why I was doing it. They were getting paid so didn't mind too much and it really worked for me. To do it this way you really have to perservere and coping with the embarrassment and frustration is not easy. Start writing shopping lists in Spanish. Write notes in your diary in Spanish. If you are learning with a partner, start speaking Spanish - no matter how basic - to each other at home. I stopped going to Spain as frequently as work took me to other places so I have probably forgotten loads but after a few days back in Spain, you actually realise that you know more than you think. I know people who have learnt with CDs and they are great, but self-teach doesn't work for me. I need to have the support of a class and find that so much easier as everyone learns from each other.
Good luck!

pwwm

We have found Michel Thomas very good, though nothing beats being here and interacting with the locals but we have both found that the cd's have helped. There are free lessons in Spain as in the EU anywhere but we found that we have moved on from them, You can join these anytime, at keast here you can, usualy run at the local Ayuntamiento or as in our cse over the local police station.

pwwm

DBASS

We have found the cd's really usefull, but there is no substitute for actually speaking with spanish people.

We are over in Luddington near stratford.

j0197

Ive been here 3 years. Before we moved, we paid for a 3 month course which was 2 hours every day. That way, as we had paid for it, we went. I know alot of people who said they will go to a school and dont.

I didnt exactly leave there fluent, but it covered all the basics and a very good understanding of how the verb system works.

I feel I should be alot better than I am, but I dont have that natural flare for languages like some people do. Although when I do have the courage to speak, most Spanish do understand me and say I speak well. I think I sound like Borak from Ali G.

Understand how the verb system works, and just get speaking. When you meet a some spanish friends, make sure you speak Spanish and not English for them to improve on their English. That is what happens alot here.

If I insisted on speaking English to certain people when I came here, Id be alot better.

Spanish TV is awful, but at night around 10pm there is usually a good film, Simpsons on at about 2pm so watch with subtitles.

Id like to know how the Michel Thomas CDS are too!

DBASS

Thanks for the great tips re shopping lists and diaries - we had not even thought of this, we try to speak to each other in spanish but we are now convinced we have probably invented our own language.

jdr

Michel Thomas, jesus that mans voice must be the most boring sound I have heard.
As others have said the best way is to speak to the locals, I still have great fun with me trying to learn Spanish and them trying to learn English

un-mundo

On BBC2 tonight/this morning in their Learning Zone they are showing from 1am to 6am (UK time). 1am Talk Spanish 1-6 with in-vision subtitles; 2.30 Spain Inside Out 1-5 ; 5am Work Talk: Spain - Language basics for working in Spain.

So .... if you want to watch that and you've got a hard disc recorder, you're in luck, otherwise it's a very late night for you!

jdr

Cheers for that I will set the timer, its not Michael Thomas is it ?

un-mundo

I've no idea, I've never heard of him! I too have set the timer. Mind you, I've got so many Spanish CDs that I've bought and I'm still hopeless. Like the above poster, I try and speak Spanish with my partner but I'm sure it's just nonsense that we're talking! It's pretty hopeless without someone there to correct you.

j0197

I also have got some many spanish learning books....each time I saw a new one I bought it, ...i honestly thought...this is it...this is the one!!!

You have to speak it to learn it!

un-mundo

I said cds - what I should have said was that I could open a library with all the cds and books I've bought, to try and learn Spanish!

What little I do learn from them (and I do learn a bit) flies out of the aircraft door, long before I get to disembark. The minute I set foot on Spanish soil, I suddenly cannot remember a word of the language.

I think that whilst these things can help they are no replacement for (a) living there and immersing yourself in it - ie not doing the whole expat blah blah thing or, less good but better than self-tuition, (b) fairly concentrated classes. One hour a week would be pretty hopeless, more like one or two hours a day. Neither of which I feel I can commit the time to.

It doesn't help that I have the typical British embarrassment thing going on, I'd die rather than try and explain to the paramedic that I'm having a heart attack in ungrammatical Spanish! Fortunately for me, I've found my way around Spanish when it comes to a menu so at least I won't have to explain malnutrition to a non-English speaking medic!

Hypertweeky

The best way to learn is to surround yourself around spanish speakers, immerse yourself into Spanish's every day life
That's what I did when I first moved to the US, having a hubby who is a US citizen certainly helped

un-mundo

Whilst I know that there are plenty of Spanish speakers in the USA, is moving to the States the really best way to learn Spanish? Cuban Spanish, Mexican Spanish, possibly. I want to learn Spanish Spanish! And I'm failing, miserably.