silverchick

I had my first Spanish lesson today, and am so confused! I don't think i'll ever remember it all! It was quite disjointed too, the tutor seemed to leap from one area to another, although she gave me lots of handouts it was quite expensive (£20) for an hour I don't think i can afford to have the amount of lessons I'd need to help me become fluent! Any tips?

glad 2 b back

I picked up a lot just mingleling and chatting to Spanish people but it's when I took an open uni course in it, that it started to make much more sense. It was quite expensive about £375 it was called "portales" level 1 if you complete it and level 2 you'll get a certificate which is the equivilent to a GCSE. If you're still in England you may get it subsidised.

spain

is she Spanish ?

lessons much cheaper here - approx 15€ an hour one to one

learn as much relevant vocab as you can - everyday words - then once you start getting the verbs you will be able to string it all together

hang in there, its early days - you will be amazed how much actually stays up there

Impey

Hi silverchick,

Don't know if it will help you but we learned a lot by listening to tapes and cds of learning Spanish. You can learn at your own pace and it's very relaxing. Good luck with the learning.

SoJohn

I started to use the linkword language CDs. Quite good and can learn at your own pace. Also teaches you how to use the grammar, which can get a bit confusing.

jdr

Google Spanish lessons.
There are some quite good ones for free HERE is a six part one and you can pay for the rest if you like it.
Try to get ones where they actually speak on them and get the right pronunciations.
It will give you the basics and make it easier for the proper lessons over here.
I am sure other people will give you more links.

silverchick

Yes she is Spanish, but has lived here for years. I'm not very good with languages, scared off French at school by pervy teacher who used to talk to you via the language lab yeuchhh!!
Its makes it worse as his gingerness is really good and just picks it up easily. Clever Dick!! I'll be ok when he's there but i'll be alone a lot as he will be working away and it'll be all down to me. Starting to worry already about things like letters from school etc. Its not that I don't want to learn it, I really do, but I seem, to shut down in my head!!

keithwalters

Apart from being Spanish is she also a qualified ELE teacher? If she isn´t, that might explain the disjointedness of the lesson....a lack of lesson planning...not really knowing what she is doing.

If she is charging you 20GBP per hour then she really ought to be ELE qualified (and don´t accept filología española as a suitable alternative to the ELE qualification...there really is no substitute).

A good, and I stress the good, teacher is worth their weight in gold....far better than learning from books or CDs, especially if you don´t live in Spain. However, books, CDs etc make a good supplement to your classes.

spain

its only natural to worry

our school letters are in Valenciano - so after 6 months or so I probably knew more of that than Castellano

get a good Spanish/English dictionary and if you can a Valenciano/English too. If you cant get one in UK there are lots of book shops in Gandia

keithwalters

If you can, the very best thing you can do is a course by the Instituto Cervantes. I think there are centres are in London, Manchester and Leeds - don´t know if that is any good to you. Someone on this forum recently did a course there but I can´t remember who it was.

The Instituto Cervantes to Spain is a bit like Cambridge is to the UK...they do all the official examinations for Spanish as a foreign language.

silverchick

I'm not sure if she's ELE qualified, I'm using her on the recommendation of someone. She does teach in schools so she must be qualified.
I'm just really dense when it comes to things like language, I'm like it with maths too, I can feel a cloud descend over my head when I have to do some!!

featherbum

£20 is a bit much if all you got out of the lesson is confusion!
What someone said about her being qualified is right, i am a native Spanish but that doesnt make me a teacher as i dont know anything about lesson planning etc!
Thats why i am planning on doing a CELTA course, as i have been told thats the best one to learn to teach (someone correct me if i am wrong as the course is gonna cost a bomb!).

if this helps you, i learnt most of my english by chatting to english people and watching tv, the radio etc... also went to college twice per week!
good luck! you'll get there!!!

Cornish maid

Hello silverchick,

Like you, we know no Spanish, but are making attempts to learn the lingo before we go!

We have bought the CD's of Michel Thomas and find them brilliant! You listen to them as much as you want until you feel confident and then move on to the next one.

If you google Michel Thomas you will find all the info you require about getting the CD's. We got them from Amazon.

Hope this is of some help...and good luck!!
Sally

Sugarlugs

Dont know if yr any good at downloading but I am managed to get a Linguaphone course from the internet I think it was about 6 or 8 cd's worth but its not bad and of course its free.

rugbymatt

I arrived in Spain without a single word of Spanish, and found that having a Basque girlfriend who spoke bugger all English helped in the learning.

I do think that Spanish is best learnt in Spain, trying to keep up with a group of Spaniards arguing about sport, politics or religion, but I also think that having a bit of a background in the form of books, cds or tapes is essential.

Keep at it Sc, my OH is tearing her hair out at the moment, but every now and then she cracks something and she loves it then.