Can anyone suggest some childrens books that I might try?

I can't get on with Michel Thomas, took me a while to realise he was speaking in English

Also tried the Caxtons Editions book/discks, but can't seem to tune in.

So I thought I'd try going back to basics. So bought Collins First Spanish Picture Dictionary, age 3+ (I qualify because of the +) There is a guide in the back for Pronunciation but it's not much help to me as a total novice.

I can ask for a beer and the bill, ect. But was embarrased to hear someone with an English accent (whom had been in Spain for 6 months) Could/would not ask for their drinks in the native tongue. It gave even me with my very limited vocabulary and pointing ability great satisfaction to help them out.

One of my problems is that I was brought up in South Africa, and even today
My grammar is arse about face. So feel this is a handicap?

I started with Spanish-word-a-day.

Easy to get to know many words and eventually you learn to put them together. They also give you a good guide on how to pronounce the words and usually a sentence in which you use the word.

Good luck and stick with it!

Try BBC > http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/

I joined the Spanish public library and took out books from the junior section, progressing onto the adult section.

I suggest if you take out books which you know in English, it makes understanding easier.

Also, stick with English authors, as I found following the 'concept' of Spanish writers difficult at times.

The problem with the children's section is I learnt a lot of words which I have never uses since; earwigs, flowerpots, wheel barrows etc.

English authors I found good were Agatha Christie, HG Well, and in particular CP James, as her books would be really slim but for the fact that she repeats everything over and over, thus if you don't understand it first time you may do so later.

I used to get a 'cheer' from the library staff when I return a book rather than just constantly renewing it.

I always recommend joining the library too- and watching DVDs of films that you know - if you buy them here they will be in Spanish & English - but often not if you buy them in the UK

I strongly recommend the Teach Yourself series and the Breakthrough series. Both are CD/book combinations.

I learned with teach yourelf Spanish, then used the Breakthrough Further Spanish.

I found that all the tapes/CDs I tried were too fast or too dialectic.

My core books were 501 verbs, Punto por punto, Teach yourself Spanish grammar and an illustrated encyclopedia.

I also found the Spanish magazine 'El Jueves' particularly helpful. The articles and cartoon strips run from those needing almost no Spanish to understand to the more serious, with everything inbetween.

I keep a notebook to note down interesting expressions and then get my Spanish friends to explain them. That in itself is a learning experience, adding to my vocabulary, as well as helping me to put down roots.

Don't throw them away when you have finished, but go back to them in a year's time. You will be amazed how much more you understand, and then you will have a second wave of expressions to query.

Good luck with it all.

Whilst newspapers, magazines etc are good sources, I found that with reading a book one can get into the story, and thus it's a lot more likely one will press on than they might with 'shortish' news articles and particularly with grammar or verbs, which used to turn me off very quickly.

Of course one needs a certain basic understanding even before reading Goldilocks in Spanish.

the Parador Magazine is useful too - it's in both Spanish & English, so you can read the Spanish & then check the English to make sure you understood - & the English (mostly) actually seems to be in English, too (if you see what I mean)

it always has interesting articles too

Yes,the first time you listen to them, but you keep listening and listeining.

Then when you realise that you understand easily what was just noise before, it's great for confidence.

I been there, done that, but when I used to wake up I could never recall anything !!!!!

Trouble was, they were so bad that for a beginner they were next to useless, and I found that even after some time I couldn't grasp them. The exception was the Ealing course in German that I used. It was BRILLIANT. The German was clear, concise and totally useable. From the start I could grasp what was being said, and even today I can remember chunks of it that I was able to slot straight into everyday conversation.

On one language course the teacher pulled out a new set of tapes she had just got, and as she did, I bet her that they wouldn't be a damn bit of use.

She put them on, we all listened for 5 minutes and she threw them into the bin.

I certainly think learning a language nowadays "should" be easier than years ago, then you had a book, maybe some tapes, and that was about it. Nowadays there's tons of free stuff available on the net, from free courses, videos, online newspaper, free books, podcasts, skype etc. Of course, you need to apply yourself, but the days of looking through the local library for a Spanish book have long gone.

I started buying books from the book shop to try and learn Spanish but they kept giving me strange looks so I started sending over a girl that worked for me and when they asked what I wanted the books for she told them that I was learning to read Spanish. Next thing I knew rumour had it that I was illiterate and couldn´t read .....stopped trying after that.

surely that's a good thing really?

after all - isn't the Spanish you are going to need to be dealing with on a daily basis, dialectical?


or did you actually mean dialectic