Rosemary I really do think this is very good advice, certainly a way to learn foods quick.

I tried lessons, it did not work, Rosetta stone and Michael Thomas helped me a lot, 7 years ago my Spanish for a holiday maker was very good

Here where I am Costa Blanca I am understood well ok but sometimes a little nervous, struggle when the phone rings first thing in the morning.

Last week in Zaragoza nobody understood me and it whacked my confidence but I was very tired and maybe could not be bothered to try harder.

I just phoned Orange English customer services to ask why I was being overcharged and they did not understand me so I had to do a bit in Spanish, what kind of English customer service is that ? but we both found it funny and got there in the end and I found out there is a minimum charge of call.

Certainly I find telephone calls more difficult than face to face.

I am also in a good position that I am getting a lot of customer enquiries in Spanish, so being forced to write back. Instead of using google translate to write back - I will make basic sentences and replies. Unlike here where I waffle on.

I just wish the o/h would learn it as she is much younger than me and is a fast learner.

When having regular conversations people don't normally have to consciously think in any language before speaking. Words just come out "automatically", and most of the time it's the same if you are fluent in another language although it's just not quite so automatic. Some people can be quite fluent while speaking bad Spanish and others can speak very good Spanish but they aren't very fluent (it depends if you're the type who likes to think before they speak!)

If you have native skills you can think in that language as well as talk fluently (a good measure of people's native skills is how good they are with numbers in that language).

Well my wife says I should think before I speak more

Hi

I´m one of those determined people who decided to learn Spanish; So before I came I had a set of cassette tapes (remember those?) and had got to chapter 7 of ten in six months. I did at least one hour a day, before going to work, and played them on my Walkman during working hours.

When I arrived here I started classes on formal grammar as "I needed somewhere to hang things logically". I started with three one and a half hour lessons only the profesora and me. I found this too hard "for me" so cut down to two lessons a week (10€ an hour in those days).

I also did an intercambio twice a week teaching English to a 14 year girl for half an hour, and then her mother helped my pronunciation for half an hour.

I found an evening intercambio for adults, but felt it of not much use as it was predominantly Spanish people wanting to learn English.

I did this for seven long years, probably cost me in excess of 1,500€ a year. BUT it has paid off. Just this week I had to get etiquetas for a couple I know that rent their house out and the guy in the tax office complimented me on my Spanish as most people around here can´t speak any Spanish of note.

It took determination; there were times of despair and dark thoughts of "I´ll never learn - time to go to an English enclave or back to blighty". perseverance is the key, just be hard headed and keep on trucking.

Davexf

And it is making the time, My biggest problem is not I don't want to learn but the same as I want to get fit, I just don't have the time, but its more I do not make the time.

For example I promised myself id sit on the boat down and not book a room with a TV and sit in the room and force myself, it did not happen I went to the bar and got pissed.

So on the drive down I said I will do one hour learning and a hour music, but I loved the music so did not do any.

I don't think its a hard language to speak, many words are the same in English
or similar with O' on the end, or ion's or ar's, it just a different pronounciation.

If you can get that bit your half way there. I actually find the prounounciation the easy part, i.e martinez is marteenez, and virus is veeerus but spelt virus, the same. Andrea and Andrea are ondrea and ondrey, but the spelling the same.

I really should be much better, but lessons at a desk and role play did not work for me.

I really don't think you can learn it in England and then come here, you have to come here first.

The discipline that's involved in going to classes (once you've paid for a month upfront, you're going to show up, rather than starting off with good intentions of doing at least an hour a day at home which soon tails off) is one reason why they worked better for me. I understand that's a lot harder for people who are working, that's why I could never start classes when I was still in the UK as I could never be sure of being able to get away from work on time to get there.

I agree with you that the rules of pronunciation are one of the easier parts of learning Spanish, they are much more consistent than in English and there also the accents to provide an indication of which part of the word the stress goes on. The grammar, on the other hand, I would say is more difficult to learn than English grammar - but older British people might, I think, find that a bit easier than the younger generations as we were taught English grammar and parts of speech at school, which largely seemed to go by the wayside, along with spelling, in more recent times.

One of the first things my Spanish teacher drummed into us was the Spanish vowel sounds, which are always the same, and that really stuck.

Being able to deal with telephone calls was one of the things that took longest for me to feel confident about, because you don't have any visual clues or gestures to help. I still find it easier to have no confusing background noise like tv going on whilst I'm on the phone, as I have to concentrate on listening to what's being said.

Rubbish, if you're determined, you'll learn it anywhere. Might be easier in Spain being immersed in the lingo, but there are thousands of Spanish in UK giving classes, and my favourite, anyone anywhere in the world can use skype to speak with native Spanish speakers, I've been doing it for years. In the past, I've chatted with a Spanish guy and before we realise it, two hours has gone by. So even if someone cannot really afford formal classes, so long as you have an internet connection and the desire to learn, it's more than possible. Plus I watch Spanish TV on the net, tons of reading material there, I download podcasts for free to listen in the car, there really is no excuse.

Classes really are the answer, but other things can help. Like learning the alphabet to start with and when you switch the news on in the morning, watch it on a Spanish channel. It's the same with the radio, they will play English and American music anyway, but talk in Spanish in between songs.

Not for me, you can not really expect to Spanish if there is no Spanish around, maybe you can but I could not.

Its real life, going to the shop and getting the butcher to cut you some pork chops, you can research it and practice I did but it did not help when the man in the bank said I looked 'shifty' all the practice was gone, You need everyday situations.

Like I said if it worked for you then cool, when I learned I am going back to 2006 when probably the internet was not as powerful for the reasons you state, I am just giving my experience, and every one I speak to says the same.

Many do, I'm not alone, two of my former class mates now teach Spanish, they are good, and neither have ever spent more than holidays in Spain. I've said it might be easier but to suggest you can't learn Spanish without going there is daft. I speak with a Spanish guy, his English is as good as yours or mine, total time in UK, a week's holiday. I'd put his knowledge of politics and general everyday events in UK above most Brits, it's all knowledge he's learnt from the internet and all the resources available there. I wouldn't be surprised if I listen to and speak a lot more Spanish than many expats, thanks to the net "¡el mundo es un pañuelo!". Mind you I remember when a few dog eared books from the library and some dodgy audio tapes were all that was available.

Fair enough, the way I see it is you can do that for sure, but say you came over on a plane, you knew every word, you get pulled in by customs at the airport, they are shouting at you so fast all of them 5 officers - you will be in a panic state and all that learning is out the window, if you have been here and you use every day words, the panic will calm and words and expressions can come out. That is drastic, but the same could happen at the supermarket or anywhere, I found that not possible, for me all I learn is gone in a instant.

But since being here speaking a bit every day, having been pulled up and being able to say 'el peso es perfecto' or 'esta bien' comes out easy but not in a panick situation.


We are all different and good for you, I don't want to argue I can only share my experience.

Nobody over the age of about max 12 can pick up a language properly. People who do it that way will end up speaking very inaccurately.

I wouldn't buy tapes (or CDs or whatever), that is really difficult on your own. Experienced language learners can learn like that, using grammar books, podcasts etc etc but only once it's their third or fourth language and they know how to learn languages.

If I were you I'd find a semi intensive language course that meets twice a week. The teacher should be a qualified Spanish teacher and the course must be structured with people split into different classes according to their language level.

Make sure you practise what you've learned every day and do the homework. Maybe buy extra workbooks and go though them at home checking the answer key after each section.

Once you're past beginner level, use the TV. Watch English language DVDs with Spanish subtitles and vice versa. Read the subtitles as you listen. Pause the film when necessary and analyse in your mind what they were saying.

I've got more tips but that is a start. I've thought about this a lot: I've got an MA in language learning and have learned four foreign languages to a pretty advanced level. I'm not showing off, it took a massive amount of effort, learning a foreign language will always remain a work in progress. It takes thousands of hours and total dedication to do, of you want to do it well.

It's a fantastic feeling once you get to the stage where you can understand and respond to people From then on it's a matter of fine tuning, the beginning is the hardest part, by far!

Good luck and have fun - Spanish is a lovely language and the people are happy to speak it to foreigners.

Long before I came to Spain and that was long enough ago now, I somehow got to love the Spanish language and I have got no idea why. I don't think I had even visited the country at that stage.

When I came on a few holidays later, and listened to Spanish speakers, it just blew me away.

I'm not talking about the sun and the sea now, nor the cheapness and all the other nonsense, I'm talking about a Latin language I love. My own origins are from the north, a thousand miles away, so that doesn't explain anything.

The only explanation I can think of is my Viking DNA; some of my ancestors came over and apart from the usual raping and pillaging must have fallen in love with the place too.

Somebody I dislike but respect very much, he speaks French, English, German Spanish, and Italian fluent, and also some Japonese, His name is Arsene Wenger and when he goes to a conference he does not wear a headset, he can switch language 'just like that' as he often quotes.

He spent 3 weeks learning English in a classroom, the rest was not from classes.

I doubt he really only had 3 weeks in a classroom. What foreign language did he learn at school? If he has said he only had 3 weeks in a classroom, maybe he means as an adult?

Often, people say they learnt English from visiting forums etc and completely forget the years of classes they had at school.

I do think he sounds talented and experienced at languages too, two extremely important factors, along with others of course.