Hi all,

Anyone have any experiences of these DVD based language courses??

Thinking of getting the Rosetta stone Spanish level 1 to get me started...

I want to have the basics and more if possible nailed down asap.

Anyone used them up to a decent level of conversational ability?

Cheers, Tom

I'll wait for someone to correct me if it has worked for them, but I don't know anyone who's got to a conversational standard using these things.

Best thing to do is buy a good text book, a book of verbs, a dictionary and then to go to classes.

Unless you want to say "the boy is under the table / plane" "the boy is on the table / plane" etc.
It does explain what things are, but like you say I don`t think you would learn conversation, although I have only seen 1, 2, 3.

Rosetta Stone is really good, we have it. Obviously the best way to learn is either classes and interacting with people who speak the language. I find that Rosetta is very structured and you repeat, repeat, repeat which is a good way to learn. That makes it time consuming but you find yourself easily recalling what you have been taught. I also have Michel Thomas audio CD's which are really good. I recall the words and the spelling better that with Rosetta computer based training.

cool thanks. This is just to get us started... obviously its no substitute for getting stuck in 24/7

Try also www.byki.com, excellent for starting with the basics. Free downloads with audio and writing options using flashcards.
We also bought a book via Amazon quite reasonably priced, Spanish Vocabulary by Dorothy Richmond. It starts with the abc, pronounciation, simple exercises along the way, moving onto verbs, can't say what comes next as I am only up to that! I find it very good indeed and everything is becoming clearer by the day.

I have them also( downloaded torrents) but couldn't recommend them for learning conversation - good for revising what you've learned but expensive to purchase . Are there no courses available in your local cultural centre for example?

Yes there is a course for beginners but we would miss the first month as we are away in UK. They do not recommend starting afterwards even though we have a grasp. There are courses run by U3A but we would miss those too. We will see when we get back.

honestly.............. the only way you can learn...is start with books cds etc... and then listen

and don't forget to talk - at every opportunity!!

Yes absolutely. Thanks. If only so many Spaniards weren't English speakers we might get a chance to be 'forced' into speaking more Spanish.

Actually Spaniards are pretty rubbish at speaking English.

Spaniards and Brits are the worst at speaking foreign languages within the European countries.

In an area like the Costa del Sol a lot of Spaniards speak broken English but very few speak well, but you are right, if they see you struggling in Spanish many will interrupt in English to help you out.

I was reading over 70% of jobs offered in Spain where they need to be"cualificado", are now asking as a requirement that they speak English. So the problem is they all then want to practice it with you!

Holy crap even I am agreeing with you on this.

Pimsleur Spanish is very good as well, it is all CD based so ideal for listening to in the car, there are 3 levels each with 16 lessons, you can usually find it on Ebay. I found it much better than Michel Thomas