Spanish self learn courses
 

I've been asked to recommend a good self learning Spanish course. I recently completed one myself 'Spanish in 30 days' by Sociedad general espanola de libreria, it's better than nothing I guess but it's nothing special so I wouldn't recommend it.

I've seen some good threads in the past here but I'm damned if I can find them using the search function now :(

Anyway I guess I'm looking for advice for both myself and this new friend of mine. Our levels are a bit different. I'm probably at a poor B1 level now (pre-intermediate) while her level is elementary I guess so I'd be grateful for any help.
Thanks.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

There are so many courses on the market that I am not surprised that you are asking which are the best but of course as usual one person will recommend something and then someone else will say that it is rubbish. What is the style of learning that you prefer. Do you like visual aids, listening or reading and repetition.

One group of books that I have found that have good explanations and are also very reasonable are "Practice Makes Perfect". Easy to buy from Amazon UK.

Rosemary

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Thanks Rosemary - I did some test before to show what type of learner I am and it said I was an aural learner and I definitely don't feel the need to take endless notes and don't obsess with grammar like some people, so I'd say listening and repetition would be my main ways of learning, but I do think we need to learn in as many ways as possible. As a newbie English teacher that's what I think anyway ;).

I'll take a look at those Practice Makes Perfect books then. :)

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I've been using the Pimsleur Spanish Complete Course & the Rosetta Stone course. They seem to work well.
Good luck

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

There is 3 I can recommend all different though

Rosetta stone, expensive but free on android devices at the moment, Babbel the same free at the moment,

I have not used Babbel much, rosetta stone is good and it is fun too, and to send your self to sleep is Michel Thomas

The Michel Thomas for confidence definatley do the first 2 lessons because it will be a confidence boost, then if your ok with that carry it on and use Rosetta stone or Babbel aswell,

I learnt more from Michel Thomas in one hour than I did going to any classes, i tried it all but to begin they have to be the front runners,

There is also a slang version which is quite good too if you want to learn the foul language

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I learnt most from Michel Thomas, but it is really dull, and I didn't like the way he was using none native speakers. If you can stomach it, it covers the most detail by far. Paul Noble uses a similar technique and native speakers, but not as in depth. Would be good for a beginner or refresher. Duolingo is my current favourite, android ios or web. Helps to see it written down.

I've tried loads, but I'm just not good at languages so until we get out to Spain and start using it daily with native speakers then there seems to be a limit as to how quickly I learn.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I found the free podcasts from Notes in Spanish really useful for learning to understand conversational Spanish. Handy to stick on the MP3 player when traveling to and from work.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I am using Paul Noble I find it easier to follow and not as dull as Michelle Thomas which I also have and may well move back to later because as you say more detailed. Rosetta Stone I find quite good apart from the pronunciation part is far too pedantic for me and spoils the course. I know you can turn it off but it just then becomes an expensive flash card system.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I bought a book called Linkwords many years ago. I'm not sure whether it's still available. It was a great little book and got me started with a large vocabulary very quickly. Then I went on to learn at night school. But I still love the idea of linkwords. You never forget a word you've learned that way. especially if yopu're the visual memory type. It's to do with putting a visual memory with a word.
The first word I ever learned Cajon = Drawer you learn it by imagining or making the sound of a car horn (that's just about the way it's pronounced) as you open a drawer. Try it 3 times...you'll never forget it!

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

It was brought out on DVD´s and sold via a shopping channel a few years ago. Not sure whether it is still available or how it can be bought though.

Rosemary

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I personally wouldn't advise anyone to pay for expensive courses, there's a mountain of free stuff on the web from complete beginner to advanced levels. Better to spend the money on evening classes or the like if you feel you must spend money, add to that my old favourite, skype language exchange, they are free.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

All the stuff available is ok. as an aid but I haven't heard anyone speaking decent Spanish who have used only those. Formal lessons are needed too...by experienced teachers.

I did see on a forum someone wanting a translator...he had been living in Spain 9 years:rofl:

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I couldn't agree more. I also think that once you get to a certain level, intercambios with a native speaker are invaluable in improving your conversational skills. Not much use to a beginner though, you would run out of things to say after a couple of minutes!:rofl:

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

There are so many to choose from. I would suggest BBC online and the course currently used to teach Spanish @ FE colleges, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Access-Spani.../dp/0340882956

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Rosetta Stone is head and shoulders above the others. But it does take a lot of commitment and it is expensive - though you'd think there would be s/h copies around, since once you've "learned" it you don't need to keep hold of the material. You also need a PC with a microphone (and maybe headphones, too) as it makes you speak and checks your pronunciation is acceptable. There's also a lot of repetition in the lessons.

I tried the Michel Thomas CDs. He makes some grand claims, but it seemed to be to be very one-sided. Yes, he teaches you a lot of vocabulary, but the hardest part of learning a language is listening, not speaking and he misses that part out completely.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Disagree, I'm sure we are all more capable of understanding spoken Spanish than speaking it. When listening, everything is already conjugated for you, the grammar is correct, it's a very different skill to actually having to conjugate the verbs, use subjunctive if necessary, word order, sentence structure etc. My wife understands spoken Spanish quite well, but can hardly string two words together! Listening is certainly important, but I'd put speaking and writing correct Spanish way above listening on a difficulty scale.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Not me!
The hardest thing I find about conversing in Spanish is working out what the other person actually said. :(
Most conversations I have - generally with people in shops or trying to get something done at the town hall goes like this:
Me: Hola! ¿tienes una botella de leche?
Shop person: something something something something something something something something something do' euros something something something something nada

Typically I reckon I can pick out about 1 word in 50 of what someone says to me. A lot of the "sense" I get from the person who's talking to me comes from their tone and body language. I have completely given up trying to speak to a spaniard on the phone - the speed, lack of visual clues and having little idea what their context is means I get almost nothing at all from what I hear.

Generally I can make myself understood, even without getting the tenses (or even the gender) correct. The mechanics of listening to a response is mostly that of checking that the word you heard is the one you expected¹. When you don't know what to expect and haven't really much of a clue as to where one word ends and the next one begins, the process is virtually impossible.

[1] You can test this for yourself. Play a game with a partner where you say a sentence and he/she/it has to repeat what you say, in real-time while you are saying it. If you deliberately make mistakes, such as saying "Paris in the the spring" your playmate will subconsciously correct the error (as you may well have done when you read the example, the first time). When you start speaking random words, the speed of them repeating - and the accuracy - drops markedly.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I think I would agree with Pete I by no means speak much Spanish but do try and when having a conversation with neighbors when over I can often get the gist of most of what they say, but it is the speed and of course regional accent that I find difficult. Also of course I am trying to translate i n my head at the same time where on the other hand the bits I have actually learned I don't do that like our own language you just know that. Be great when I can do that with a full conversation. Other thing as well for me I try and learn it but find it hard to forget our pronunciation of common letters. I find mind that re speed the Spanish think that we english speakers speak very quick and I have been told they think we sound like we are singing. Paul Noble on his last CD does quite a good job of trying to resolve this as they go through what you have learned at full speed with the Spanish speaker.
Pete re Rosetta Stone I do find that quite good luckily I was given a copy the thing for me though I don't mind the repetition as I need that to be honest but it is the pedantic speech recognition when it splits words down i.e. MUJER - MU - J - ER, there is only so many ways I can say MU by about 50 attempts I am about to throw the computer through the window, then out of the blue it accepts my MU however as you say repetition shortly after back it comes and guess what I am yet again saying the same but still taking 40 goes lol. I do like the way it also monitors and makes you feel by doing that, that you are progressing.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Even if your Spanish is reasonable, I find the Spanish generally slow down, I'm very aware that when speaking with Spanish friends they speak at a much slower speed than when talking with their friends or family. If they don't, ask them to, I'm sure they will. Chatting with a friend recently, I had no problems following him, then the phone rang, and I was struggling to get all his conversation when he switched to "normal" Spanish. We do the same in English, often without realising it.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Those who can't speak any Spanish go into a shop and find they are not understood shout loudly as if the shop assistant is hard of hearing<LOL>

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Argh yes the good old bilingual Brit method not forgetting of course the frantic waving of arms and look of disgust when they fail to be understood, of course stupid Spanish fault lol

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Best anecdote I overheard, when in the hairdresser.

How long have you been here dear?

Twelve years in September

and how's you Spanish?

I been practicing my numbers. Uno, dos, tres, quantro ..........

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

:rofl:

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I'm glad it's not just me who finds listening comprehension much harder than speaking or writing Spanish! I've got a bit better over the years (slowly!) but still struggle, and I find that even if I ask a native Spanish speaker to slow down, they do initially but soon revert to the usual machine-gun speed - and yes, Bob, Spanish people who are learning English have also said to me that English people speak very fast, which I never thought we did! I can now cope OK with phone calls, but only if there is absolutely no distracting background noise such as TV or passing traffic, as I really have to concentrate.

Different people must have different skills, like Agoreira's wife my OH does not speak very good Spanish (knows a lot of vocabulary but can't put a proper sentence together, due to having given up on lessons at a very early stage as he "couldn't be doing with the grammar":)) but could always get the gist of what was being said to him better than I could. Not any longer, though - ha!

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

I have just been doing a bit on Rosetta Stone and did having completed a section did one of the milestones. They are very strange to say the least

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

The course others have thoroughly recommended to me are: www.duolingo.com and www.senorjordan.com/los-videos. The first is free, the second I think is free. The course I personally thoroughly recommend is Linkword, but it is not free and one disadvantage is that you can't stop mid module and come back to it later.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Linkword. I only did level one as a book years ago, but loved it! the most entertaining course I ever did and it really gave me confidence to go on. And although I'm fairly fluent these days if anyone has the course...especially the higher levels I could buy/borrow I'd love to iron out some bad habits and fill a few gaps.

Re: Spanish self learn courses
 

Mine is an online course and I understand other formats are available. I wonder whether it's the same as yours though as although I find it quick, easy and clear, I certainly wouldn't describe it as entertaining. You are given lists of words in English first and then in Spanish. Then you practice those words in sentences which most of the time are nonsensical so I definitely wouldn't describe it as entertaining unless you are very easy to please! You are also instructed in Grammar of course which as I say is always clear and easy to understand. Have a look at their site www.linkword.co.uk.