 Learning Spanish |
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| What is the best way to learn Spanish? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
scroosko scott mcgrory Post Count: 29 Msg: #1 37 weeks ago, April 5th 2009 | i have booked round the world trip straing in september in asia and will be in south america the following year. i would like to learn spanish before i go and continue to learn it as i am away. what is the easiest way to learn the language and the most practical for when im on the road as i would prefer not to be carrying books in my ruck sack. what level do you think someone could achieve in this timescale of say about 5 months at home and another 4 on the road before i get there. | thanks in advance for any help scott  Mell Mell Post Count: 14808 Msg: #2 37 weeks ago, April 5th 2009 | Hello Scott |  I think if you take classes of a few hours per week you could learn a lot in 5 months. However, you may still find it difficult to catch what people are saying in Spanish speaking countries until you are there for a few weeks. I took Spanish lessons for a week when I was in Guatamala. You could maybe do something like that along the way while you are travelling to boost what Spanish you already know. I wouldnt bother carrying too many books. Just take one that covers the grammar and some vocabulary at the level you are at when you are leaving for your trip. And have a notebook, to write down new words you pick up, so you can review them when you are sitting around doing nothing or are on a bus. Mel  discostew Stew Post Count: 6 Msg: #3 37 weeks ago, April 6th 2009 | Hi, | itunes has lots of free spanish lesson podcasts. And as Mell said you can learn a lot in 5 months - especially if you have a good teacher. Stew scroosko scott mcgrory Post Count: 29 Msg: #4 37 weeks ago, April 6th 2009 | thanks for your comments. all i need to do is get started now :) |  ElAustraliano Paul Morrison Post Count: 211 Msg: #5 37 weeks ago, April 7th 2009 | I learned 5new words a day.In a month that is 150words and after that it was easy.After 6months I speak passable Spanish.I am hoping after my upcoming 5month trip I will be able to say "I speak Spanish".Family that runs hotel in Lima laughed [good naturedly] at my attempts when I 1st arrived there.When I returned ,6mths later, we had some long conversations.I will be staying with them again in 13days.I am so excited. |  Ali Ali Watters Post Count: 3913 Msg: #6 37 weeks ago, April 7th 2009 | Total immersion is the best way - go to Guatemala, or Peru, or Spain ;) - and stay with a host family who only speak Spanish, study 1 on 1 for 4 hours or more everyday and work on vocabulary in your spare time. | 6 weeks later - you'll be able to communicate well :) - 6 months - some will be almost fluent - 10 years - you'll still be laughed at for some minor but hilarious mistake! Good luck - it's an amazing feeling going from one language to more than one :) ElAustraliano Paul Morrison Post Count: 211 Msg: #7 37 weeks ago, April 7th 2009 | In my conformation e.mail for my hotel room ,1st time in Lima, I told them I was "muy exitado' about coming to Peru.When I arrived the whole family was laughing after a lot of looking in my dictionary I eventually realised why they were laughing.Emocionado=excited .Exitado=horny They still tease me about that 1.That is another thing about Sth American family run hotels,if you stay a while they take you into the family.When I left for the airport ,to return to Australia,the whole family was teary ,even the 17yo son. |  LJ Laura Simpson Post Count: 27 Msg: #8 37 weeks ago, April 7th 2009 | Hi | If you want to try learning from a CD then I recommend Michel Thomas. It is all on CD (no books) and you are taught using his method. You start by building up sentances rather than learning lots of phrases like "I have 2 sisters" etc. If you live in the UK then I bet you will find the course in the library if you don't want to buy it. My small local library had all his courses. Don't be put off by the first lesson. He is a funny guy but once you get going, he is really good.  swissmaple World Citizen, aka Mél Post Count: 66 Msg: #9 37 weeks ago, April 8th 2009 | One of my current room mates learned Spanish by studying a little himself before he went to South America, with a book. | But he really learned Spanish when he arranged to stay with a family outside Lima, Peru (the family of someone he meet while traveling in Europe) and wandered down the street to the restaurant area. He picked a restaurant, went in and asked the little old lady running it if he could chop veggies for her in exchange for simply speaking to him in slow Spanish. 5 months later he was like a member of her family and practically running the restaurant! Immersion is key. But as much as you don't want to weigh down your pack with books, do be on the lookout for a good book whose teaching format you like, or just take a thin review book to brush up on what you learned in classes. Have fun!! (How do I say that in Spanish?)  cabochick Andrea Post Count: 48 Msg: #10 37 weeks ago, April 8th 2009 | Hola Scott! Learning a new language is really hard unless you are completely immersed in it....but saying that...some people pick up really easy, and then there are types (like me) that struggle for years. I find you usually become really great in one area (either reading, speaking or comprehending) I can read anything in Spanish but the minute someone starts rambling on I draw a blank and I'm not quick to answer. | I would highly recommend starting at home. Either take a beginners class or an online course and learn the basics. You would not believe how far you can get in any Spanish country knowing the basics. i.e. greetings, directions, questions regarding food, money, etc. Then as you start to travel, almost all central and south american cities have spanish classes. I would do a week here and there. Its a wonderful way to meet the locals and also learn about the city you are visiting. You will be shocked at how fast you pick up. I like to stay with families in the country I am visiting. My next trip will be all 'casa particulars' in Cuba instead of hotels/hostels. Read my blog about my experience with language school and homestay...called Se Habla...Si Senor Claro. All the best to you! And don't try to plan too much....thats the fun part. Learning as you go! Buena Suerte! ElAustraliano Paul Morrison Post Count: 211 Msg: #11 36 weeks ago, April 8th 2009 | Diviertase=Have fun [I hope coz I say it often] |  mark and chrissie Mark and Chrissie Hayward Post Count: 13 Msg: #12 36 weeks ago, April 13th 2009 | I can also recommend Michel Thomas. We have his stuff on our i-pods and we learnt a lot of useful things really quickly and easily. Since we arrived in South America our Spanish has improved tenfold as we pick up new vocabulary every day and get to use it all the time. We haven't done any language schools out here but there are plenty of them, they are normally not expensive and I think it would be really useful. | Spanish is a great language and I'm definitely going to carry on my learning when I get home. Enjoy!  Kevin and Amarryn Kevin and Ammi's RTW Adventure Post Count: 36 Msg: #13 36 weeks ago, April 15th 2009 | Hi! Good luck learning Spanish. Something I did...uh...I mean a friend of mine did was go to the library, get level 1 through 3 of the Pimsleur's Spanish CDs and burn them to my...uh...I mean his MP3 player. Having just finished traveling through South America for 7 months I can say that each country has a different dialect and different vocabulary. Take this one word: TO PAY. In Peru: Pagar. In Argentina: Abonar. In Colombia: Cancelar. If you try to learn any Portuguese it was screw up your Spanish. I would suggest taking classes in one place for a while. Peru is really cheap. In Cusco we got 20 for $90. | ElAustraliano Paul Morrison Post Count: 211 Msg: #14 35 weeks ago, April 15th 2009 | It is such a great feeling to speak with confidence in other language.I was on a tour of Uyuni Salt Lakes.The Bolivian tour guide was telling some Australians and Germans ,on orgonised trip, in Spanish, that their bags were in their hotel.She told them the hotel was just around the corner and that they had to be at the tour office at 8am next day.I was just looking out window ,trying not to eavesdrop, but understanding every word.I looked up and everyone ,Bolivians and travellers,were looking at me waiting for translation.What a great feeling!! | Another time I was on tour Cuzco to Puno.The guide was doing talk in Spanish then in English.He was telling us in English about cropping in the area when I thought "why is he repeating himself".This is when I realised I had understood the Spanish version without even realising Yo hablo espanol y yo soy muy feliz  matty1 matt Post Count: 124 Msg: #15 35 weeks ago, April 18th 2009 | obviously the best way is to fall in love with a spanish speaking girl! :-) | i totally recomend the "pimsleur spanish course" its easy and 100% effective. and it worked on me.. and im not the studying type. its designed like a "listen and repeat" memory game and therefore impossible to forget the words. and all the work is done for you really, all you have to do is listen to it. in total it consists of 100 20 minute lessons. if you do one a day that is 3 months of solid learning. it gets you talking confidently and pronouncing stuff correctly from the begining. i started an intermediate spanish course afterwards and straight away i noticed that i was able to have an uninterupted conversation using complex expressions with ease, because i just knew them from the tapes. whils the other classmates who had done a normal beginners course were still sifting through pages of verb-lists and having great troubel forming sentances and pronouncing simple words. i also think that chatting on the internet is a fantastic way to develope your language skills. if you have any spanish or south american friends you can chat to them on messenger using online dictionary to aid you. this is particularly good to develope you knowledge of local expressions. and gets you up to speed because you have to try and keep up with the conversation in real time. they do not speak different dialects in south america. they speak the same dialect "castellano" in every single country. just argentina has a small modification on a couple of verbs. and chile have a lot of their own words and expressions. but its not a different language. its exactly the same languge from one side of the continent to the other so dont be put off by that. personally i still find some accents from spain to be the hardest to understand. anyway , you have the will to learn and thats 90% of the battle. best of luck matt currently fluent in colombia. :-) Number of Users: 11 | Number of Posts: 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
