How to learn Spanish

[Guest RandyRon]

I would like to learn to speak and read Spanish but there is no local program available so I'm thinking of using one of the CD based courses. Has anyone used one of these? The two I'm considering are from Berlitz and Rosetta Stone. Any info on which one is best? Also, they list Latin American Spanish and Spain Spanish. Are the two languages very different? I'm sure we have several native Spanish speakers to give me some feedback on this one.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Juan Vancouver]

Read at your own risk...

 

Hey stud,

 

I guess that the right course for you depends on your learning style and abilities, since all those courses are targeted to different markets. I would not recommend the Rosetta course unless you really need A LOT of repetition and your style of learning is based in memory.

 

If your style of learning is based on understanding, though, I would greatly recommend a course by one of the most annoying men on earth... Michael Thomas. His voice makes the skin of my back creep inside my foreskin, (Imagine how bad it is) his repetition and style makes me want to pass out, but after having listened to his tapes a high percentage of people have the confident feeling of -knowing- some of the language they are learning.

 

 

You can see him (and listen to him- at your own peril) at:

 

http://www.michelthomas.co.uk/

 

On a bright note, since you are american it is very possible that you are cut, therefore you have no foreskin to which the skin on your back can creep into.

 

And if one day you are looking for an interactive session of practice, be sure to let me know... I would be more than glad to submit you to a series of "linguistical" exercises. }( (You see, in spanish, the correct position of the tongue is paramount to a correct pronunciation and I have my ways to put your tongue at ease... )

 

Happy learning!

[Guest DickHo]

The difference between Latin Spanish and Spain Spanish is the same difference as UK English and American English. Latin Spanish is spoken in all Spanish speaking countries other than Spain.

 

Nos vemos,

Dick

[KMEM]

As they say (whoever they is), the UK and the USA are two countries separated by a common language. Is that true of Spain and other Spanish speaking countries? I am sure it must be so.

 

Best regards,

 

KMEM

[+ Gar1eth]

Internet Spanish Instruction With Native Spanish Speakers

 

>I would like to learn to speak and read Spanish but there is

>no local program available so I'm thinking of using one of the

>CD based courses. Has anyone used one of these? The two I'm

>considering are from Berlitz and Rosetta Stone. Any info on

>which one is best? Also, they list Latin American Spanish and

>Spain Spanish. Are the two languages very different? I'm

>sure we have several native Spanish speakers to give me some

>feedback on this one.

>

>Thanks for any help.

 

 

While I don't have any personal experience with this company (Interlangua), I thought it sounded interesting.

 

Here is the website address:

 

 

http://www.interlangua.com/

 

 

Below is a blurb from a newspaper article about the company.

 

 

Learn to speak Spanish online

Chicago firm offers professional tutors from Guatemala

10:59 AM CDT on Thursday, April 5, 2007

Chicago Tribune

 

 

 

Linguists contend the best way to learn a language is to combine education with

immersion into a foreign culture.

 

Well, unless you are on a sabbatical, a student on summer break or work for a

dedicated company (or government), that's not going to happen.

 

Fortunately, the Web is brimming with ideas to teach language, including one

approach that is the next best thing to being there.

 

A Chicago company, InterLangua, offers one-on-one online Spanish courses with

professional tutors in Guatemala.

 

The only requirements for a student, besides a thirst to learn, are a

Windows-based computer, a broadband connection, a video camera and a headset.

 

The setup is basically a live, online videoconference for you and your tutor.

 

"We do some drills, but it's the conversation that's important," said Amarildo

Bal, a 31-year-old tutor from Guatemala who doubles as InterLangua's director of

quality.

 

"We talk about people, sometimes our different cultures, whatever the student

wants to talk about."

 

That might sound too informal, but InterLangua's growing client base likes the

approach.

 

It includes corporations, universities and individuals, as well as a few

U.S.-based Spanish teachers who want a professional tutor to help hone their

skills.

 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

 

Gman

 

PS But one-on-one personal instruction with Juan Vancouver would probably be more fun.

 

}( }( }(

[Guest RandyRon]

RE: Internet Spanish Instruction With Native Spanish Speakers

 

>

>PS But one-on-one personal instruction with Juan Vancouver

>would probably be more fun.

>

 

}( }( }(

 

the only problem Gman is that I have trouble even speaking English while I have a large cock in my mouth or my face is burried in a butt crack.

 

:P

[trilingual]

RE: Internet Spanish Instruction With Native Spanish Speakers

 

A lot of travelers to Brazil have reported positive experiences using the Pimsleur course in Portuguese. I'm sure they have one for Spanish, too. You can probably mail order it from Barnes & Noble (http://www.bn.com).

 

There are significant differences in pronunciation and usage between Latin American and European Spanish. Unless you're planning on spending most of your time in Spain, you'll do best learning Latin American Spanish. Even in Latin America there are regional variations, but the kind of Spanish you'll learn will be universally understandable throughout Latin American as well as in Spain.

 

Good luck and have fun learning Spanish!

[CT Dick]

Another option is Rosetta Stone. Many public libraries have this program on their computers.

 

Dick

[+ deej]

Yes, it's true.

[Epigonos]

I taught Spanish for twenty plus years and never heard the expression Latin Spanish. If you intend to learn Spanish in the U.S. or with a U.S. program you will undoubtedly be taugh Latin American Spanish. Spanish as spoken in Madrid is made fun of in Latin America and if I were you I would avoid it. Try to find a program that teaches either Mexican or Colombian Spanish as Mexican Spanish is the most common form spoken here in the U.S. and Colombian Spanish is good basic Spanish free of lots of silly regionalisms.

 

If you have the time there are numerous Spanish Language programs offered in schools through out Latin America. I know that in Mexico, for example, there are schools in Saltillo, San Miguel Allende, Mexico City and even a gay oriented school in Cuernavaca. There are also schools in Costa Rica but Central American Spanish is burdened with all sorts of local and regional expressions.

Good luck and have fun. It is a wonderful language!!!!!

[+ deej]

You got me curious. This program looks really interesting:

 

http://www.cetlalic.org.mx/social_change_programs_mexico/lgbt_program.htm

[catnip]

Pimsleur is much better than Rosetta Stone, though Rosetta stone is a good supplement for vocabulary building. I think you can do an online monthly subscription to try Rosetta Stone out instead of purchasing the whole package.

 

Also, people sell Pimsleur mp3s on craigslist at a very low price. I didn't buy mine bought this way, though - I bought my Pimsleur on ebay, and then re-sold it after I had mastered the three levels.

 

Good luck!

[seattlebottom]

>As they say (whoever they is), the UK and the USA are two

>countries separated by a common language. Is that true of

>Spain and other Spanish speaking countries? I am sure it must

>be so.

>

>Best regards,

>

>KMEM

 

I can speak from a Chilean perspective that after independence was delcared, Spain became a virtual non-entity in the country. Although the Spanish language was retained, most cities and towns have aboriginal names, bullfighting was banned as barbaric and slavery was made illegal (Spain was a major player in the West African slave trade).

 

Chile actually has more in common with northern European countries, especially Germany who's military and academic systems were copied. You won't find much of the stereotypical "Latin" mentality such as people wearing provocative clothing or overt sexuality, rather people tend to be modest and subdued.

 

On a lighter side, Chile has a killer national anthem:

[Guest]

The language we generally think of as "Spanish" in the U.S. is Latin American Spanish. Various dialects and languages are spoken in Spain. The primary language spoken in Madrid, from which (Latin American) Spanish comes from, is "Castillano" or Castillian. As a fairly fluent (Latin American) Spanish speaker, let me promise you that Latin American Spanish is much more versatile than Castillian. Castillian actually sounds rather offensive to many Latin American speakers--I have even seen it come down to physical violence.

You'll even be better off speaking Latin American Spanish than Castillian in many or most parts of Spain. Catalunians (in Barcelona, or in Balearic Islands such as Ibiza, for example), and Basques often resent the notion that Castillian is the "national language" of Spain. They would probably rather hear a foreigner speaking Latin American Spanish than be addressed in Castillian.

While many people, myself included, would probably rather hear nails across a chalkboard than Castillian, I can promise you that no one in Madrid will be unhappy to hear Latin American Spanish. (The only think worse than a Madrilleno speaking Castillian is a Quebequois speaking French).

As for the choice of learning methods, I think you have to experiment a bit. I learned French, Spanish, and German the slow, traditional way. Since I know similar languages, the Berlitz method helped me pick up conversational Italian and Dutch quite easily and quickly, but it didn't work when I tried to pick up Hindi (I gave up quickly). When I decided to learn Russian, the Pimsleur method really helped me learn the spoken language, and it enabled me to converse with my in-laws (who were impressed), but I had to add book learning to understand the extremely complex Russian grammar. If you go with Pimsleur, get a pirated copy on E-bay because otherwise it's quite expensive.

But on the Spanish thing, TRUST ME: only learn Castillian if you plan to speak in Madrid and nowhere else.

[Guest DickHo]

"Castellano" is so called because it was the language of Castille at the time of the Reconquista. Since Isabel I was from Castille, she chose Castellano as the official language of Spain.

[Epigonos]

For what it is worth which isn't a great deal the vast majority of the Spanish conquistadores who conquered Mexico, Central and South America in the late 15th and early 16th centuries came from Andalucia in the south of Spain. The Moors were finally defeated and expelled from Spain with the fall of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492. Queen Isabella was one very smart broad and knowning that an unoccupied army was trouble in the making found Columbus' discovery of the "New World" a godsend. She "strongly" encouraged former members of her army to join in the conquest of this "New World" thus ridding herself of the problem of finding ways to occupy them. The Spanish of Andalucia was and still is very different from that of Madrid and Castilla la Vieja. If one listens to the Spanish spoken in Andalucia today the direct relationship to the Spanish of Latin America is unmistakable