How can we really learn Spanish?

Question

I am a mother of many children trying to learn Spanish with them. I took 2 years in High School, but am really still a beginner. I know we can continue to study vocabulary and short phrases like" tiempo para un baño" but when I look at all the verbs and their tenses and changes, I want to throw my hands up-- (though not really I have done a few lessons in spanishdict and learned, but will these difficult parts be explained well as I go through the program? What would your advice be to me? We homeschool and I do have eager learners. They range from 17 down to 4.

Answer 1

If you are taking the video courses, I would recommend continuing with them. They are very good, and the more advanced topics will be covered in the later lessons. If you have any Spanish speaking friends, try to spend time with them and listen to them speak. This will be especially good for he youngest child. They just seem to have a natural ability to pick up spoken language.

Listen to Spanish language TV if you can, and turn on the Spanish soundtrack on DVD's when you play them. As early as you can, start speaking along with your lessons. There just is no substitute for listening and speaking.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Online translators (Including THIS site), books, dictionaries, find some bilingual people on Twitter, Facebook, take a Spanish class, many many sites (Rosetta Stone... costs money but should be worth it), and one of the best ways is to find a native Spanish speaker.

Your kids are very young; this is EXCELLENT. Kids pick up languages very fast. You'd think that older people would learn more but when it comes to learning a new language, kids pick up much faster.