about spanishdict
if i were to go to a place where everybody spoke spanish after doing everything on spanish dict would i know enough spanish. just asking to see if spanishdict is worth getting on instead of taking a french class when you can only choose one
7 Answers
I think you have to think which country you would like to visit.
If it's A, France : study French!
If it's B. Spain, or C. Any country in Latin or Central America: Study Spanish.
Dittoing Annie and Julian.
Pick the one that will give you the most native contact, either the country you plan to visit, or that is close by, or that has a significant immigrant population near you.
One really needs that chance to practice, to go along with Spanishdict (and for me, about 4 other websites, 3 meetup groups, numerous books and tapes and videos and podcasts, and 3-and-counting formal classes). It takes a large number of activities to round things out.
Buena suerte
Spanishdict is only one tool I use. I do workbooks, study other software programs, read children's books in Spanish, study Spanish textbooks, and use CDs with Spanish lessons on them. One single program will not get you the well-rounded education you need to converse with natives of the country of your choosing.
In the US you do not have to leave for a Latin American country to have ample opportunities to use Spanish. The equivalent is not so true for French. However, it depends on things like which language would you most like to learn, why you are considering studying a language, (e.g.for credit?) and how much time do you have for studying a language. Now to address the first part of your question, I cannot even fathom how much time and effort it would take to do everything on spanishdict but I think if you even came close, you would at least be able to communicate in Spanish. Also, consider that, for example, I have been to many, many countries where I did not really speak the language including living in another country for four years and I was able to go where I wanted to, conduct business and enjoy the tourist attractions.
The four basic factors in language learing are speaking, writing, reading, and listening. Any complete program can provide these, but they can´t instill the feelings and responses you would experience from a native´s words, or the response a native would have from hearing your words without actually living in a country of your chosen language of study.
So in the end it doesn´t really matter which complete course you use or which language. What matters is which country you would visit for a reasonable amount of time; I would choose to study the language of that country.
I just now saw Annie´s post - she said the same thing. I would take her advice
Spanish dict covers the basics very well. However there is no subsititute for daily interaction with native speakers. You will lose whatever you learn without it. So pick the language for which you will have long term exposure
I cannot tell if you already know French or Spanish and whether you know other languages. The first question is why you want to learn the language. For example I managed to remember some French when visiting Laos - there are many countries where French was once spoken - but Spanish is spoken in the USA and South and Central America as well as Spain. French music and films are special but I have also enjoyed Spanish music books and films. I studied French at school before I started to learn Spanish - my view is the subjunctive is more challenging in Spanish but the pronunciation is very straightforward. Spanish is spoken more widely than French. Some classes are a good idea, however you choose to learn, but the resources on the web are excellent in both languages. You need variety so cannot rely just on one resource. Having studied both, I would choose Spanish as a first language to learn, but whatever you choose you need to be motivated.
