I'd hate to ask this for the millionth time but...
What's a good method to use? Currently, I'm using a frequency list of 100 words and memorising its usage. I'm writing sentences with them to get a better understanding but the method is very vexing; I don't feel like I'm making any progress with it. In the past I've taken Spanish classes in school, which was a very terrible experience due to the pacing of the teaching and I'm not open to taking another. I'd rather to do a self-study, and a tutor if I am to be taught by someone else.
I have very basic Spanish vocabulary, as well as grammar. I can understand the most simplest phrases and a number of odd words here and there. I'm also a bit hazy on the alphabet (things get fuzzy after ll). What should I start off with, and how should I continue??
8 Answers
Hello there, "G"
Like Moderator, rac1 said, It does help if you fill out your profile. If you don't know how, just click on my name and see mine. You don't have to do a bio in Spanish though.
As to your question: I am sure you have heard of Rosetta Stone. It's a computer based program that attempts to simulate immersion. I have never used it, but I have heard some positive comments on it. The downside is that it's sort of costly.
There is "memrise.com" I'm doing Hebrew lessons with this one. It supplements what I am doing with the Pimsleur Approach, and it's free. (memrise.com not Pimsleur)
Regarding the latter. One of our members "Winkfish" swears by it. it is a totally audio program consisting of many levels. Every level has 20 or so CD's or MP3 or whatever format is best for you. Each CD has two one-half hour lessons on it. All you do is listen to the teacher and follow instructions, repeating and answering questions, and before you know it you're speaking pretty good Hebrew, Arabic or whatever. No reading assignments until you're proficient with the spoken language.
It's a shame that your classroom experience was so negative. There are some Spanish teachers that should be teaching Algebra or something else. They have NO idea of what is going on in the learner's brain. I have taught (English) at the junior high level, and Spanish and French at the high school level. I now teach Spanish at the university level.
I think I'm doing a good job, because my students by the end of the first semester sound pretty good to me, and their writing is also excellent. I just looked at my next semester's class schedule (six weeks from now) and they are already filled with waiting lists.
A good teacher's reputation will get known among the students. If you ever do decide to try a class, try it at the community college level and ask around who the best teachers are.
Buena suerte.
This is tricky because it depends on so many things. We learn in different ways though most people respond to a mix of approaches. For example some people respond well to picturing words, some need to write others prefer to talk. Daniela is a teacher and has mastered a number of languages.
Learn the alphabet - it shouldn't take long particularly if you learn in chunks and find an audio of it preferably a song. The reason for learning the alphabet is if you ask someone to spell something you will understand their reply.
Work on pronunciation. Unless you are very young or a gifted musician you will sound like a Brit or American speaking Spanish but your aim is to be understood. Spanish is logical as to pronunciation. Have you noticed Spanish speaker's have great difficulty saying English words starting with s without starting with es? The s sound in Spanish is constant.You also need to pay special attention to where to place the stress on words. Finally you need to listen to the rhythm of the language. This blog has some tips:
I have assumed you have a good knowledge of English bu it does help if you can add your level of English and Spanish to your profile
The rest depends on what you like, because there will be times when it is a slog, but you need to keep interested. You need to learn/use Spanish every day - 10 to 30 minutes is achievable. Listen to Spanish music, if you can watch Spanish TV. I have listened to podcasts from Notes in Spanish - they go from complete beginner to Gold which is advanced. If you need help with grammar you can buy the worksheets. The podcasts are particularly good if you want to go to Spain.
I personally find that the action of physically writing something down helps me learn it. I also make a note sometimes on paper other times on my tablet of the phrase where the word was used. I then look at them regularly for a few weeks. We used to have a teacher who was very good at improving our vocabulary - she would provide us with 10 to 15 words + their meanings and we had to match them up. We then listened to a video using some of the vocabulary then we discussed the topic. Over the next 3 weeks any grammar exercises we did would use a selection of words from previous lessons. You can do this by once you have found words you want to know using them. Some words you come across in reading or listening you will know you don't need - make no attempt to learn them - nevertheless some will stick.
You can expand your vocabulary by trying to work out when you see a noun what the verb adverb and adjective would be. Loo up suffixes and prefixes.
I enjoyed the interactive BBC video Mi Vida Loca
Don't forget to learn some 'filler' words - you need words to join the nouns verbs and adjectives
9 Work out why you want to learn the language - if it is cultural read some of the literature or poems listen to music. If you do not want a formal teacher do still try a holiday in a Spanish speaking country and at least a week but preferably more, in a language school.
I could give a lot more tips but as I do not know much about your quest I will finish now and you can post if you need more.
buena suerte
Hi Gyogul - Welcome to the fourm!
This is a great question, and it can't be asked too many times because there are always new "methods" out there. I've been trying to learn other languages for years on my own, so I feel your pain. It can be very difficult learning grammar rules and finding people to practice with. The options out there seem endless so it can be hard to decide what to try. I've tried a lot of different methods - here is my opinions on each:
I have used the entire Rosetta Stone Course. They are very good for learning vocabulary but once you get past the beginner levels it can be difficult to grasp the more advanced grammar concepts because it only uses pictures. I would also say its not worth the price, there are so many equivalent methods you can try for free, and get the same benefits. Also, you will by no means be "fluent" after completing the course, as the ads claim. I would at best call myself intermediate after completing it. If you do decide to try it you can get better deals if you are patient. Sign up to be "notified" of specials on the website, and just wait til they send you an ad offering a good price. I've seen the full sets sold for as much at $350-$400 US dollars, but I was able to pick up mine at $200 through a special offer. Also, I think if you ignore their first few offers they start lowering the price. -- You can get used versions even cheaper off eBay, and there is an online option with no software that I believe costs around $12-$15/mo.
I've also used Pimsluer which is an audio program, its is good for learning the basics but like Rosetta stone I was still a very confused on many of the grammar rules. Its very good to help your pronunciation and memorizing how to form sentences; however, if you do like the cd/audio method I would highly recommend Michel Thomas method. The teacher has a very thick German accent but once you get past that his method does wonders for helping you understand the different tenses. I purchased my Pimsluer through Audible which is an audiobook service that charges around $15-$30/mo and you can buy a different # of books each mo depending on what you pay. I don't know the price if you buy it outright. I bought the MIchel Thomas method several years ago on Itunes, so I don't remember the cost, I think it may have been around $50 per level and there are 3 levels.
I really like FluentU which breaks downs videos from youtube and goes through them almost word for word. This has helped me a lot with my verbal comprehension, and also its really fun because you can pick which videos to study. Personally, I like the music videos, especially Shakira, but there is a wide variety to chose from and they have videos at all different levels. -- There is a paid section but don't bother unless you totally get into it, there are plenty of videos available for free, and I think it can go up to $30/mo for the paid sections which is way too expensive in my opinion.
Duolingo is my favorite free site. (besides SpanishDict of course!) - There are several levels of lessons you can take, it tracks your progess and will also remind you when to "re-take" a section to keep it fresh in your memory.
Verbling is a "tutor" site that offers live classes with teachers from all over the world through Google Hangouts. I have never actually taken a class, or signed up for a tutor, but what I like about it is that there is a free section where you can watch previously recorded classes. Its almost like sitting in on the classes for free. If you decide to hire a tutor the pricing is around $10-20 per hour lesson depending on the tutor. I can't offer any advice on which ones are best, as I've never actually hired them, but all the tutors I've seen in their videos seem good. If anyone had used the service to hire a tutor please let me know how your experience was, because I've been seriously considering doing so myself.
For flash cards I like Quizlet and Ankiweb. I kind of switch between the two depending on my mood. Anki is a website that offers an an app you can download to your PC, tablet, or phone. Its really good at tracking your usage and it employs an interval system that brings up cards at the most likely time that you're about to forget them. Quizlet is a website that does have an app for tablets and phones, but the website version is the easiest to use. It is much "prettier" thank Anki and offers different games and quizes based on your flash cards. Both sites are free and both have tons of user created flashcard sets you can use if you don't want to create your own.
Watching Spanish language television. (I'm currently addicted to Pasión y Poder on Univision in the US). if you're listening skills aren't that great turn on the closed captioning and try to read along in Spanish. In the US Hulu is fantastic for streaming Spanish television programs it carries a lot of current and past shows from both Univision and Telemundo, and you can also get most of your English programs. .
Watch movies in Spanish. In the US, if you have HBO you also get HBOLatino as part of their package, which shows both movies filmed in Spanish and English movies with Spanish dubbed over. Netflix is also good for finding good Spanish Language movies.
Listen to music with Spanish lyrics. Look up the lyrics on the internet and sing along, try to translate them on your own or if you're not quite at a level where you can translate them on your own, look them up on the internet. Lyrics Translate is good for this but there are tons of sites out there the do the same.
Finally if you are lucky enough to know people who speak Spanish - TALK TO THEM. Don't be afraid to tell them you're trying to learn Spanish and ask if they can talk to you in Spanish. Most people will be more than happy to help you out. If they're your friends, they may giggle at you but they will probably love that you're taking an interest in their language.
That is main the things I've tried. I'm really sorry if this post turned out to be too long. Once I get started talking about learning languages I just can't stop!! I'll also be keeping an eye on this thread, because I'm always looking for new ways to learn, and I'm also curious as to what other people out there have found to be helpful. Thanks again for asking the question!
6: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/site-search?query=me voy&op=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc;.q=me voy&gsc;.page=1
Adding to Daniela here are three more free online resources. You're at the first of them
Spanishdict has excellent grammar lessons, and falshcard lessons as well. Pros: grammar lessons are detailed and they include quizzes to test your knowledge - Flashcard lessons follow a logical system. Cons: Lessons are not organised progressively so you have to create your own order.
Duolingo is a very easy course to get into. The "gamified" system takes the sting out of learning. If you have trouble with regular lessons this may be worth a go. Pros: Very easy to access. Learn through practise rather than theory. Cons: Few actual explanations. Focussed primarily on written language.
Language Transfer is an audio only course that comes at Spanish in a different way. It introduces similarities with English and encourages you to work out in your mind how Spanish is working. Pros: Makes you learn through ideas and concepts more than memorisation. Cons: limited vocabulary, and audio only.
I'd give any or all of these a try. You'll find three very different systems and hopefully at least one will work for you.
Here is a great school in Spain , is that where you are ?
If want to learn quickly and practice all of the skills necessary to do it correctly and proficiently then:
Start by transcribing (copying) a novel (about 500 or more pages) from Spanish to Spanish and translating it to English phrase by phrase, literally word by word. Once you get an idea of what the phrase states, then re-organize the English version so it is understandable. Rewrite the Spanish version and read it out loud.
This you have to do 7 days a week once for 15 - 20 minutes a day, you don't need more, but if you can do more periods of 15-20 minutes, do it, but not a whole period of 40 minutes as you'll get a headache.
Then, once a week watch a movie in Spanish with no subtitles of any kind, English or Spanish.
After watching the movie, take your Spanish novel and read a whole page, out loud while recording yourself, then listen to the recording. Notice how you sound in comparison to the actors of the movie or the Spanish track of the movie. Rerecord again the same page, trying this time to "fix" what you found wrong. Do not erase any of your recording, just time stamp them. Once you notice you start to "sound" more like the people in the movie, then go back to your first recording and compare. Such a joy to find out you can improve and notice it.
If you do what I am telling you, you will be fluent in your writing (no grammar involved), you'll be a fluent speaker and you'll have the chance to soften you accent or even lose it altogether!
All this in time record and for free. You don't really need to talk to no one.
When you already know Spanish, if you want to learn Spanish grammar, knock yourself out. I have never said that grammar is bad.But make sure you already know your English (native language) grammar.
OK?
Continue using the frequency list that you have. But, instead of writing sentences, read them or listen to them.
Get free Spanish books on the internet. I don't know that I should advertise the sites. There are thousands. Also, Spanish language radio station on the internet. Reading is probably the better way, even if you don't understand what you're reading. After a while (repetition, not memorization), things will start to make sense. You see the same things repeated over and over. There are words that will vex you. Have a dictionary at hand.
Take every opportunity you have to speak with a native Spanish speaker, and ask questions! They're not going to respond as if you're stupid, but rather that you're interested in their language.
I had Spanish classes back in the '70's. But I supplemented that with a short-wave radio receiver and a subscription to "Selecciones del Readers' Digest". It still exists as far as I know. The Spanish edition follows the English by one or two months, but the articles are the same. The advertisements are different. That way you have a translation to fall back on.
Read, listen to music, make friends, watch tv.
