trying to surround myself with Spanish media..
Hi,
I'm new to this site, I've been following the forums for a few days and have had a go at some of the interactive content thats here, I must say I'm very impressed with what is here, and its free!
I'm trying to immerse myself in Spanish such as music/film. I'm currently really into an artist called "Juanes", his songs are catchy (even though I don't understand what hes singing!) and are very clear, ie you can pick out the words clear. Does anyone have any good recommendations for similar music to try?
I'm trying to listen to Spanish radio stations, I've signed up for a Yahoo.es account and have tried their chat stuff
What else have you guys done to really get stuck in?
I'm still on the really basic stuff at the moment, but I'd love to get to the stage where I could read a book in Spanish, something simple like "the lion witch and the wardrobe" or "charlie and the chocolate factory", it sounds dumb, but that would be an awesome milestone to hit!
I have several friends whos first language was not English, they say the best way of learning is just to surround yourself
Would love to hear some good ideas of what to try!
Thanks for reading 
16 Answers
I have enjoyed using LoMasTv.com. They have videos of speaking and /or music with both English and Spanish translations underneath. You can also hide the translations. They have some listening games too, but I haven't really tried them.
Another thing, James, is the helpful bilingual signs posted darn near everywhere. Every trip to Lowes (a US building supply company) is a Spanish lesson.
¡Y cuando usted va ala tienda, marque "empezar", no marque "start", en la caja automatica!
Welcome James, you can also put the forum in Spanish, look above on the right hand corner.
That button does not work for me, I had to go to the settings.
My start page on all my computers is http://latino.msn.com/
Every time I start my browser that page comes up, and most of the time there is something intersting that I want to investigate further.
Also you can make Hotmail and other online email services in Spanish. It won't affect the content of emails, but everything else about the page will be in Español.
Thanks for the replies guys, plenty of good links that I need to find time to check out!
I've also found sunday car boot sales to be a good source of books/audio material, got quite a little collection starting up now
Muchas Gracias
It never stopped me.
I will share a good spanish radio website that I always listen to, many genres, many artists. www.batanga.com find a good genre of music and listen
It is politically incorrect to say so but the best way to learn a second language is find yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't speak your native language and has no real interest in doing so.
Not an option for us married folks. :-(
It is politically incorrect to say so but the best way to learn a second language is find yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't speak your native language and has no real interest in doing so.
Another technique that I have found useful is setting the language features on your electronics (such as your cell phone) to Spanish.
Welcome James, you can also put the forum in Spanish, look above on the right hand corner.
I have done both of these, and they are great ideas. Also, if you're brave, change the settings on your computer to Spanish. I'm not sure if you can change settings on your software or not, but at one time I had a version of Microsoft word in Spanish (all the menus, help instructions, etc.). It was a little confusing, especially since I was only at an intermediate Spanish level, but my familiarity with the program helped a lot. And what that didn't cover, good ole trial and error came through on. Must be a saint, the guy that invented the "Undo" button!
These kinds of things really help with your vocabulary in technical areas, and some general vocab too.
¡Adelante!
Those are some excellent links and ideas. For me the book that really boosted my reading from a beginner to, well.. a more advanced beginner was "Easy Spanish Reader" by William T. Tardy. Also having a subscription to ThinkSpanish magazine is an endless treasure! Best of luck with your studies.
Children's books are actually great learning tools, especially if you are familiar with the stories.
I found Charlotte's Web "La telaraña de Carlota" in my local library, which a great book for beginners. You can also try James and the Giant Peach "James y el melocotón gigante."
Also, I loved Harry Potter in Spanish "Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal," but it's definitely more on an intermediate level. I learn lots of vocabulary from these books.
And don't forget about free Podcasts, which are great for listening practice.
http://www.notesinspanish.com/
http://www.spanishpodcast.org/
Welcome James, you can also put the forum in Spanish, look above on the right hand corner.
Another technique that I have found useful is setting the language features on your electronics (such as your cell phone) to Spanish. You can usually discover how to do this through the instruction manuals. In addition, try reading pages in Wikipedia in English, then reading the same page in Spanish. If you get stuck on a phrase or sentence, the translation and dictionary tools on this site are quite useful. What you are doing is commendable! Keep up the good work. ¡Buena suerte!
Hi James,
I use to listen English radio stations using the web radio toolbar for Firefox/Explorer:
http://www.web-radio.fm/
Here the Spanish radio stations page:
http://www.web-radio.fm/fr_sph.cfm
Here you can find some Spanish books (and in other languages) for children:
http://www.childrenslibrary.org/
One site I like:
http://ssl4you.blogspot.com/
In the URL under my profile, there are some other URLs that you could find useful.
