Learning Spanish

Pete.g

Having recently returned from Mexico (where they are Spanish speaking) I am now wanting more than ever to learn the Spanish language. I have been thinking about it for a while as the wife and I often go to Spanish speaking places on holiday.

While we were in Mexico we became friends with another two couples and one of the guys spoke fluent Spanish and to be honest I was surprised at how much further, speaking to the locals in Spanish got him.

He told us that he learnt the language from Cassette tapes made by a guy called Michael Thomas. Since we have been home I have managed to get the full set of cd's and have begun listening to them. They are very good and in the week I have been listening to them I have lots of Spanish words floating around my head but I am having trouble remembering what they all mean, and how certain words pronounced slightly differently can mean something totally different.

Do any of you speak Spanish, and if so do you have any tips on learning the language?

Thanks,

Pete.

i1189

I don't speak very good Spanish, but I do have all the Michel Thomas CDs. I have found them the best CDs for learning the basics of conversation. I use them to brush up on my French before holidays. As well as the starter sets of 8 CDs there are also 2 extra CDs for each language to help with vocabulary.

Michel Thomas is great for the basics, but not so good when it comes to grammar and the construction of the language. They also don't teach much about spelling, so are of limited use for reading foreign newspapers and other things. I don't think you could become fluent in a language just using Michel Thomas CDs.

I am currently learning Arabic, but I wasn't having much luck teaching that to myself as it is very different from English, so I go to college for that. If you have any college evening classes near you I would recommend these for learning a language as you can practise conversations, etc.

scubaleopard

My husband has all the tapes and has been to lessons. To be fair I am very proud of him when we holiday in Sapin but it is funny when he says the right thing with the right accent and then a stream of Spanish comes back which passes us by ( in the main)

itsakidsworld

I would second the college classes as they offer you a very good way of learning basic holiday Spanish. Once you progress you can then move onto other areas and before you know it you will have a very good vocabulary.

There are stacks and stacks of books, tapes and cds on languages and so if you are not careful you will be trying to learn in too many different ways, get bogged down and give up!

Keep it simple, keep it short. A good tip I was told was to learn just one word a day. Keep learning that word and before you know where you are you will have a very good command of the language. It does not matter if you stick with the same word for a week! Progress is progress.

The very best of luck.