Anyone learning holiday Spanish with e-careers????

hybernia

We're off to Spain in February for a break and as I'm determined to at least try to communicate (even if only a little) in Spanish, this recent Amazon Local mail-out offer seemed tempting:

http://local.amazon.co.uk/National-UK/B00NVGIHLO

Hubby thought it would make a useful little Christmas present and at £15 instead of £100, that's surely a real bargain. However, when I checked out the Linguaphone website, nothing approximating to that alleged £100 value appeared at all. Instead, reduced from its normal retail price of £24.95 to £17.47:

http://www.linguaphone.co.uk/language/spanish/spanish-pdq-course-download.html

The 85% off Linguaphone course appears to be being facilitated by something called e-careers:

http://www.e-careers.com/component/jshopping/starter-language-courses/spanish-language

but with the difference that its £100 Linguaphone beginner course includes an e-careers 500-word pdf whereas Linguaphone's £17.47p Linguaphone beginner course, er, doesn't. At a presumed cost of £82.53p for a single Adobe file, that makes it the most expensive pdf in the history of the world, though whether it'll be any more intelligible than the e-careers gibberish on that same webpage is anyone's guess:


All our courses will enable you to engage you in a conversation . . . Starting with greetings, this online course will teach basic grammar, pronunciation's vocabulary. We should include the below in the language courses. . .

Well yes. You should. Ideally in English. Or, if not, in Spanish.

Obviously, that's been more than enough to put me right off the idea of saving 85% with Amazon Local by not paying £82.53p for a pdf from some self-proclaimed training company apparently run by inarticulate Klingons.

I'm just wondering though if I'm being too harsh, and if any other MSErs have had any actual experience of e-careers and its "language courses".-- or any other "courses" come to that?

Neil49

I suggest that before paying out for a course that you look at what is available free of charge.

I have picked up enough Spanish to communicate to the kind of level you require by using the courses provided on the BBC website.

Take a look at https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages

hybernia

Neil: many thanks for that information; I had no idea the BBC was making that kind of tuition available free of charge. I've followed the link you provided and there's a lot on offer, so sincere thanks again for your kindness. Gracias :j

realised

I also learnt holiday Spanish from the BBC. The videos are very good.

Also try this:
http://radiolingua.com/cbs-step-1/
(You don't have to pay for he premium version)

I loved learning Spanish so much I ended up enrolling in a local college evening class which worked out at about £12 a lesson

Buena suerte! The Spanish I find are very understanding and patient so give it a go!

hybernia

Estupendo! MANY thanks realised -- yet again, this is something I'd never heard of (er, literally, too.) I've just followed your link and it's really, really good. Thanks so much for the kindness.