From Sherry:
My husband is an enabler (but in a good way). Once I made the decision to learn Spanish, he jumped into high gear and started searching for ways to learn. He mentioned that he came home with a
Pimsleur starter cd. That was just the beginning. We didn’t, after all, know what the best path was going to be, so his theory was to examine everything.He started by scouring yard sales, used book stores, discount sections in retail bookstores (like Border’s), Ebay, Craig’s List, the public library, the libraries of our friends and of course the internet (Amazon, etc). Gradually we started building up a collection that included Pimsleurs, Rosetta Stone, Destinos, Movie Talk Spanish, Coffee Break Spanish and the like. Some of these can be quite expensive, but if you are patient and keep your eyes open, you’ll be surprised at the bargains you can get (like the Pimsleurs we found at a yard sale for $10). And as a lark, he found several Spanish language novels which I hope to someday be able to read.
I started with the Pimsleur’s, which I still really like. You’re never going to become fluent just using Pimsleur’s, but it’s listen and repeat method is really good for the beginner. It boosts your confidence, it exposes you to the sound of the language, and it’s easy to use. I play it on my earbuds when I’m out for my morning walk, or when I’m gardening. I put it into the stereo when I’m cooking. I like it. Pimsleur needs to do further, more advanced editions, though. You can only go so far before you’re out of lessons.
Rosetta Stone has a different approach. It’s a visual product, and as such requires a set aside time, because you have to be in front of the computer to use it. I like it, but I find myself getting bored after about 15 minutes, so I don’t use it very often. In fact, I haven’t used it in quite a while and I should probably go back and revisit it to see if my current learning level has changed my perception of it.
Destinos is great. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s basically an educational soap opera. The story line follows a woman who is tracing a letter across countries and continents. Each episode ends with questions about what happened in that episode. It’s really interesting and a great learning tool. COST: If I printed up a list of all the things we found for our exploration of ways to learn Spanish, it would fill a full page of a legal pad. And if we paid retail for all of these things, it would have come to thousands of dollars. We did spend several hundred dollars, but even that was because we didn’t know which avenues to pursue and got some things (however cheaply), that we didn’t like or couldn’t use. On the plus side, we did re-sell some of those things on Ebay and either got our money back or (gasp!) made a profit.
LEARNING FOR FREE: There is a way to use books and audio not only without spending a lot, but WITHOUT SPENDING ANYTHING. One of those ways is on the computer. There are literally scores of sites on the web that give language lessons for free. And I’m talking about actual lessons, not to mention the free opportunities to hear Spanish. Here are just a few of the many, many sites: Outer Spanish, BBC Languages, Houghton Mifflin Flashcards, SpanishBlogger, and on and on and on.
Your radio probably has a Spanish Language station. Music is really good for listening because it’s usually slower than speech. Your television might carry a Spanish language station. And finally, if you have a large chain bookstore in your neighborhood, like Border’s, and if it has a coffeeshop, you can find something in the Spanish Language section, buy a cup of coffee and sit and read for a couple of hours. They don’t mind. Really. That’s what all of those big chairs are for. Some people sit and read without buying anything, and I can’t say I can agree with that. They are a business after all. And if you do finally buy a book, you should try to buy it there. AND let’s not forget the public library. The books may be older (often not much older), but Spanish is Spanish. You can read them there or check them out. You can also check out cds and dvds. Let’s NOT forget the public library. Some even have coffee shops now.
That is sort of a brief review of all of these kinds of resources, although it certainly isn’t all of them. It isn’t even all of them that we’ve acquired, but it will get you started.
Next installment: How to get started.
Tags: Coffee Break Spanish · Learning Spanish · Pimsleur's · Rosetta Stone · Spanish
I was interested in your liking Pimsleur and finding Rosetta Stone rather boring. That’s in line with what I’ve heard from others who’ve tried them. I’m an American blogger living near Lake Chapala, on the edge of one of the largest communities of foreigners here in Mexico, and people are at all levels of ability to speak Spanish.
I recently started a website and blog about learning to speak Spanish. I did it to improve my own high- intermediate skills and to help others find resources, both online and off.
I was impressed with your ability to find programs at bargain prices. eBay might be another way to do that. One friend of mine recently visited us here in Mexico after doing Pimsleur repeatedly, and I was amazed at how well he did, his first time in a Spanish-speaking country.
Sherry, if you would like to do a guest post on my blog summarizing what you’ve learned from going to Oaxaca and the programs you’ve tried, you’ve got my email from this form or you can find my contact data on my site.
Best,
Rosana Hart
Actually, Rosetta Stone only gets boring for us if we sit there for too long a stretch. In short doses, it’s fine, especially if it’s interspersed with other things. We met a man in Buenos Aires who had used nothing but Rosetta Stone and he did pretty well. He was able to get around with it (and there isn’t a lot of English is Buenos Aires). Sherry is still in Mexico right now (I join her soon), but I’ll pass on your offer to do a guest blog. I think she would enjoy it. (She’s emailing her Oaxaca blogs to me, and I’m posting them, since she doesn’t have a lot of wifi availability).
We also have started a website. When Sherry first decided to learn Spanish, I started searching for the right material. There’s a lot of it out there, but where do you look, and how do you know what’s good? The same problem for traveling – when we decided to go to Spanish speaking countries, where could we look for schools, housing, health warnings, etc? Again, there’s a lot of stuff out there, but it’s all over the place. So we decided to build a website that would try to put as much information as possible onto one website for learning Spanish and for traveling in the Spanish speaking world. We’ve only just gotten it posted, so it’s still being populated with content, and some of the pictures don’t load properly yet. But it’s a huge job. We’re not only going to have a lot of learning tools, but a page for every Spanish speaking country and a page for most of their major cities. And a Review page, and a Blogs, Forums section, etc. Like I said, huge. It’s http://www.learn-spanish-travel-spanish.com. Building it (and we’re doing as much of that as we can ourselves) has been a whole new experience. It’s (literally) learning another language. Html, css, feeds, widgets, etc. Whew! Eventually, though, we hope it will be a very useful site. I know I would certainly have appreciated a “one-stop” place for all of this.
We’ll be in your neck of the woods soon. Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Aguascalientes. Can’t wait. Bill
Bill, those spots are a ways from Lake Chapala or I’d love to have you over and give you some quick tips in website and blog building.
I went to your site-to-be and laughed out loud to see you have one of my favorite videos, that one semester of Spanish love song.
Do get your RSS feed up soon so I can subscribe and keep up with you that way. And come by my site and sign up for my free ebook on learning Spanish, which will also get you my weekly email newsletter which lists all my new blog posts. You and I are exploring the same universe regarding language, so we can point each other to various resources we find.
Best wishes and have a great trip!