I was checking out some news today and found something interesting at spanish.about.com. According to their site,

“If you’re looking to work on your Spanish as you follow this year’s Olympic Games from Beijing, there may be no better place to do it than the Web site of the Spanish television network RTVE. You’ll find all the updates you could hope for, as well as a wide assortment of video clips and live coverage (look for the “en directo” labels).”

This is just another way to try and practice your Spanish. Watching the olympics or any other event or show in television is a great exercize. Try it out. Learn Spanish while having a great time.

So, you are thinking of learning a foreign language, but you heard all of that stuff from everyone that as an adult it is a totally impossible thing to do. If you did not learn as a kid, forget it.

First, ask yourself why you want to study a foreign language. This step is far more important than it might initially sound, but your motives for learning a language, or anything, in fact, play a major role in your ultimate success. So, that’s the first step: note down the exact reasons why you want to learn a foreign language, focusing on the benefits the skill will give you.

Are you studying for reasons dealing with your profession such as career improvement, or how about a desire to travel to a foreign country. Maybe you met somebody, or want to meet somebody who may not speak English as their native language and you would like to learn theirs. By the way, this is probably the best method of learning a new language as far as motivation goes.

Secondly, you need to decide whether you are going to take a class, or opt for self-study. Classroom study is not as efficient as hiring a personal tutor, but hiring a tutor is going to cost you a lot. Moreover, don’t make the mistake of believing that a tutor is going to do all the work for you. You still need to put in a great deal of study at home, if you are going to get the best from your classes, and make the experience financially worthwhile.

Hiring a tutor, however, is not the only way to learn a language effectively. Once we accept that the language learning process is going to take a lot of personal study anyway, regardless of whether we have a tutor or not, it may be just as efficient, and certainly more cost effective, to opt for a self-study method. One of the major disadvantages involved in choosing this option is the fact that you are going to have to motivate yourself to put in the study hours. This is where your definite motivations in the first step come in. You need a reason to refer to in order to keep up your motivation.

Thirdly, start slowly when you begin to learn, and don’t try to bite off more than you can chew. One of the major reasons people give up on learning language lies in the fact that they have false expectations of being able to learn languages quickly. They believe, because the results are not always as forthcoming as they like, they are incapable of succeeding. This simply isn’t
true. But the hype and questionable claims made by language method creators to sell their products are at fault here.

Do not start too quickly, and just remember to stick with it. Learning a foreign language really is the door and key to learning about another culture, and it is a door worth opening.

I know this may not sound like much, but I thought it was pretty cool. Here is a link to my first Squidoo lens. This one happens to be about Rocket Spanish, but I will make many more in the near future. Go on over and check it out at:

http://www.squidoo.com/rocket-spanish-review-and-demo

Enjoy and see you all during the week.

Learning Spanish is not just about learning a language, but also some of the culture. Here is some Spanish guitar music I thought was pretty well played.

Enjoy

You can now try out Rocket Spanish FREE with a 6 day email course that they are giving. It really is pretty good and you will get a nice feel for what they have to offer. There are 3 audio lessons in this series, as well as some additinal information on the Rocket Spanish program. Sign up below and afterward, I made a small Rocket Spanish Demo for you. Don’t mind me saying “um” alot, not Stephen Spielberg, but should give you some more decent information.

Enjoy

YES! I want to claim my free instant access to the Rocket Spanish 6 day Learn Spanish course ($27 value).

Your Name:
Your email Address:
(This is a private and fully protected mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time).

One of the most effective ways of learning Spanish is to practice with a native Spanish speaker, however that may be harder to do depending on where you live. Here are a few ideas for supplementing your learning with computer programs such as Rocket Spanish or Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

One place to look is to try and find a community outreach program or church who are trying to teach English to Spanish speaking immigrants. Volunteer to help them. While you are helping them with their English, they will be helping you with your Spanish. Depending on the English level of the person you are helping, you may have to explain certain concepts in Spanish in order for them to understand. When you are placed in a situation where communication is a priority and you have no choice, you naturally develop your communication skills.

For me living in Mexico, especially when I first arrived, I remember going to the market and buying food, and having to speak to everyone in order to accomplish my task. The Spanish I was speaking soon improved, and I was able to be understood.

Remember that if you don’t practice what you are learning, you will not improve and you will be throwing money away.

Here is a method that you can use to help your Spanish grammar and especially your Spanish pronunciation by trying to learn Spanish with imitation.  Listening to what is going on is a very important thing. From day one of your language journey, try and listen to native Spanish speakers. Try and get the sound, inflection and pronunciation in your ear and imitate it when you speak.

It is very important not to wait too long to do this. The sooner you work on your accent the better. We have all heard non native speakers speaking English and have seen how awful their accents can sometimes be. You can avoid this. Along with speaking with native Spanish speakers, you can also listen to music in Spanish, watch dvd’s in Spanish and even use the microphone and your computer to record yourself.

Al of these techniques will help you develop a better sounding accent.

There are 2 spanish learning programs which can help a great deal with this. On is called Rocket Spanish, which is a completely audio based system, and Learning Spanish Like Crazy. Both are very good and inexpensive options for learning Spanish.

Does learn Spanish software really do a decent job of teaching Spanish? Online and off you can find many options. If you go into Bestbuy or another large electronic store, you can find various brands. If they are selling them, probably people are buying them.

I think the reason they are so popular, is that they actually do work as long as the student is motivated. Some of the options out there are:

Rocket Spanish

Rosetta Stone Spanish

Tell Me More Spanish

Learning Spanish Like Crazy

Visual Link Spanish

Transparent Languages

Prices can vary from about $99 all the way up to $499 for a large very complete package with all levels represented. All of these programs use a total immersion, user interactive method for teaching Spanish. No more old school grammar study and vocabulary lists. Too boring. Just remember to try and include other types of activities in your study program.

So yesterday was Cinco de Mayo here in Mexico. Many people confuse it with Mexican Independence day, but that falls on September 15. No, Cinco de Mayo is the battle of Puebla against the French Army. In 1862, a Mexican army of about 4000 defeated an army of French and traitor Mexican army of about 8000. As a result of this defeat the Emperor of France Nepoleon III, who hated the United States by the way, was not able to keep supplying the confederate armies in the US during the Civil War allowing the north to build up a very large army and win the war against the south, so the battle of Puebla had a huge effect not only on Mexico but the US as well.

Here in Mexico, as well as the United States, celebrations are all around and some reinactments of the battle can be found in many places of the country. This year, there was a large “puente” which literally means “bridge” which happens when a national holiday occurs a day or two before the weekend, so it is like having an extended weekend vacation. This year the puente started on Thursday May 1st, which is labor day here and today Tuesday, everyone is back to work.

I’ll have some more Spanish learning stuff tomarrow, I just wanted to do something a bit different today. Enjoy!

 

I think that this is a very valid question and unfortunately one that is very difficult to answer. One of the most important things you can do when you learn Spanish, or any other language is not just studying. It’s having FUN, and lots of it.

The worst thing you can do is to get stuck with a program that feels like watching grass grow would be more exciting. I mean really, sitting there repeating one boring exercize after another can make you want to … well you know. Don’t let this happen. A Spanish learning program can be the greatest program out there, but if you are not enjoying your study time, then it is worthless.

What are decent programs? Rocket Spanish is great, as well as Tell Me More Spanish. If you hae a program and are getting bored, the problem may not be the program. Many times we tend to think that the software, or Spanish teacher is responsible for everything. It just isn’t so. You may be bored because you need to augment your studying with other fun activities.

Use your imagination and try something new.

More on that tomarrow!