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!

Now this is pretty cool. Aparently, the Blue Beetle comis book is publishing its next issue almost entirely in Spanish. They are trying to go after a broader audience with this and reflects a trend going on in the US to appeal to the hispanic population. Here is the link if you would like to read the story:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/5728759.html

This is a great thing to start to see. Not only does it help with cultural understanding issues, but also gives those of you learning Spanish another interesting oppertunity to practice and have some fun.

One of the best ways to add some fun and learn at the same time is to watch tv, movies and listen to music in Spanish. What your goal should be is to try and understand as many of the main points as you can. Don’t try and get into detail.

It is a funny thing, I have not seen any of the big animation kids movies in English yet. You know, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, ect. It does help your Spanish though.

Here is an example of a clip that I found on Youtube. Just an example.

Enjoy and good luck.

By the way, sometimes the voices in these things can be a bit cheezy! =)

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, and we were discussing the fact of whether there was a difference between Spanish spoken in Mexico and any other place in Latin America. They are learning Spanish now, and were concerned with this. Should they worry about it and try to find a program which addresses this issue?

You know what I told him? Honestly, no. What I notice, aside from different accents, is that there are some different idioms and phrases, which actually are not very usefull if you are not in the particular country where they are used, as well as some additional vocabualary like names of foods, etc. Even in the US, Canada and England you can see this. It doesn’t mean that somebody being interviewed in England who is from the great white north would not be understood.

Worrying about this type of thing when learning Spanish is a waste of time. Keep your focus!

Everyone has been asking me lately if it is really possible to learn to speak Spanish online. I always say the same thing. Yes it actually is, if, and this is a big “if” you add additional activities to your learning. All or pretty much alll of the main Spanish learning programs available today work wonders, but there is only so much they can do.

You must add stuff. Like what? Well, go and buy some magazines in Spanish and sit down and just read. By the way when you do this, don’t have a dictionary there so you can look up all of the words you don’t know. This will not help, and in fact it can hurt your progress.

Rent a dvd that has spanish audio as an option. Watch the movie and try to understand the main points. Again, you do not have to understand every word. Use your imagination and practice as much as you can what these spanish programs are trying to teach you. Anything extra that you can add will help.

So what’s the best way to learn Spanish? Well it depends on what type of person you are and how you like to study. Me, I opted for the total immersion osmosis method. I came down to Mexico to work in a classical orchestra and quickly had to adapt.

Now if that is not a situation which presents itself to you, there are many decent options for learning Spanish. Attending a language school is one option, but this means a time commitment that may not be convenient for everyone. Studying on your own presents many advantages and challenges. If an online Spanish option is a possibility, several decent programs are Rocket Spanish, Learning Spanish Like Crazy, or Rosetta Stone. All of them work.

There are also other techniques that will help you learn Spanish quickly. Sign up for our 5 day free email course on Language Learning Strategies to find out.

For this post I want to share with you an interesting experience myself and my friends had this past month watching how people where learning Spanish and English. For the past two months, the orchestra in which I play in went on a 47 concert concert tour around the USA. If you didn’t know, I am a classical musician.

The part that was interesting was watching my colleagues’ progress with their English. some of them had some rudimentary skills, but many didn’t speak a word. Over the past two months the people who didn’t rely on any of us native English speakers slowly improved their English.

The basic thing they did was to learn little phrases such as “how much”, “I want”, “beer” and “where is the bathroom”, or sometimes it was just “toilet?” By the end of the tour, they were able to string sentences along and actually did quite well.

What’s the lesson for the rest of us? When learning Spanish, especially if you are on a trip to a Spanish speaking country, take it slowly and learn small phrases at a time. Concentrate only on what you need to get accomplished at the moment, and pretty soon your Spanish will improve very quickly.

You know there are many types of mistakes that one makes while learning Spanish or any other language, that are actually a result of the teaching methods and materials that you may be using. These “teacher induced errors” are technically called “transfer of training” and are a very common problem.

One example of this is looking at how some students learn their second language. For example, some of my friends, including me, have learned Spanish while being totally immersed in the language by living in Mexico and not necessarilly learning at a proper school. We would get help from friends. In my case, a good friend explained to me that in general, nouns that end in “a” are feminine and ones that end in “o” are masculine. Ok, sounds easy enough.

The problem arrives with all of the “exceptions to the rule” that all foreign languages always have. Some of my typical errors are “la agua.” The correct way is “el agua.” Another one is “la problema.” It should be “el problema.” One last one is “Me gusto (instead of ‘gusta’ because ‘he’ is masculine) la manzana.