Best way to learn Spanish before traveling

[jvoorhees]

I am under the firm belief that I will have a much better chance of finding a wife in a Latin country if I speak Spanish.  But currently, all I know is how to count to ten.

So my plan is to study hard and learn Spanish before I travel.  Does anyone have any advice for a good way to learn?

I've heard about Rosetta Stone.  How is that software?  Are there any others that are better?  Or would it be better to take classes as a community college?

Thanks for all of the advise!

[fathertime]

1. for a while I used a private tutor but that took quite a bit of cash.

2. Over a period of years I used flashcards that I made myself and I practiced my vocabulary.

3. I always took EVERY opportunity I could to speak Spanish with every supermarket employee, janitor, person on the street, etc.  At first my conversational Spanish was subpar, but over time it got better and better.

4.  I took Spanish in High school and College many years ago, but didn't take advantage of the opportunity like I should have.  If you have that option, it seems like it would be of great benefit.

Fathertime!

[raycjs]

I went the Rosetta stone route and found it worked good for me, i used it on and off for 15 months i understand more then i speak, if i put in more time i would speak much better then i do. i can get by when i travel, like order food, ask directions, use money. my grammar is far from perfect i would recommend the the level 2 edition

good luck to you

Ray

[whitey]

I believe the best way to begin learning Spanish is to find a latina to talk to in writing first, and then later verbally.  There is nothing more motivating than trying to communicate with an attractive woman.  You may be able to find someone at Live Mocha (http://www.livemocha.com/) or one of the dating web sites like amigos.com.  Equally important as the language is that you can begin learning about the women, and the culture of whatever country she is from.

I went to my local bookstore and bought a Spanish/English dictionary, and two exercise books: one for verbs and another for vocabulary. I found these books much more useful than the beginner and intermediate Spanish classes I took at a local college.

There is a really good series of 15 minute podcasts (you can also listen online) offered by the Radio Lingua Network called Coffee Break Spanish.  They teach you all the basics of conversational Spanish with an orientation to travel.  http://radiolingua.com/cbs-step-1/

I don't know if this is available in your city, but in mine we have really good programs for helping recent immigrants learn English.  I volunteer as a host of an English conversation circle once per week.  There are several Colombians who attend my circle, and many have become my friends.  I usually speak 95% English with them, because I'm there to help them, not me, and I get plenty of practise with my wife.  However, all would be very happy to meet with me several times per week to practise Spanish one hour, English another hour (for example).  Perhaps you could find a similar situation in your home town.

[hennatoes]

How big is the Hispanic population in your town? Here there are enough to fill some large churches. I've been part of a Hispanic church for several years, and at the beginning I said things like "Antigo Testamiento" (I still don't know the miento/mento rule, it's all -ment in French and English), but now I can speak it pretty well. I didn't start from ten though; my mother is from El Salvador, I heard her talking Spanish on the phone, and I picked up her accent.

For learning by yourself, I suggest finding a book (not a book about Spanish, but about something you find interesting) in both languages and reading them together.

When speaking, be prepared to make mistakes! Once I was talking at full speed with the pastor's wife and suddenly stopped. "What's the subjunctive of va?" It's "aille" in French, but Spanish doesn't have that stem in the suppletion, only "ir" and "va". The Spanish form is "vaya". And I sometimes throw a French word in my Spanish, making it sound Spanish.

[Researcher]

   It depends on how much time you got to put into it.I studied some common phrases to begin with the got into grammar rules and vocabulary.That stuff was really boring but came in handy later when I had to use it.Rosetta Stone is good.It attempts to teach you to think in Spanish which is what you have to do to become fluent, IMO.Once you think in another language you can kinda let go of English.


  Researcher

[JimD]

I don´t think any of the above beat a beginning Spanish course at your local community college.

[Alabamaboy!]

I am pretty good with my Spanish at this time and never took a structured course. I had two books of basic Spanish text/workbooks which pretty much covered all the grammar and verb tenses. Then I used the vast number of free online sites to practice verb changes, vocabulary, etc. Just Google "free Spanish lessons" or something like that and you will find a bunch.

The biggest and most important thing though is to actually use it. I did that through writing and chatting. Alot. Even with women you are not interested in romantically, but just to practice and learn. You will also learn a lot of slang, "dichos" , etc. You will also learn of the culture and how the dating scene is there and learn what makes these women tick to a certain extent.

While chatting have google dictionary open in another window so you can check words, but don't use the "translator" or you will never learn much.

Another thing I did was toggle the subtitles in DVD's to spanish to learn words and usage, and then if you are really getting good, change the spoken language to Spanish with subtitles in English or SPanish, then with no subtitles.

I also bought a couple cheap books on slang, read "People in Espanol" and look up words I did not know.

I was never able to pick up much Spanish just by hanging out with spanish speakers. It just did not sink in. I had to see it first.

Rosetta Stone was kind of good, but does not explain the grammar, and the vocabulary part is not really there.

The computer for the free classes and chatting was the best though. You can do it for hours and hours, for free. And from your bed or wherever you want.

[fathertime]

I was never able to pick up much Spanish just by hanging out with spanish speakers. It just did not sink in. I had to see it first.

I'm a VISUAL learner as well.  If I don't see the word, I don't usually learn it.

I theorize that most of the men that go to S. America are dominated by their vision.  That is the reason why we place a high priority on being with unusually attractive young women, women we would not normally attain here in the states, given our age.

Fathertime! 

[Alabamaboy!]

FT, that brings up a good point. If you go to Colombia on your first trip with only the bare minimum Spanish, you will feel pretty uncomfortable, at least I did. So as soon as I got home, after seeing that thousands of beautiful women there, I was more determined than ever to learn as much Spanish as quickly as possible.

So that "visual thing" even comes in handy for motivation!

[no comment]

I don´t think any of the above beat a beginning Spanish course at your local community college.

Can't beat that for establishing a foundation in the language.  Just something cheap with a native speaker.  My community college teacher was from Ecuador, then I continued with some classes with a Cuban.  The former was more formal and insisted on the usted form between students and teacher.  The Cuban was at ease with the informal tu form.
There are Spanish immersion classes throughout the Spanish speaking world, usually pretty cheap. 

[John W]

Your main goal is going to be to learn to speak and understand spoken Spanish so you can communicate directly with women.  I would recommend that you buy, borrow, or download a good audio course, most of which also come with a book or books so you can also learn visually.  Pimsleur offers a three level Spanish course that is strictly an audio program.  They are a little pricey new, are available on amazon.com, and also at local libraries.  You can start a Pimsleur course with no prior knowledge of Spanish.  I think the Mastering Spanish Level One and Two from Barrons is a better but more difficult program.  These are also available from amazon.com and at libraries.  These courses are simply copies of the first two courses of the four level Spanish program used by the Foreign Service Institute to train US Foreign Service employees in Spanish.  Because these programs were made by the US Government they are in the public domain and if you search the web you can find original versions that you can legally copy and download.  Barrons added a few cultural lessons to FSI program and only these cultural sections of the Barrons program are copyrighted. 

[Dave H]

3. I always took EVERY opportunity I could to speak Spanish with every supermarket employee, janitor, person on the street, etc.  At first my conversational Spanish was subpar, but over time it got better and better.

Fathertime!

Hey Fathertime,

Good advice! I especially liked # 3. It was very easy for me in Miami. 

Dave

[JimD]

No comment I too used a community college and had teachers from the US (who´d spent a summer in Mexico but ok for Spanish 1) Colombia, Peru and Cuba. Both Colombian and Peruvian teachers were great, the Cuban not so much so. I also did an imersion course in Panamá that I found through Amerispan. Since then I have spent time in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador and of course Colombia. I really enjoy picking up on the differences. It took us quite a while to figure out that the "palta" on the menue in Peru was aguacate. I´m finally getting better at detecting regional accents in Colombia at least the easy ones like paisa and pastuso. I remember being jealous once when I visted Bob Frank at his agency in B/quilla. I had a girl from Cali with me and though his Spanish was typical gringo she said wow he speaks with a heavy costeño accent (course he´d been in that city for wenty five years).

[Jeff S]

Agree, immersion is always the best way. I had a few high school classes, and could hold a nominal social conversation in Spanish, but until I started spending lots of time in Latin America and speaking Spanish exclusively, I didn't progress much. The problem is that I ended up learning Mexican, which is kind of removed from real Spanish. When I at first started speaking Japanese, some Spanish would leak over, but since I've gotten better, I catch it quickly in case a Spanish word comes up. Japanese has many English words and a few Spanish - well, actually Portuguese, like pan for bread. They'd never seen bread until Portuguese sailors brought it in the 1500s.

While audio classes like Pinsular and Rosetta Stone (I've used both for languages other than Spanish and Japanese) help you hold a basic conversation, there is no substitute for formal training IMO. Local community colleges and adult schools offer inexpensive classes that will be invaluable for things like tenses, verb conjugation, and other grammatic issues. Understanding these allows you to quickly expand on your rote memorization of sounds picked up from a audio and apply it to new vocabulary.

[utopiacowboy]

Mexican is not real Spanish? Try the Dominicans, the Cubans or the Boricuas. Neither my wife nor I has any problem understanding Mexicans - the groups above are a whole different story.

[Jeff S]

You're right - the Cubans and Dominicans speak it even farther from the mother tongue. And at least the Mexicans speak it slowly enough to be understood.

[Gato4Astrid]

I am under the firm belief that I will have a much better chance of finding a wife in a Latin country if I speak Spanish.  But currently, all I know is how to count to ten.

So my plan is to study hard and learn Spanish before I travel.  Does anyone have any advice for a good way to learn?

I've heard about Rosetta Stone.  How is that software?  Are there any others that are better?  Or would it be better to take classes as a community college?

Thanks for all of the advise!

Jason, you do not need to worry too much about learning Spanish before your 1st travel to Colombia.   Some basic Spanish would help you.  Once you find a girl you want to marry, you can start learning further Spanish, but it would be helpful if your lady learn to Speak English too in case she wants to come and live with you in your country.


If you do not speak or write good Spanish before your 1st meeting, do not worry, but try to work out with your dates.  If she is too lazy to work things out with you, then she is more likely not to bother learning your language and she does not really interest in you.   My girlfriend is learning sign language as well as English.  Her sign language is better than in English.  She does not have a university degree, but she is willingly to learn and shows her self enthusiasm. 

[JimD]

Mexican is not real Spanish? Try the Dominicans, the Cubans or the Boricuas. Neither my wife nor I has any problem understanding Mexicans - the groups above are a whole different story.

II don´t know about your Spanish but if your companion is Colombian I can´t imagine she would have difficulty understaning Dominicans. Their Spanish is certainly no less "mother tongue" than that of Mexican speakers. I´ve been to the DR with a colombiana and she had no difficulty whatsoever understanding local speakers.

[utopiacowboy]

I did not say that we could not understand them but in a Spanish rating scale, she considers them the bottom of the barrel. She doesn't think much of the Spanish spoken on the Colombian coast either.

[JimD]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion. My companion certainly wouldn´t place Dominican Spanish any lower than Mexica.

[Jeff S]

Yeah yeah I know, Mexicans and Dominicans speak Spanish.

And the Scottish speak English too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khrpy4V0-U4

[Dave H]

Mexican is not real Spanish? Try the Dominicans, the Cubans or the Boricuas. Neither my wife nor I has any problem understanding Mexicans - the groups above are a whole different story.

Hey UC,

You know it!!! I grew up listening to mostly Cubans speak "Spanish" in Miami. I took Spanish classes from elementary through high school and thought that it was a huge waste of time! It never did me much good until I met Colombians and Mexicans...then it all came back to me. 

Dave

[Dave H]

Yeah yeah I know, Mexicans and Dominicans speak Spanish.

Thanks Jeff!

All these years I never had a clue what my paternal grandfather was saying!    Now I know that all along, he was talking about Star Trek.

Dave

[play2win]

I am planning to travel through south america & either move there or bring back a girl via possibly an agency (probably jamie's)

Here is how I am learning spanish and I realize this is not for everyone
01) Computer software (rosetta stone & fluenz)
02) CD's (I listen to during commute & before falling alseep)
03) Software on my iphone.  The best one is a flashcard app which uses an algorythm where you grade yourself a - f on how well you know the word and based on that it knows how often to show you teh word)
04) Making latin friends & talking with them
05) Workbook for Grammar

Realize rosetta stone is not the best software it is just the best marketed: http://learn-spanish-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

I have tell me more but have not used it yet.