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anyone have experience with self-study materials for learning spanish. what are the best ones? any that need to be avoided?

... in response to self-study spanish books/tapes, posted by chevy on Apr 6, 2002

All the books and tape sets I bought when doing self-study were poor compared to what I got when I enrolled in community college classes.  If there's a college in your area, you might want to look at the class schedule and go to the book store to buy the text book and work book if they have one for the beginning Spanish class.  One other thing they had at the college I went to was a set of cassettes that you could copy in the library.  I thought all of these were far better than the tourist oriented books I found in commercial bookstores.  They took a more structured approach and taught the fundamentals rather than trying to teach you whole phrases like "Where is the hotel?"  501 Spanish verbs is a good reference book I used also and I think you could probably find that in many commercial bookstores.  Get a good Spanish-English dictionary also.

... in response to self-study spanish books/tapes, posted by chevy on Apr 6, 2002

Hey,

I have found SPANISH IS FUN (Lively Lessons For Beginners) to be an Excellent resource for a beginner.  They have Books 1 & 2.  I picked them up at the local Comm. COllege.  I have compared these to others and by far they are the most user friendly when studying alone.  (I however have a tutor.)  I have found the interactive CD's to be less than profitable, at least for me.  I do listen to cassettes while driving too.  Experts advise using anything where the word is said in Spanish then repeated in English and then a phrase is said in Spanish then English.  Ive seen stuff completely in Spanish (Berlitz?)  which requires you to look at the book while listening, not real practical.  Finally, LAROUSSE has a decent Dictionary from those I've seen out there.

Good luck in your studies,

K.P.