best way to learn spanish?

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bmoore15

100+ Posts
I work for a bank that is planning on hiring some new employees this year that speak spanish. I graduate in December so it would be great if I could get one of these positions. But they are really focused on people who can speak spanish. So I have decided to learn Spanish to help improve my resume and my chances of getting one of these jobs. I have taken some Spanish in school before but it never really sticks that well. And I can't take anymore Spanish classes in college. So what is the best way that you know of to learn Spanish? Does the software work? Should I try to find a class outside of school? What really works? Any suggestions would help. Thanks for your help!
 
Check your area community college for a conversational Spanish course. Then really PRACTICE. Find native speakers to speak with. Don't let them switch over to English -- insist they carry on all conversations with you in Spanish.

The best way is, of course, total immersion. There's something about sink-or-swim that kicks in the recall reflex and makes you learn the language. But I guess you can't do a total immersion.
 
Agree with what is being said. I spoke next to 0 for Spanish, but I met my future wife in Peru and she only spoke Spanish. I listened very carefully and the only way to communicate to her was in Spanish. 3 months into the relationship and I could carry a pretty good conversation while visiting her in Lima.
 
oh, it doesn't hurt to watch a telenovela or two!
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I've toyed with learning another language, but haven't found the time. When I was thinking about it, I asked a friend who's in grad school studying Spanish literature. She said the best way is to get some language background, preferably via a class, but otherwise via books or software and then spend time in the country where they speak that language. She says books and software help you to understand the general idea of what is said or what you are reading, but none are really good at teaching you how to speak. That's why she suggested classes. I guess equally good would be to find a friend who speaks the language and offer them dinners or something in exchange for teaching. This all depends on how well you want to learn the language.
 
CDs from the public library are a good place to start. I got about 50 half-hour lessons of Pimsleur Italian CDs for nothing and loaded them into an iPod Classic.

I'd practice while walking the dog ("andiamo") and learned pretty quickly. It doesn't help with writing much, but I can speak with my Milanese father-in-law now.
 
My story: I never took Spanish in H.S., took Latin (and no I don't remember any of it). Went to U.T., was liberal arts so had to have 16 hours foreign language, took Spanish. 16 hours of straight C's. Killed my GPA. Sucks too because I remembered a ton of the vocabulary and the grammar but let's just say I didn't apply myself my first 2 years at U.T.. Fast forward a few years, I went to law school and got it and wanted to learn Spanish. Knew that i would never be fluent just taking classes, or listening to tape, etc. so I made the bold move to pack up and move to mexico. Lived in Saltillo for 7 months. There are amazingly few gringos in Saltillo. I think I ran into 3 the entire time there. Got myself a Mexican girlfriend, which really helped. Spent 4 hours in the morning studying spanish (reading books, doing workbooks mostly, studying vocabulary) and then in the afternoons I taught an English class at the local university for 2 hours (made $5/hr) and then just hung out with friends.

I'm telling you, after 7 months of full immersion - meaning don't go down there with another buddy, it has to be you and you alone- you will be fluent. Not100%, but you will be able to talk to anybody about anything nd understand 99% of what they say and be able to communicate your point. Then once you move back you have to stay plugged in. My business serves spanish speakers so I use it all day. I also ended up marrying a Mexican, so we occasionally speak it in the house and she corrects me and helps. I also attend a Hispanic church.

Follow my program and you won't be disappointed. (it obviously doesn't have to be Salitillo, be it needs to be a place where there won't be many English speakers. Spain is dangerous for this reason, lot of English speakers in Europe). Don't be afraid either, it's great. Maybe the best 7 months of my life. And if I had to do it over again, I probably woudl've traveled a little more around Mexico.

Buena Suerte
 
Get a hispanic girlfriend, one who speaks spanish and whose family does as well; buy a lot of spanish language comic books---the vocabulary and sentence structure is very useful in learning; watch telenovelas; take a few weeks off and do an immersion school in Mexico; cultivate every spanish speaker you know, including the waiters/waitresses in restaurants; order in Spanish, memorize the menus from a dozen of the places; watch the news in spanish; pick up spanish newspapers and read the stuff in there.

Marry her.


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I agree. My spanish isn't great, but when I was dating a girl from Mexico who only spoke spanish it got better real quick. You figure what you need to say.
 
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