Spanish speech vs Mexican vs Cuban (1 Viewer)

[Peter Burtch]

Skip Google and think local.

Either find a local community college or language institute with lessons on the cheap, or find language materials which are reputable. There was a thread not too long ago in this forum regarding learning languages and materials which have been used successfully. If you want face time in a classroom, you can always inquire with the language department of the particular college in question to see if they emphasize Iberian or American Spanish. If your goal is more conversational than an overall breadth of knowledge in Spanish, I'd go the latter instead of the former. Like someone has commented, to have a lispy accent in this hemisphere makes you sound a bit odd .

regards,
Pete

p.s. once you target a reputable set of written/CD-Rom materials, if your public library doesn't have it you could always borrow what they don't have via Interlibrary Loan. Certainly better than buying something and figuring it out too late that you really would prefer another language course/set.

 

[John Alvarez]

I have several courses on cd and written. The best thing is practice,practice,practice....

 

[John Alvarez]

I have several couses on cd and written. The best thing is practice,practice,practice....

 

[Doug Miller]

While on the subject, I've been wanting to learn Spanish too. I took it in High School... so you can imagine how much carryover that has... is there a good set of CDs to brush up on before taking some classes?

Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[Yee-Ming]

I vaguely recall reading something which stated that a midwestern US accent was considered the most "agreeable" English accent, i.e. least likely to cause discomfort in a listener, or that a listener would most find "listenable" and easy to understand? Perhaps that's why most US news anchors sound the same (at least to my non-US ears). or for that matter most actors/actresses, at least whilst playing their roles. It's sometimes odd to hear a really strong regional accent coming from an actor/actress in an interview, when they don't speak like that in their roles, but that's acting, isn't it?

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Don't waste your time taking classes at a traditional college. These are a waste of time, tedious, archaic, not to mention overly expensive. If you plan on learning Spanish for USA use, the form taught in a traditional school setting is archaic as well according to many speakers. If I knew what a waste of time those classes really were, I never would have taken them. I wasted a whole year taking Spanish in college to learn almost nothing. Terrible waste of money for things you can teach yourself with much better as well as cheaper methods nowadays in a fraction of the time. A matter of months instead of a year. By the end of the year, chances are you will be so stessed out and disappointed, that you would want to give up and never do it again. People take languages for years in school and cant speak a word. Skip it.

If you really want to learn this language quickly, I suggest an immersion method. It's easy to follow because you will go at your own pace. You will also excel much more quickly then if you took a class. You will be looking at many different sources all the time. Talk to people in the language, watch tv in the language, go to the countries, etc. Cant take vacations? Well, no worries. Just do what you can. This language is one that is possible to learn here nowadays due to television, radio, the internet, and people. Do what you can in a pace that you can personally tolerate. There are some very good immersion classes abroad such as FSI and Don Q. I believe you may have to work for the government to attend FSI. I could be wrong. Be warned that FSI can make you fluent in a matter of months, but is extrememly tedious and boring. If you want to have fun learning the language and need to be more relaxed, I would advise against this method. If you learn well by rote memorization and textbook type black and white reading, then it's for you.

If you want to learn in a visual, easier child-adult way like I did, then below is for you.

Here are some of the materials I have used which rapidly developed my understanding of the language in a matter of months, not years. After 4 months of moderate study, I was able to comprehend and understand most of the language spoken on the television and radio. The main point is you cant learn a language from a textbook along (which explains the 95% failure rate of learning a language in traditional schooling). You have to learn it the way you did your first language as a child. By trial and error and using all your abilities. I am not affiliated with any of these materials (even thought I sound like an advertisment right now). Just providing them for those that may be interested.

These are the ones which I consider to be the very best materials you can use. Many are the very best in it's field and many are 5 star materials.

I went through many, many unneeded crappy learning materials before this that were as good at teaching Spanish as a lump of donkey dung.

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The whole approach (Two Most Important and Highest Recommended Programs First):

Rocket Spanish & How to Speak are the two programs that have received the highest praise from self teachers. Start with these and you can begin to learn rapidly. Both come with money back guarantees as well because they work. Stay away from items with no money back guarantees, because chances are they are crap. Not always, but mostly. If the product is truly good, it should be backed up.

http://www.spanishlanguagelessons.net/

"Rocket Spanish"

Rating: *****/*****

Rocket Spanish offers clearly the ultimate Spanish language package available. Attention to detail, expert learning techniques, and diverse presentation make Rocket Spanish well and truly the best and most effective Spanish language program.

Progress from beginner Spanish through to speaking fluently. Audio and visual lessons, exercises, and educational games make learning the Spanish language an exciting, memorable experience.

Well above all other Spanish language lessons available. Incorporated complex learning techniques, fun presentation, and quality information makes Rocket Spanish the best and most effective Spanish language package.

http://www.rocketspanish.com/premium/

Number 2 Choice: Use in Combination with Number 1:

http://www.how-to-speak.com/index21.html

(Teaches Many shortcuts)

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Use these if you have problems remembering words from the first two.

http://www.200words-a-day.com/learn-spanish.html

http://www.unforgettablelanguages.com/frames_a1.html

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A Must just for the experience. You don't need it to learn (whatever you do please don't imitate this accent), but it was just too good in a bad way not to mention.

Spanish with Michel Thomas:

If you want to laugh your ass off, you definately have to listen to this collection. Whatever you do, please do not imitate this insane German/Frenchmans accent. As a German myself, I will even say that this guy is completely off his rocker. If the idea of a completely insane German tormenting his students in a cross between a 100 year old German/French/Spanish accent while making swallowing noises sounds like your idea of a good time, definately give this a listen. The male student is brutalized. You will want to kill him yourself after hearing his voice for more than 5 to 10 minutes. Try to check this one out at the library though. It's a one time listening experience, but it shouldn't be missed. An entertaining, educational experience.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...nDate&n=283155


Others you can use are Pimsluer, Rosetta Stone, etc. Personally, I found Pimsluer too slow and dull. Rosetta Stone works too, but it goes just too slow for my liking. The constant repeating with Pimsleur may get on your nerves. If you like this approach (audio only approach with no visuals), a better alternative is "Learning Spanish Like Crazy" which is the Pimsleur Alternative and does actually work better:

http://www.learninglikecrazy.com/?hop=unica2

Personally, all three methods (Pimsleur, LSLC, Rosetta) were at one point very good methods to use several years ago. Now, they have been put out to pasture basically and better methods are available. Still good for basic understanding and accent learning, but better options are available now.

Here are some excellent books for writing/reading practice.

Madrigals Spanish:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038...Fencoding=UTF8

Ultimate Spanish Review (A review book for when you get to an intermediate level):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/065...Fencoding=UTF8

1001 Most Useful Words:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/048...lance&n=283155

Practice Makes Perfect 1/2:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/084...lance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/084...lance&n=283155

Breaking out of Beginners Spanish:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/029...lance&n=283155

Streetwise Spanish:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/084...lance&n=283155

Childrens books like Buenas Noches, Luna (Goodnight Moon) and Jorge el curioso (Curious George). Or whatever other books you like. Can be just about anything.

Berlitz Spanish Picture Dictionary:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/981...lance&n=283155

Also, get a good quality adult dictionary.

Watch the tv in Spanish, listen to the radio in Spanish, read household labels in Spanish, etc. Just do whatever you can.

There are many other worthy materials around as well. Just check reviews, buyer feedback at sites like amazon, etc.

Best of all. Even if you bought all these materials (you probably wont need them all to gain a good understanding), it still wont be as much as spending the money to take a single course at a University (not counting community of course).

Number 1 Rule: Don't look at all this and feel overwhelmed. It's not that bad. Start with the first two "whole approach" programs first and you will make excellent progress in a short time. The rest of the materials are just to fill in the gaps as you should get through them pretty quickly. You will know much of the material by the time you arrive to them.

 

[Peter Burtch]

Hi Ryan,

I believe I made similar comments in the other thread on language materials.

Keep in mind all college courses are not equal. You might be surprised. The quality of the instructor, and the freedom they may or may not have to design the actual courses plays a role. Also, more modest class size is paramount to success in learning foreign languages IME.
To be honest I probably learned more in my first two semesters of college Spanish than the previous six years of coursework & conversational experience I had prior. YMMV. Don't forget that the goal of college Spanish courses is almost always reading knowledge and basic conversation to fulfill distro requirements of an undergraduate degree. In this sense, you are correct. One should not compare this more antiquated approach to one that a language institute, such as the type offered by the Instituto Cervantes or Berlitz here in Chicago. The two have very different goals. Nonetheless, it is still quite possible to grasp a great deal about a foreign language such as Spanish via the community college route. Some of the evening offerings will be a lot different that what they offer during the day for traditional undergraduate students. There may be one program more custom tailored over another which emphasizes business conversational Spanish for the executive traveller. You just have to shop around to find a language match which works for your needs. As it has already been stated, real fluency requires practice, more practice, and possibly immersion for some folks who are not as adept in another tongue.

cheers,
Pete

 

[John Alvarez]

I took a class at the community college. It was a non credit class that was 2 days a week, 2 hours a day for 12 weeks. It cost 50 bucks. Pretty cheap by me.There were about 20 people who had varying knowledge of the language. It sometimes got really slow. My teacher had a private school and I took classes there. 200 bucks 2 nights a week for 12 weeks but only 4 students. Here is an email I recieved recently.

Hi John,

How are you? I want to inform you of our total immersion Spanish training in Costa Rica.
Our next class is March 20 to 24. Please visit www.elfaroschool.com/immersion.htm
for more information.

I hope to hear from you,

Olmes Corrales
El Faro Language School
904-742-2256
www.elfaroscho.com