Rosetta Stone question

[Dave Keith]

I've always wished I had taken more Spanish, since I live in Texas. You know you're old when the price of things shocks you, so when I looked at the price of the Rosetta Stone software I had to sit down and fan myself!

It seems to be state of the art, but is there an alternative that is less expensive? Anyone have any good experiences with a software language acquisition program that doesn't cost more than a McGizmo?

 

[swsccassidy]

Honestly, the best advice I can give you is get your feet wet. I'm sure you know someone who knows spanish or can get by, start picking their brain. I picked it up from friends because it ticked me off when I couldn't understand what they were saying. I started taking it in high school, went on to college as a spanish major, and ended up changing after two years.

Another idea is to find some high school spanish text books and workbooks and go through them at your own pace. Spanish is a different language than english. If you've been speaking english all your life, the sentence structures and verb conjugations will make no sense at all. But like I mentioned earlier, if you have a friend that speaks the language, ask them to speak to you in spanish, followed by the english version. Your brain will learn to connect the two and after a while, either will seem natural.

If you would like to try some of the software, take a look at these:

http://learn-spanish-software-review.toptenreviews.com/instant-immersion-deluxe-review.html

http://learn-spanish-software-review.toptenreviews.com/berlitz-review.html

$40-50 as opposed to a few hundred for Rosetta Stone. Seems to have good reviews and it may be worth a try. Again, if you want the real deal, saturate yourself in the language. Watch telenovelas (spanish soap operas, turn on the closed captioning), read childrens books in spanish, listen to music, and ask around for old workbooks from high school kids. If you feel like you've got the basics down, take an intro spanish course at a local community college. The wealth of knowledge available is amazing, you've just got to find it for yourself. A class would allow you to learn formally and give you access to a professor and their office hours. They get paid to teach and make sure it's understood. But again, I can't stress how important it is to hear it. Good luck!

 

[gcbryan]

I wouldn't spend money on software. Take a class with the fewest students you can find, watch Spanish TV, read Spanish magazines, and then go somewhere where you will have to speak Spanish.

Maybe it's a neighborhood near you or across the border in Mexico. If you have to speak Spanish to order a meal and to pay the bill you will figure it out (the basics that is).

If you do go somewhere I can recommend a cheap language translator (looks like a credit card sized pocket calculator). The advantage of this is just that when you are in Mexico and want to ask someone where the museum is you already know that where is Donde esta and all you have to do is punch in museum and you get el museo or whatever so "Done esta el museo?"

I've tried to learn Spanish and French and have to some small degree but with large French classes in high school I learned virtually nothing. In grad school I had 6 people in my class and I had that class every day and had language tapes to take home and I had to stand up and have a conversation with my partner every day.

I don't use it now and have forgotten a lot of it. I went to France soon after that class and was able to make myself understand even if it was only poorly understood.

With Spanish I took a class during my lunch break at work for one semester and went on several vacations to Latin America after that. That's when I started using the electronic Spanish translator just to help my memory when I couldn't think of the noun just before I knew I was going to have to ask someone...where is the bank, restaurant, train stations, etc.

If anyone could immerse themselves that would be the best way. The problem when you learn a little and then spend the rest of the day speaking English is that you don't really learn it very well.

Reading is much easier than speaking and speaking (to me) is easier than understanding someone else.

Good luck or Buena Suerte!

 

[Databyter]

Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn.

The pronunciation is very consistent with the spelling, and it is easy to hear and speak the sounds.

The advantage of the above is that if you practice it, preferably with a spanish speaking friend or co-worker etc.. you will reach a point where you know enough that you are sort of "over the hump".

You can start asking questions IN Spanish about more vocabulary and more usages.

"Como se dice"? Means "How do you say"

Como se dice "shovel", you ask your co-worker, "Pala" he says.

Your on your way.

Spanish is very logical and consistant.

The noun comes first and then is followed by the adjectives/modifiers. This is sort of backwards to our way of thinking, but then again English isn't even consistant about that rule.

Think like the military

Hat, Blue. Instead of Blue hat.

Sombrero azul.

Start thinking that way, and drink alot of Coronas, that helps lubricate the Spanish learning part of the brain.

 

[HarryN]

I have had some luck at least learning nouns by labeling things around the house with their Spanish names. (my wife is not so sure about this approach) Part of this is self defense, as my kids pulled a really good prank on me in Spanish.

Singing songs is a good method to gain by association.

 

[kitelights]

They either do a great job of marketing or they really are in a league of their own. Look for used programs on eBay or Craigslist. You can do a nationwide search on CL.

 

[kaichu dento]

I don't know how the results for any of the Rosetta Stone packages work, but I tried out the Japanese program at a friends house a couple times and my feeling was the same as a couple of the posts above - immerse yourself.

Being where you are should assure that you've got lots of speakers available and need to just start using a couple words to open conversation whenever you have the chance. People in general love to share what they know when they find someone interesting to share it with, so, be interesting and make some friends!

 

[mcnair55]

Yes there is,my tips from when I lived in Berlin.This is what we did in no order.

Go to the biggest and best book shop you can find,a real big one that will have shelves and shelves of stuff,best if it has a coffee bar in there and spend a real decent amount of time going through as much as you can.

Enrol on a college course,mine was 100 euros for a 14 week course which I had to attend Monday to Friday 9am to 12.30 pm.On the course I had to buy some course books about 25 euros worth and these are the books which really you never find by accident but were worth there weight in gold(Course was the same price as a German would pay as I was an EU citizen from the UK).I also was given about 30 minutes of homework to complete after each lesson.

Be prepared to spend some real time surfing the web,plenty of free stuff out there in many languages.Two simple games I liked were word games for example an english word appeared on the right and 3 german words on the left,just click the correct one and you could make it work the other way round and it kept your score,soon you would be trying to beat your score,hard one but good fun was space invader type game,as the word dropped up you had to click the correct answer to blow the dropping word up.

Tune into an English radio station on the net that is broadcasting Spanish news as you begin to learn how the words sound.(deutsche welle was mine)

Invest in a really good translator not a 20 dollar type,tried them not enough,I paid about $200 dollars in the end and still have it plenty in mine to keep me going for years.

Saved the best for last for you.Invest in a DVD/Book course that relives a story and you have to go along with it and complete the course work.My story was about a newspaper office that had to go and investigate a story about a crocodile been sighted in a local river about 25 miles from the office taking a new reporter with the 2 senior reporters and of course it goes through every aspect of from the introduction of the new reporter and directions to the sighting,food you name it they never missed anything.At the end of each session you go to the test part of the dvd and answer the questions and once you can complete the whole lesson without a mistake you could then advance on.(unlocked the next session)

I promise you there is loads of free stuff on the net but you need hours to weed the good stuff out.

Once you are up to speed with a few words in real life the people talk so much faster than all these courses and best way is hands and feet as they say,try all the time and use your hands to sign it starts clicking into place.

 

[Dave Keith]

Well, that's the reason I asked here. I knew I would get some great answers and advice!

Thanks everyone for the well thought out and helpful information. I'll probably try to do both engaging native speakers and getting some vocabulary building from some kind of software.

Thanks again, everyone!

Dave

 

[gcbryan]

Well, that's the reason I asked here. I knew I would get some great answers and advice!

Thanks everyone for the well thought out and helpful information. I'll probably try to do both engaging native speakers and getting some vocabulary building from some kind of software.

Thanks again, everyone!

Dave

Don't forget a good old fashioned book for some vocabulary as well. A beginning Spanish textbook or Spanish The Easy Way (there is no easy way) but it is easy to build vocabulary.


A basic textbook is necessary just to have something to refer to when you can't figure something out. You need to know a bit about the grammar of course. Most text books make each chapter about a different situation...going to the grocery, the post office, the restaurant, etc.

Also, go to a large newstand and get the Spanish equivalent of People magazine. There are lot's of pictures to help you put the text in perspective, it's written at a high school level and it's not too involved.

 

[dudemar]

A book/cd combo works great. That's how I learned how to speak Irish and Hebrew. Rosetta Stone is overrated and overpriced. Unless you're at DLI and you're using it on the government dime, it's not worth it.

I would have to say immersion is the best way to learn any language, though.

Desire is also a necessary requirement. Writing in the language doesn't hurt.

.

 

[kaichu dento]

A book/cd combo works great. That's how I learned how to speak Irish and Hebrew. Rosetta Stone is overrated and overpriced. Unless you're at DLI and you're using it on the government dime, it's not worth it.

I would have to say immersion is the best way to learn any language, though.

Desire is also a necessary requirement. Writing in the language doesn't hurt.

+1 to all of this post.

One of the only foreigners I've seen who learned Japanese well enough to really use it the way they do is a guy named Tony. I saw an interview with him one time and he said that the way he learns all languages is to learn to write naturally.

 

[vali]

Of course, if you find something you cant understand for some reason I am sure some of the (few) native spanish speakers in this forum will help you.

The good news about trying to learn spanish is that you can know the pronunciation of a written word with 99% accuracy, and vice versa. The bad news is that almost all nouns and adjectives have genre and the HUGE amount of verb forms for each verb (and you will find only the infinitive in the dictionary).

If you want to learn the pronunciation of the words, I think the best way is to get some dubbed DVDs. We dub most Hollywood movies instead of just adding some subtitles, but in a DVD you can get the subtitles, the OV and the "new" audio. The guys who put the voice there have (or should have) a correct pronunciation, unlike some of the real actors...

You will be able to find 3 different versions IIRC: The "Mexican", the "Argentinian" and the "European". Stick with the version you like more because the accent is pretty different and you will be lost if you start to mix them.

You can find the official dictionary here, but is spanish only and its usefulness is limited when you start learning, but its great when you have a bit of spanish understanding.

 

[burgessdi]

Yes there is,my tips from when I lived in Berlin.This is what we did in no order.

Go to the biggest and best book shop you can find,a real big one that will have shelves and shelves of stuff,best if it has a coffee bar in there and spend a real decent amount of time going through as much as you can.

Enrol on a college course,mine was 100 euros for a 14 week course

Guten Tag

I agree college is definitely WAY cheaper than that software.

Good luck and have fun Dave

 

[fisk-king]

I wouldn't advise paing the amt of money for the rosetta stone program. Hell its free on the interwebs. Right now I currently have the Spanish/Korean programs. But like others have noted immersion is the key.

 

[kaichu dento]

If you want to learn the pronunciation of the words, I think the best way is to get some dubbed DVDs. We dub most Hollywood movies instead of just adding some subtitles, but in a DVD you can get the subtitles, the OV and the "new" audio. The guys who put the voice there have (or should have) a correct pronunciation, unlike some of the real actors...

You will be able to find 3 different versions IIRC: The "Mexican", the "Argentinian" and the "European". Stick with the version you like more because the accent is pretty different and you will be lost if you start to mix them.

This is such a great post!

I always tell my friends that if they want to attain good natural pronunciation to find a movie they like enough to see over and over and to practice pronunciation with it.

About the next part of your post, I was talking to some foreigners a couple years ago and couldn't tell what country they were from other than to guess they sounded like they were from Europe. My surprise when they said they were from Spain since I'm so used to hearing the Mexican version.

 

[gcbryan]

Another good way to practice your reading is to bookmark the CNN Spanish language site to read the news and then in another window open up Google Translate.

Read a paragraph at a time to see how much you undestand. Then cut and paste that paragraph in Google Translate to see what it really says...then go on to the next paragraph.

There are some language course on the internet that are for a fee but they have parts of the course that are free including audio.