Looking to Learn Some Spanish
I'm interested in learning Spanish and am wondering for recommendations on tools to help me do it. I know that all of the experts and experience point to the absolute best way to learn a language being to be completely immersed into it. However, that's not remotely feasible any time in the next year or 2.
I took some German, som French and some Latin going through high school and college, and my degree is in English (with a lot of linguistics) so learning another language isn't entirely new territory for me. However, this time I'm aiming to learn more on my own as I'm not really looking to take a formal class or dropping $300 on CD's/software.
So, I'm looking for a little help filtering out the myriad of choices in tackling this particular task. One of the things I'm looking for most is a decent way to build vocabulary. I've used paper flashcards in the past, but would rather have something digital if I can find it. Any recommended software, PDF's, sites, etc as well as any books would be greatly appreciated.
October 26th, 2006 at 10:14 am
The St. Paul Public Library has recently(?) begun offering online access to RosettaStone Spanish (and English) language training.
http://www.sppl.org (link currently on right side of home page)
-and-
http://stpaulpl.onlinelanguagelearning.com/en/welcome
Looks like you'd need a library card — the rules are a bit unclear but you don't have to be a St. Paul resident to get access to standard library offerings:
http://www.sppl.org/userguide/library-cards.html
We bought the RosettaStone software a few years back to (try to) learn Italian. I really like the approach RS uses; I attribute our failure to learn to a lack of motivation, especially _after_ our trip to Italy. Since you'll have more local opportunities to use the Spanish you learn, your motivation may be better.
Kevin
October 26th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
In large part, the desire to learn Spanish is tied to the fact it's fairly pervasive and, unlike my German and especially unlike my Latin, I'll actually have opportunities to use it. Beyond just people in the local area, TV/movie channels are available in spanish, documents, etc. for practice are plentiful.
I'll have to check on the St. Paul library thing. I think that the cards are either metro-wide or county, in which case, being in Hennepin, I'd have to see if there's something similar under Minneapolis.
I've looked at the Rosetta stuff in the past and did like it. It's just a bit more than I want to pay for it, so the library option sounds better.