Your suggestions/comments on how to learn the lingo.

[Doyle Phillips]

Listeros,
A friend in Texas thinks of studying Spanish. Please add your suggestions or comments on my reply to him (below). Your experience will be appreciated. --doyle


High Patricio After many a year of not using the book I still think a good way to begin could be Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish (drawings by Andy Warhol), even
though the title is a little distasteful. She will show you that you already have a big Spanish vocabulary. I believe she would say that knowing the names of things
is basic and can go a long way when trying to communicate.

Not knowing your level of Spanish I'm a bit at sea. Incidentally you can go online and find several Spanish fluency-level tests.

I have Rosetta Stone but have not got around to exploring it. Many people come here for short or long-term Spanish schools and i can't recall any of them having
used RS but I think it has good reviews.

For what it is worth, these would be my tips:

On-line you can learn first-year Spanish much more quickly than going to a class. After you have completed the course and have a good idea of the structure of
the language then take a class or tutorial covering the same 101 course to learn the nuances. Almost certainly you can find a personal Mexican tutor in Midland,
perhaps at a tienda or restaurant there if not on CraigsList.

Aim at learning Mexican and Latin American pronunciation, which is perfectly acceptable in Spain. However I would also learn the Familiar Plural when you
go to conjugation of verbs. FP is not used in most of Latin America but you should be familiar with it when it comes to reading. Lots of pronunciation practice
can be done on the Internet.

I have not tried it but have read of a Seattle prof's technique: his students watch CNN news in English then they find a similar news program on CNN international
in Spanish. Apparently knowing in advance the news topics helps tune-in to the way it is said in Spanish. (I suppose that Spanish subtitles are helpful when watching movies.)

Over the years I've met many foreigners here--mostly over the age of 65--who have new interest in studying Spanish. Can't remember asking them their suggestions about how to best learn the lingo but I will begin to do so. In that mode I'm going to post this message on the local electronic bulletin board and see if any of the readers have further comments.

Saludos, Doyle

Doyle,
Funny you sent this today, I was contemplating taking a Spanish class at MC or doing something online (Rosetta Stone, etc) but after your email I must ask , what's your opinion about how I might go about improving my conversational Spanish?
P Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 16, 2014, at 11:23 AM, "dphoydia@gmail.com" <dphoydia@gmail.com> wrote:

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The latest on the impact of bilingualism on the brain.
http://thedianerehmshow.org/ About 12 PM central
the show will be available online --d

[MNRon]

There is a free site called Duolingo, okay for reading/writing and a free series on YouTube under LanguageTransfer, which is very good, I think. If one can tolerate learning Peninsular Spanish, the BBC languages site has a series called 'La Vida Loca' and there is s free video series called "Destinos," which covers Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and Puerto Rico.

[roberb7]

Coffee Break Spanish is good, and free: https://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakspanish/

Our local Escuela Falcon does lessons via Skype: http://escuelafalcon.com/
This idea began in Guatemala. Here's one of several teachers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WavpxWSZxRA
Google "guatemala spanish lessons skype", and you'll get several more.

[Doyle Phillips]

great info. will pass it on to my amigo.

[Lisa Andrews]

I go to Escuela Falcon twice a week and it's definitely the best way to learn. I am surrounded by spanish at work all day and listen to spanish podcasts, do spanish activities, read and write and communicate in spanish, but the most useful has been classes, they force you to concentrate for an hour and the teacher keeps the class to what you want, there is so much information out there it is hard to get it in your brain and it can be so overwhelming about where to start, I find the hardest is to understand others speaking so change teachers every couple of months to help learn different accents. But there is nothing really like living in mexico and talking to people since they generally don't speak clearly (spanish reality tv is also a good way to hear how people actually talk not just your teachers who pronounce words properly)

Other websites I find good and not mentioned are:
http://www.veintemundos.com/en/
http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/...g_passages
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/

I find the app Mind snacks great to just learn basic words, I have used duolingo on and off for ages and still like it.

Rosetta stone seemed expensive to me and i did the free thing which I found way too easy but maybe for a complete beginner it is good.

[sparksmex]

Go to school as much and as long as you can stand it ..... and make friends with your Mexican neighbors

[peddler665]

As a very senior citizen I struggle with Spanish having taken a half a dozen classes. I find Duolingo very helpful & best of all they sorta give you tough love encouraging you to keep at it when you miss a day.

[wwintermute]

If you can stand it, look at a few Mexican telenovelas.

Not hard to follow.

The plot usually goes something like:

Boy meets Girl
Boy loses Girl (due to evil intermediary, typically boy's mother)
Boy and Girl reunite in final episode

[Lisa Andrews]

Just thought of a few more things - podcasts:
Notes in Spanish, has beginners and intermediate podcasts (you can pay for transcripts)
Spanishpodcast - intermediate level with free transcripts
Radio Ambulante - advanced level - south american and with free transcripts

Really good if you can understand spoken word :)

[raquelita]

Lisa, thanks for reminding me of the site http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/

I have a grasshopper mind so forgot about it but it has everything - graduated levels, various speakers talking naturally, etc etc etc. It's now my New Year's resolution.