Rosetta Stone (Spanish)

churley1

Anyone used these before? I need to dust up on my Spanish but I don't really have the time to go to scheaduled classes. I'm not interested in buying them brand new, but I have seen a few good offers about second hand.

Are they really worth it? Or would I be better off finding the time to go to classes which would probably be a lot more expensive for a lot less learning time?

Swisdom

I 'acquired' a copy via the interweb - haven't got round to learning Russian but from what I've seen I think they'd be good for brushing up!

Cordoban Addick

I find it very easy to give up on CDs, but thats because I am lazy and don't really like learning languages. Have you tried the Institute Cervantes? They are the equivelant of the British Council (in terms of language learning) and have a whole range of courses (including intensive courses, which are good for quickly upping your level), an added benefit if you are male/straight or female/gay is that the classes are chock full of young women. They are based about 5 mins walk from Victoria and should easily be found with a Google search. Alternatively have you thought about private lessons, should be plenty of spanish speakers who could come to you and tailor classes to what you want e.g. tourist spanish, business spanish, engineering spanish etc.

Chaz Hill

Taking lessons myself at present. We use 'Teach yourself Spanish' by juan kattan-ibarra. Agree with Cordoban Addick lessons is the way to go. I have always been useless at languages (plus the wife speaks Spanish well so leave all negotiating to her) but have decided to make a real effort to learn some of the basics. Not easy with all this masculine/feminine stuff and as for the grammar! Still some of it is slowly sinking in and at least I know how to order more than two beers now!

Cordoban Addick

Sounds familiar Chaz, my wife is really good at languages too, so it is all to easy to let her do all the stuff. I have what I call "blokes spanish" I know a lot of words, but struggle to construct a sentence. Also takes me ten minutes to work out what anybody is saying, by which time ......

RedZed333

Que....?

Chaz Hill

[cite]Posted By: Cordoban Addick[/cite]Sounds familiar Chaz, my wife is really good at languages too, so it is all to easy to let her do all the stuff. I have what I call "blokes spanish" I know a lot of words, but struggle to construct a sentence. Also takes me ten minutes to work out what anybody is saying, by which time ......

I'll settle for "blokes spanish" CA. We were doing changing money and hiring a car today. Doing my head in!

We must be not too far away from each other. We have a place just off the N432 near Alcala La Real. Hoping to get down there again soon but most of my mates, who live there full-time, are olive picking at the moment plus the weather hasn't been too great. Fair weather Spaniard I'm afraid.

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: churley1[/cite]go to scheaduled classes

They might help you brush up on your English too ..... sorry!

)

Cordoban Addick

I'll settle for "blokes spanish" CA. We were doing changing money and hiring a car today. Doing my head in!

We must be not too far away from each other. We have a place just off the N432 near Alcala La Real. Hoping to get down there again soon but most of my mates, who live there full-time, are olive picking at the moment plus the weather hasn't been too great. Fair weather Spaniard I'm afraid.[/quote]

Alcala is really nice, really like the castle and the square with the kids playgrounds in. We are further west along the N432 (toward Córdoba, funnily enough) in Zuheros. The weather has been truly bloody awful and as you know it can get pretty cold round these parts. Are your mates working in the fields spanish or British? As thought it was quite unusual for Brits to get involved? Whats your teacher like, some of them can teach in such a boring way (which is how they teach English in schools), if you are not good at languages, a boring teacher can really put you of for life. Be nice to meet up when you are down, although I should point out that I am from the Guardian reading, back Parky, glass half full, climate change is real wing of the Lifers fraternity.

Stig

I've seen reviews of Rosetta Stone (French - but presumably it's to the same fromula) where they get get slated for teaching disjointed stuff that is of little practical use. I've used Michel Thomas (again, French) and think it is wonderful because it starts from the basic building blocks of the language and builds up. I've also tried Linguaphone and Berlitz but wasn't too impressed because although you learn some useful stuff, they are based on rote learning - parrot fashion - rather than actually thinking about the language.

rufusisadogsname

If you need help with your grammer, try this book

Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Spanish Grammar (Practice Makes Perfect Series)

Only 4 quid on Amazon at the moment.

Amazon Link

Covers pretty much everything. Also, try listening to the footie commentaries on La Liga, if you understand that, you'll be fine!

Chaz Hill

[cite]Posted By: Cordoban Addick[/cite]I'll settle for "blokes spanish" CA. We were doing changing money and hiring a car today. Doing my head in!

We must be not too far away from each other. We have a place just off the N432 near Alcala La Real. Hoping to get down there again soon but most of my mates, who live there full-time, are olive picking at the moment plus the weather hasn't been too great. Fair weather Spaniard I'm afraid.

Alcala is really nice, really like the castle and the square with the kids playgrounds in. We are further west along the N432 (toward Córdoba, funnily enough) in Zuheros. The weather has been truly bloody awful and as you know it can get pretty cold round these parts. Are your mates working in the fields spanish or British? As thought it was quite unusual for Brits to get involved? Whats your teacher like, some of them can teach in such a boring way (which is how they teach English in schools), if you are not good at languages, a boring teacher can really put you of for life. Be nice to meet up when you are down, although I should point out that I am from the Guardian reading, back Parky, glass half full, climate change is real wing of the Lifers fraternity.

Hi CA. To be fair the teacher (he comes from Chile) is ok and it is more my language skills that are the problem. I put it down to my age and fading memory abilities!

My mates in Castillo de Locubin (where the house is) doing the olive picking are Brits. My best mate, Steve, has been there over 2 years now and because of a combination of factors is struggling a bit. Plus by doing the olives he is formally on the Spanish labour statistics (and paying a bit of tax) which means his youngest qualifies for a free pre-school place (saving him 100 euros per month). He says it's hard work but also helps with integrating with the locals. A lot of the others are scratching around for work with the slump in the tourist and building sector. Exchange rate isn't helping either as you will be all too aware.

Certainly would be interesting to meet up. You are on safe ground politically etc. I have been well and truly placed in the Guardian camp by our Daily Mail reading fellow lifers. On Parky I was sceptical to start with but he's made a decent fist of things considering. Just hope he can see the job through.

Let's keep in touch and hopefully meet up when the weather gets warmer!

RedZed333

All you need to learn is...

'Dos cerveza, por favor...'

Anything else is a complete waste of money....