Study Abroad Spanish
News, views and opinions on studying Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country.

Archive for: January 2009



January 7, 2009

Subliminal Messages Can Help You To Learn Spanish

Filed under: News and Views - 07 Jan 2009

My wife and I moved to Spain two years ago. I am really please to be at last enjoying our amazing new life in Spain. I wouldn’t say my Spanish is really great but I do understand most of what people say to me and I can make myself understood mostly. Sandra became increasingly frustrated with herself as she could not get her mouth and brain to work together to speak Spanish. You see she learned French as a second language and all that kept coming out was a strange mix of English, French and Spanish.

It was completely unconscious with her and the more she tried the more embarrassed she got and the worse it got and the worse she felt. Now she is a really smart person but she just couldn’t get past the Spanish mental block.

So I got her a ‘Subliminal Spanish CD’, which is a really simpl but effective language learning aid. She usually listens to the CD twice a day, once in the morning and again at night just before going to sleep. It doesn’t help her to learn grammar, syntax or verbs in itself. It isn’t a ‘talk at you in Spanish thing’.

What it is, is simply an unconscious encouragement sent straight into her subconscious mind which helps to speed up her learning. As well as her normal absorption of Spanish from living in Spain and from further study the subliminal messages steadily remove any barriers in her mind so that she will be able to understand better and process vocabulary etc. She has stopped stumbling over her words and is no longer reticent about talking to our Spanish friends, and swears by the subliminal messages! At first it improved her ability to recall and remember Spanish words, and gradually her entire vocabulary improved. She now studies with and added concentration and deeper level of understanding, and even wants to learn the Catalan type of Spanish.


January 3, 2009

Learn Spanish Online

Filed under: News and Views - 03 Jan 2009

learn spanish quick

You can learn Spanish quick online, or at least the fundamentals. After all, you most of the time get what you pay for. Nevertheless, some of the websites offering you the opportunity to learn Spanish free online have very well designed programs. Some of them are more or less comparable to courses costing a lot of money.

In this article, we will look at the quality of some of the websites where you can learn Spanish free online, and compare them with some of the well-known commercial Spanish tuition courses available.

By the time you are finished with this article, you should have all the information you need to determine whether you will benefit best from a decision to learn Spanish free online, or from a decision to buy one of the many respected Spanish courses available in the market.

Many of the sites that come up in a search engine query for “learn Spanish free online” don’t actually offer a totally free learning experience. This is not to say that they are deliberately misleading visitors, or acting in any way improper. They usually do offer free lessons, but often they are limited or very basic, concentrating on common phrases that most people already know.

Some of the websites claiming that you can learn Spanish free online don’t actually tell you the whole story. You will find that you can pick up Spanish for free online, but only so far. Once you find yourself in the momentum of learning, wishing to take the next step, you may find that you have to pay for it.

Is it possible to learn Spanish free online to a stage where you can converse fluently with native Spanish speaker? It is definitely possible, but it could be a bit of a struggle, though it would certainly be dependent on your aptitude. Even purchasing the finest Spanish learning course in the market wouldn’t magically teach you Spanish if there is no serious effort and determination on your part! That’s just the way it is.

If you really want to learn Spanish free, then seek out websites that don’t immediately pitch you with their paid version of the course. Some sites do provide truly helpful learning materials. They often have words recorded that you can click to hear the proper pronunciation. This is very useful and can only be highly recommended.

However, for the person who is serious about learning Spanish, and who wants to be assured that the materials they use are only of the highest quality, then learning Spanish for free is certainly not an option. Among the many excellent Spanish courses in the market today, one outshines the rest - Rocket Spanish.

The Rocket Spanish website gives you all you really need to know, but it is many times best to hear what others, often existing customers, have to say about the program. Look at some of the review sites online, especially sites that offer a balanced report, and not just an all-glowing report. 

While it’s certainly possible to learn Spanish free on the Internet, and learn it well too, it’s usually much more convenient to learn the language through a paid course. You will find dedicated support this way, should you need it, and you probably will. If you decide to learn Spanish for free online you are likely to find that there is no support whatsoever. The choice is yours!


January 2, 2009

6 Steps To Mastering Spanish

Filed under: News and Views - 02 Jan 2009

learn spanish fast

When you intially decide that you want to pick up Spanish, you start to think about how much fun it can be to converse in a new language. However, you will quickly discover that it might not be as straightforward as you think it is to get started.  Here are several action steps to help you learn Spanish fast:

1.Decide how you learn best.
Everybody learns differently.  Textbooks work great for some, but not for others.  Some people learn by attending a foreign language class.  Others probably learn better from a video series.  Decide which approach works best for you.  You probably want to use a combination of methods to help you grasp the language.

2.Build your vocabulary.
When you start to learn the Spanish language, it´s good to start with the vocabulary. Start with Spanish words and phrases that are used daily.  After you have a good understanding of what means what in the language, it will be easier for you to piece the words together into sentences.

3.Master the grammar.
This is really important.  When you pick up Spanish, you need to be sure to learn the grammar as well.  If you are not familiar with the grammatical styles of the language, you will have a hard time expressing yourself properly.  Every language will conjugate a verb, but it is done differently through the use of grammatical rules unique to the language.

4.Learn the slang.
You may be surprised to realize that most people do not correctly speak their native language.  If you aren´t familiar with the slang, you may have a challenging time understanding what someone is saying.  For example:  “He ran off at the mouth’ does not mean he ran on foot away from a mouth of something.  YOu can end up saying things that you do not inted if you can’t understand the slang.

5.Practice Speaking the Language.
This is, after all, the point of wanting to learn Spanish, but here, this means to practice speaking the language whenever possible.  If you know a friend who speaks the language, try to practice speaking with them as often as you can.  You will be able to pick up inflections and intonations you can´t learn from a textbook.  You will also pick up vocabulary, grammar, and slang this way at the same time.

6.Invest in a course on how to learn Spanish
There are many programs in the market today that quickly teach you the Spanish language and you can learn Spanish quickly right from the comfort of your own home.  There are programs available online and through mediums such as DVD´s or audio tapes.  Check out these products, especially if you don’t have the time to attend a class in person.

If you want to know how to learn Spanish quick, use the actions steps above.  Though you may have some difficulty getting started, you will be well rewarded for your efforts.  Not only will you be able to speak another language, you will then be able to help other in their quest to pick up the Spanish language.


January 1, 2009

Learn Spanish on the Internet Faster then from a Tutor

Filed under: News and Views - 01 Jan 2009

Once upon a time when you wanted to learn to speak Spanish or any other second language for that matter you had to either buy lessons on audio cassettes or sign up for night classes.With the new technology available today most night classes are a thing of the past and cassette programs have been replaced with learning Spanish on the Internet.

After reading this article you’ll know just how easy it is to learn Spanish on the Internet using free tools and videos as well as software. By the end of this article you’ll know how you can learn conversational Spanish fast.

Lets Get Started

There are two methods of learning Spanish online.

1.) Free of charge you can learn a lot from free podcasts and videos posted on sites like YouTube and the like.

2.) Paid membership and software sites that are designed to teach you conversational Spanish fast.

Without some basic Spanish knowledge the free videos and audios are great, but they won’t get you to a point where you can communicate in Spanish.

Getting Conversational

For anyone wanting to learn Spanish on the Internet quickly your goal should not be memorizing a big vocabulary of Spanish words. Instead you should focus on learning phrases and sentences that are used in every day life. The best way to do this quickly is to use a video or software program that teaches you to say phrases that are important in every day life.

An excellent program designed to teach conversational Spanish is Visual Link Spanish. The package was developed by a former university level Spanish teacher who realized while his students had a large vocabulary they weren’t easily able to communicate in Spanish.This instructor decided there must be a better method of teaching people how to speak Spanish, and Visual Link was born.

To read more about this learn Spanish software read this review of Visual Link Spanish.

Other products that are worth consideration when learning to Speak Spanish on the web are Rocket Spanish, and Tell Me More language software titles.


« Previous Page