Post: #1

I need to learn Spanish and want to do it as quick as possible. I dont think I will do to well with the take home or internet courses, I will generally loose interest or forget. Has anyone had experience with these Spanish immersion courses? You go live in the country for a weeks/months and master the language. I have heard mixed reviews.

Post: #2

(04-25-2013 02:00 AM)kali Wrote:  I need to learn Spanish and want to do it as quick as possible. I dont think I will do to well with the take home or internet courses, I will generally loose interest or forget. Has anyone had experience with these Spanish immersion courses? You go live in the country for a weeks/months and master the language. I have heard mixed reviews.

If you're looking to learn as quickly as possible, check out the Listening-Reading Method from the forum at how-to-learn-any-language.com
http://www.how-to-learn-any-language.com...PN=3&TPN=1

It's also explained in this video




Basically, you will find a Spanish copy of a lengthy book you know well (library). The longer the better, and preferably a novel. Get the audiobook version in Spanish too (online from free sites or from library).

1. Read the book in Spanish
2. Listen to the Spanish audiobook while simultaneously reading the English version of the same book.
3. Listen to the Spanish audiobook while following along with the Spanish book
4. While listening to the audiobook, repeat after the recording out loud.
5. Translate the English version of the book into Spanish.

The idea behind this is to give you massive exposure to the language in a short amount of time. The more sentences you hear and see, the more exposure you get. Don't think too hard, let your brain put this all together.

The person who came up with this concept was talking about going 50 straight hours with this method, only taking breaks to sleep, eat, and use the restroom. If you have a limited amount of time to learn a language, I'd say this is like throwing a Hail Mary.

Post: #3

If you want to go to a good country to learn, go to Colombia. Not only does it have great women and culture, their Spanish is very nice, clear, and proper. It was very easy to understand and many other latins I've talked to admit that Colombians speak very well. EAFIT in Medellin offers 4 hour a day courses 5 days a week.

Post: #4

I did a Spanish immersion course in San Jose, Costa Rica. Pretty safe and cool place to learn. The only problem you have to avoid is meeting other gringos and hanging out with them speaking English all day/night.

Post: #5

When I was 19 I did three months of 4 hours a day at a language school in Spain. Didn't learn much at all. Part of the reason is that I was lazy with studying outside of class.

Another large problem is that group classes are terrible for me personally for learning languages. The class moves at the speed of the slowest student, and there is always at least one retard there. Also, if you have even just 6-8 people in your class, that is 1/6-8th of the time YOU actually spend speaking and being taught directly by the teacher. I went two months saying ANOS, as opposed to ANYOS, when asking someone how old they were. Essentially I was asking them how any assholes they had. It took two months before a teacher actually caught on and corrected me. Had this been in a 1on1 session I am sure they would have caught it right away.

The school I attended also didn't employ LEGITIMATE Spanish teachers. I think it is like this in most language schools. They are just Spanish people with a college degree teaching you from texts that the school supplies them, which are not necessarily the best texts to learn from anyways. They are not real teachers. They don't understand how to actually teach and they don't understand real teaching methods.

I would say if you do go to learn Spanish, and I think that you should, do your due diligence in selecting a school. Make sure you get legitimate teachers and not just some Spanish speaking person with a History degree. Ask a lot of questions about their teaching methods and their curriculum. I think you will get a feel fairly quickly for if they are bullshitting you, or if they have a legitimate curriculum in place. If you can afford it, do 1on1 private lessons instead. For me personally, I think I would get a lot more out of 2 hours per day of private instruction, than I would out of 4 hours per day in group classes.

Post: #6

The UNAM in Mexico DF has a pretty good language department called CELE where the exchange students can study Spanish.

Generally speaking, the best areas to learn the language are Central Mexico, Highlands of Colombia, Bolivia, Lima, Guatemala. Areas you should avoid are basically the coastlines of almost any Latin country, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and anything Caribbean.
This has to do with the nature of the first settlers who brought their dialects to the New World. Coastline = Andalusian lowlifes with little education and strong accents, Highlands (e.g. Mexico DF, Bogota, La Paz) = strong normative influence from Castilia, clean Spanish without a strong accent.

Post: #7

I think Mexican Spanish sounds like shit. They speak too fast. Maybe it's just the north though. I think Argentine Spanish sounds nice, but also don't think it's a great place to learn. In Medellin they have a distinct accent, but it still sounds nice and would be a fine Spanish to learn. The one thing that really stood out was the "ll" but it's easy to adjust, and even if you pick it up it sounds nice.

Post: #8

(04-25-2013 02:00 AM)kali Wrote:  I need to learn Spanish and want to do it as quick as possible.

What do you plan on using Spanish for?

Post: #9

(04-25-2013 01:45 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  I think Mexican Spanish sounds like shit. They speak too fast. Maybe it's just the north though. I think Argentine Spanish sounds nice, but also don't think it's a great place to learn. In Medellin they have a distinct accent, but it still sounds nice and would be a fine Spanish to learn. The one thing that really stood out was the "ll" but it's easy to adjust, and even if you pick it up it sounds nice.

The Spanish in every country differs from region to region, hence, there is no Mexican Spanish. Even in a place a small as the DR, the dialects differ greatly. En el norte hablan con la "i" en el sur con la "r" y en SD con la "l". E.g. mujer vs mujei vs mujel. I'm a bit of a Spanish Nazi...

Post: #10

(04-25-2013 02:18 PM)BoiBoi Wrote:  

(04-25-2013 01:45 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  I think Mexican Spanish sounds like shit. They speak too fast. Maybe it's just the north though. I think Argentine Spanish sounds nice, but also don't think it's a great place to learn. In Medellin they have a distinct accent, but it still sounds nice and would be a fine Spanish to learn. The one thing that really stood out was the "ll" but it's easy to adjust, and even if you pick it up it sounds nice.

The Spanish in every country differs from region to region, hence, there is no Mexican Spanish. Even in a place a small as the DR, the dialects differ greatly. En el norte hablan con la "i" en el sur con la "r" y en SD con la "l". E.g. mujer vs mujei vs mujel. I'm a bit of a Spanish Nazi...

Yeah, I think girls from DF and Guada are pretty easy to understand.

Post: #11

I dont know why they say colombias speak a "better" kind of spanish, i know a lot of colombians here in Buenos Aires, and thei accent is way weird. I admit that Argentinian spanish is not the better to learn, too many italian and european influences, but i think the city is the best place in SA to learn the lenguage.

Post: #12

Arguably the most understandable spanish accents are from Lima, Bogota and the DF. And the accents you should avoid at all costs are the Bolivian, Chilean and Ecuadorian accent because they are seen with a bad light on another countries or aren't understandable (even for spanish speakers from another country). Also argie spanish is not the most easy too learn, neither the most "authentic" but it sounds cool and you could use it as a prop.
Girls love argie spanish che!

Post: #13

(04-25-2013 02:00 AM)kali Wrote:  I need to learn Spanish and want to do it as quick as possible. I dont think I will do to well with the take home or internet courses, I will generally loose interest or forget. Has anyone had experience with these Spanish immersion courses? You go live in the country for a weeks/months and master the language. I have heard mixed reviews.

Depends first. What country are you living in now? If you are living in the United States, you could do community college classes to get the basics done through intermediate. Once you have all the verb conjugations down, then I would advise going to a Spanish speaking country for immersion and respective workshops.

You could also go learn the basics at an institution abroad..but if you want to hopefully do business in Spanish speaking countries afterwards...make sure you pick a language institution that is formal and has record keeping so that you can put that on your portfolio too.

Post: #14

(04-25-2013 10:46 PM)Titan Wrote:  Girls love argie spanish che!

It depends. I year a lot of native spanish speakers, girls and guys, say they can't stand it and it sounds like shit. I personally think it is the nicest sounding spanish if you didn't know spanish. For example the only spanish I heard growing up, or at least noticed hearing, was mexican spanish. I never saw spanish as a very nice language. Then I met some Argentines and thought that spanish sounded very pleasant. As far as lima goes... Meehhh. I guess it's pretty understandable. I still prefer Colombia by far. The Lima accent is a little ugly IMO. Maybe I just spent too much time in Medellin.

Post: #15

(04-25-2013 01:57 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  

(04-25-2013 02:00 AM)kali Wrote:  I need to learn Spanish and want to do it as quick as possible.

What do you plan on using Spanish for?

Basic communication with tenants.

Post: #16

I just finished my 2 month course here in Granada, Spain. Overall I would say it was a waste of money. My class was full of young American retards who spoke with an atrocious accent, it was seriously painful to listen to. Also I think 4 hours a day, 5 days a week plus homework is too much. My second month I completely lost motivation to study outside of class and skipped quite often. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if my classmates weren't so annoying, who knows. If I had my time again I would have got a private tutor maybe 2 hours a day, 4 days a week or something. Would have been a hell of a lot cheaper and probably would have learnt way more.

Having said that I do like the Andulucian accent. Its slower and a bit more melodic than the rest of Spain who speak at lightning speed.

Post: #17

Thanks for tips. I did find some local immersion courses here in SoCal, they have classes from 2-6 hours a day. I am not sure how well I would adjust if I go to school in another country for a few weeks. I am thinking I would get bored rather quickly?

Post: #18

Another thing I always thought the best teachers of Spanish were the ones who didnt have it as a native language, but learnt to speak it fluently. As with the gym, with game, with anything - those who learnt it the hard way can always teach better than those who were born with it. The best teacher I ever had was an English lady back in University ages ago who spoke perfect Spanish. She knew how to explain everything to an English speaker as well as lots of little tricks and tips to help you remember stuff.

Post: #19

(04-26-2013 01:23 PM)kali Wrote:  Thanks for tips. I did find some local immersion courses here in SoCal, they have classes from 2-6 hours a day. I am not sure how well I would adjust if I go to school in another country for a few weeks. I am thinking I would get bored rather quickly?

I would go with community college in SoCal if available. Time spent in the library conjugating verbs and learning sentence structure isn't exactly the sexiest method..but it's definitely a quicker method to learning how to express yourself...just think of that time spent studying alone as a break from the rest of the work grind as it will become much more fun that way.

I actually learned Spanish and Portuguese that way after November 2010. On my 4th semester of community college Spanish (Level 2000 2nd half) whereas I did a 17 hour 8 month intensive Portuguese class that covered almost 3 years worth of material in that time.

Once getting the basics down while utilizing the resources in front of you, you will have a better experience expanding upon that once going overseas. ¡Buena suerte!

Post: #20

The local course is probably best for you.

I say that because I don't sense you have an overwhelming motivation to learn the language.

Other guys want to travel to new countries, conquer exotic poon, discover a new culture, even change their whole person. If the emotional drive is deep enough, you will invest more effort and the learning process will be somewhat fun and engaging.

A guy with your profile who
a) presumably hasn't successfully learned a second language as an adult and
b) doesn't have a pervasive emotional desire to learn one

will probably abandon things at the beginning or the middle.

Learning a language is hard. It's easy to underestimate the amount of effort involved.

For the benefit of others reading this thread who are looking at travel destinations

Spain (university towns) would suit you if you're college aged and have the time and money to make side trips to see other parts of Europe.

Central America you could look at Antigua, Guatemala. Guanajuato, Mexico.

South America - if food is very important, choose Argentina. If budget trumps everything else, maybe Ecuador. For a good vibe, Colombia.

Post: #21

I'm glad you're recognizing the need to learn another language!

Antigua is a tourist trap beyond compare. Most people there won't even speak to you in Spanish, they've all had to learn English to work with foreigners. That was my experience, but ymmv.

I spent 5 weeks at Proyecto Linguistico in Xela. My Spanish went from 0 to hero while there. In addition to daily one on one Spanish lessons, they hook you up with a family stay, and they organize day trips - mine included being used as a moving target by the local soccer team, visiting the first church in Guatemala, and going to buy some local bootleg liquor out of town. Additionally they bring in community leaders to teach you more about the local culture. They also have their "mountain school" that I spent a week at, where you live in a community that's straight out of an infomercial - one room shacks and malnourished kids. Seeing how the other have lives has a lasting impact on your own self development. I would highly recommend this school.