Post: #1

i apologize if this is a duplicate, but i couldn't find another thread.

what is the best language software you guys have used?:
pimsleur
rosetta stone
live mocha
others?

i'm in a little bit of a unique spot in that i had spanish for 5+ years but i haven't used it in almost 15-20. (i'm 34, and was a good student in high school; briefly in college).

a lot of the beginning stuff is way to easy and some of the advanced stuff is too hard. i guess i'll just have to repeat a lot of stuff but does anybody have some advice on which may fit my needs best?

has anybody tried 2 or all 3 of these? for anybody out there, what do you think?

Post: #2

I did a check for the book I used but I can’t find it now. It was a plastic box, with 12 CDs, and a fat 300 page book. I bought it at Barnes and Noble. I can’t for the life of me remember the brand name. But it was a good investment. It had a focus on conversation, basically I would repeat dialogues on the CD, and then fill in the blanks afterwards verbally. It was good for getting into a conversational rhythm, even if it was with a disc. I was in the same boat as you, took Spanish in high school, but had no idea how to have a conversation when I arrived. But things like reading a menu, buying things in a store, and asking directions were not so hard. It really is just a grind to learn a language, if you have the patience and put in the time almost any method will work.

Post: #3

i started with pimseleur, then went to rosetta stone, then got hooked on coffee break espanol pod casts (they are free and similar to pimseleur).

THe best far and away is livemocha.com

Post: #4

I am a fan of books and CDs then communicating versus software. Maybe I am just old fashioned. One thing I despise in a book or software though is phrase books. If you want to learn a language you need the nuts and bolts (grammar, conjugation, decent vocabulary). Why should I ask "where is the bathroom" if I can't understand the response?

Post: #5

I finished all 3 levels of Rosetta Stone for Portuguese and I thought it was very effective. They repeat the material enough times that it tends to stick in memory pretty easily, and going through the lessons is a lot more painless than reading out of a textbook. Although I'm already fluent in Spanish so I'm not sure how effective it would be at teaching you grammar as a beginner due to the format. For what it's worth I have 3 Brazilian friends who all tell me I speak well, and I can understand them decently without having to make them slow down or speak extra-clearly.

Post: #6

Pimsleur.

Post: #7

(03-18-2011 02:33 PM)gringochileno Wrote:  I finished all 3 levels of Rosetta Stone for Portuguese and I thought it was very effective. They repeat the material enough times that it tends to stick in memory pretty easily, and going through the lessons is a lot more painless than reading out of a textbook. Although I'm already fluent in Spanish so I'm not sure how effective it would be at teaching you grammar as a beginner due to the format. For what it's worth I have 3 Brazilian friends who all tell me I speak well, and I can understand them decently without having to make them slow down or speak extra-clearly.

How much time did you spend daily? Or in how much time did you finish all the three levels?
Thanks.

Post: #8

I started out learning Spanish by listening to Pimsleur and made a lot of progress. Then I got the Rosetta Stone software but I found it to be boring and annoying, so I gave it away.

Then I got Rocket Spanish http://www.rocketlanguages.com and I made huge gains in a short period of time. I think I spent like $60 bucks but found I got more from Rocket than the $200 each I spent on the others.

Post: #9

(04-04-2011 02:20 PM)bars Wrote:  

(03-18-2011 02:33 PM)gringochileno Wrote:  I finished all 3 levels of Rosetta Stone for Portuguese and I thought it was very effective. They repeat the material enough times that it tends to stick in memory pretty easily, and going through the lessons is a lot more painless than reading out of a textbook. Although I'm already fluent in Spanish so I'm not sure how effective it would be at teaching you grammar as a beginner due to the format. For what it's worth I have 3 Brazilian friends who all tell me I speak well, and I can understand them decently without having to make them slow down or speak extra-clearly.

How much time did you spend daily? Or in how much time did you finish all the three levels?
Thanks.

The whole course probably takes close to 100 hours to complete. It took me over 6 months to finish the whole thing because I get really busy periodically and have to take breaks but it would probably be optimal if you could do 1-2 hours a day.

Post: #10

Livemocha.com is really good .. people who are native to the language you are learning constantly comment on your progress to see if your fairing well or need more improvement. Pimsleur is good as well for mimicking pronunciation, but it will only take your conversational skills so far.

Granted learning through software is good nothing could ever substitute for speaking with a native speaker and learning a language by breaking your comfort zone and not resorting to english.