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Learn Spanish

  Tags: Spanish
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
Heisenberg
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 3834 days ago

1 posts - 1 votes

 
 Message 1 of 8
20 August 2014 at 1:03am | IP Logged 
Hi, I've really wanted to learn Spanish(Castilian) for a long time but just didn't have the time to do it. Now I
have plenty
of time on my hands for foreseeable future I have purchased two different Spanish programmes.

Paul Noble ..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-Spanish-Paul-Noble/dp/00073639 74/ref=sr_1_4?
ie=UTF8&qid=1408488329&sr=8-4&keywords=michael+thomas+spanis h

And

Michel Thomas

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-Spanish-Michel-Thomas-Method/d p/1444133055/ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1408488261&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+spanis h


They haven't yet arrived so I was just wondering what one you guys think I should use first, if anyone has
used any of these program's before? And if either or both of them are any good?




I'm pretty sure I posted this in the right section, if not I apologise.
      

Edited by Heisenberg on 20 August 2014 at 1:10am

1 person has voted this message useful



Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5566 days ago

938 posts - 1840 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 2 of 8
20 August 2014 at 11:29am | IP Logged 
I would do the Paul Noble course first - it is derived from the Michel Thomas course,
but is more streamlined and has taken out some of the aspects that some users complain
about in the MT course. So it has more tourist orientated language, a native speaker
for pronunciation, no students who make basic mistakes. On the other hand the Thomas
course is more challenging and the sense of confidence one gets from beating the dumb
student is part of the learning experience.

But the two together are just a beginning - a necessary and very good beginning, but a
beginning nevertheless.


1 person has voted this message useful



James29
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5376 days ago

1265 posts - 2113 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 3 of 8
20 August 2014 at 3:07pm | IP Logged 
Paul Noble would be a good option as a substitute for Pimsleur and/or Michel Thomas, but I have not done it. I recommend doing the following:

Pimsleur 1 & 2 (Castillian Spanish version)
Michel Thomas Foundations two times
Assimil Spanish with Ease (or the new Spanish course if you can get it)
Michel Thomas Advanced two times
Additional active wave of the Assimil course
FSI

Then you will feel comfortable jumping into native materials and having conversations. You will still need to work on vocabulary and listening, but that comes with time.
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Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5010 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 4 of 8
20 August 2014 at 10:07pm | IP Logged 
Welcome to the forums, Heisenberg. You have chosen some well known resources to give you a nice start but they won't get you far enough to start using material for natives or to be proficient speaker of the language. Fortunately, there are many things to help you and James29 gave just an example of a useful path but there are many more. Look around the forums for more ideas, you might be especially interested in the logs section. Stelle is one of the people whose log you might want to have a look at.

I am sure you will find some ideas that could be well implemented into your learning style. And I am sure you will have interesting experience to share as well, so you might want to start a log and let us know of your progress :-)
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Speakeasy
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4053 days ago

507 posts - 1098 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 5 of 8
20 August 2014 at 10:18pm | IP Logged 
I get the impression that European publishers, unless otherwise stated, tend to focus on Spanish as spoken in Spain. This stands to reason as Spain is a more likely destination for Europeans than Central or South America. In addition to the suggestions above, I would add the following:


ROUTLEDGE COLLOQUIAL Spanish (Volumes 1 and 2)
Note very carefully that Amazon often sells the BOOK and the 2CDs SEPARATELY and this is not always obvious when consulting their website. So, either be sure to order them both, or buy the combined package directly from Routledge. The first volume teaches what I would call "tourist speak" Spanish. That is, it is designed to help the average traveller to express his basic needs such as: requesting a room in a hotel, ordering in restaurants and cafés, obtaining directions, dealing with taxi-drivers, and coping with small emergencies. While the most essential grammatical issues are addressed, the focus is on getting the student to speak coherent phrases. The second volume expands the vocabulary and situational dialogues of the first. These types of courses are for “beginners” and, even when combined, would take the student to about the A2 level, which is somewhat lower than, say, the Assimil course.

LINGUAPHONE Spanish
The latest edition of Linguaphone Spanish is perhaps the only course from this publisher that underwent a complete revision, not only of the material, but also in the approach. Frankly, I am “old school” and I do not need the additional stimulus of colour photographs and glossy paper to learn a language, anymore than I need someone cheerily ... CHEERILY ... chatting in my ear, in English. Nonetheless, apart from Assimil, Linguaphone is one of the few publishers that offers (more) advanced material for independent learners. Do NOT bother with their AllTalk courses.

FSI-LANGUAGE-COURSES.ORG
Yes, the majority of the FSI Courses introduce the language as spoken primarily throughout the Americas. However, apart from a few, minor, issues of usage and pronunciation, the differences between the "two Spanish’s" are about as noticeable (for native speakers) as the differences between the “two English’s”. So, for “gaining a foothold” on the language, I would NOT discount these courses ... and they’re FREE! Others might disagree, but I doubt that you will find a more extensive set of exercises than offered in the FSI Basic Spanish course. If you go this route, try FSI Spanish Programmatic. If you don’t like the approach (go up to Unit 10 before making a judgment), then try something else. Remember, you can always refine your accent using the Assimil, Pimsleur, Linguaphone, Michel Thomas, Routledge material.

Edited by Speakeasy on 21 August 2014 at 2:01am

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James29
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5376 days ago

1265 posts - 2113 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 6 of 8
21 August 2014 at 3:49pm | IP Logged 
Agreed with speakeasy about FSI. Worrying about accent at the early stages of Spanish really does not make too much sense. focus on learning the language. FSI is an incredible resource.
1 person has voted this message useful



rdearman
Senior Member
United Kingdom
rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5237 days ago

881 posts - 1812 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin

 
 Message 7 of 8
21 August 2014 at 4:56pm | IP Logged 
You can get a lot of resources for learning Spanish in the links below.

Spanish links: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=21056&PN=3
Parallel Texts:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=12650&PN=1
Film Trailers with Transcripts: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=38661&PN=1
Kindle Dictionaries: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=26050&PN=4
Free & Legal Books (some should be in Spanish?): http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=38575&PN=1
Great post by iguanamon in this thread with lots of Spanish stuff: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=29649&PN=1
Spanish Language Forum, dedicated to Espanol: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_topics.asp? FID=24

Spanish Word Frequency Lists to put into your Free Flashcard Program / App

Couple of hundred pre-made flashcard decks in Spanish

That should keep you going until your books arrive.

:)
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Enrico
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 3746 days ago

162 posts - 207 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: Italian, Spanish, French

 
 Message 8 of 8
03 September 2014 at 1:35am | IP Logged 
I would start to listen Spanish with Paul Noble while walking and listen 1 lesson of Assimil Spanish a day.

After Paul Noble you can also listen to Michel Thomas Foundation and Advanced if you want.

There is also a good podcast for learners Praxis Language SpanishPod.

Edited by Enrico on 03 September 2014 at 1:37am



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