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Advice on Spanish Resources | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| hf Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 4897 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Bengali, Urdu, English, Hindi Studies: Spanish, Arabic (classical) | Message 1 of 10 14 July 2011 at 11:44pm | IP Logged |
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Last summer, I obtained a used and somewhat unappealing copy of "Magic Key to Spanish" by Margarita Madrigal for free (the book was torn in many places and had writing all over). Despite the poor condition of the book and its somewhat dated feel, I liked the way the book was organized and ended up finishing the first 10 chapters. Then, as I got busy for work, I never found the time or motivation to pursue Spanish.
Two months ago, I suddenly bumped into a book called “Spanish in 10 minutes a day” by Kristine Kershul. The book has some useful travel phrases and has fun puzzles, stickers, etc. So, I started to play around with the book for a few minutes each. One day, I googled for more information on foreign languages and came across this forum. After reading about your experiences, comments, and strategies for learning foreign languages, I became motivated and rediscovered my passion for Spanish. I quickly finished the 10 minutes Spanish book and still wanted more. So, after doing some research here, I decided to order Michel Thomas CDs and a fresh copy of Margarita Madrigal’s Magic Key. In the last few months, I have finished the Michel Thomas Foundation and Advanced CDs and also completed about 2/3 of Madrigal’s book. I am really enjoying the journey of teaching myself a language. I am learning the language for fun rather than for my job. So, I am in no hurry at all. My workdays are usually very busy, so I find that spending a little bit of time every day on learning and reviewing the language helps relieve some stress as well. As for my future plans, I have ordered Assimil Spanish with Ease and Joseph Keenan’s Breaking out of Beginner’s Spanish (this forum has been instrumental in that decision). I also signed up for a local Spanish meetup group. I am very much looking forward to what lies ahead. If I can finish these books and maybe another advanced Spanish course (any suggestions for a busy professional? I can spare 30-40 minutes/day) I plan to reward myself with a trip to Mexico! I learnt English in school (it’s not my native language), so Spanish will be the first language that I will have taught myself. When I hopefully reach that goal, I will have this forum to thank. And if you have any advice on what I can do to enhance my language skills moving forward, I would greatly appreciate them. - H Edited by Fasulye on 15 July 2011 at 6:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5261 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 10 15 July 2011 at 12:09am | IP Logged |
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Congratulations on making such good progress! It is good to see that the forum has helped you and inspired you. You might ad a good grammar book to go with your materials. All the materials and courses in the world won't get you to where you want to be if you don't practice speaking, so good on you for realizing that and starting to speak! You'll be adding Spanish to your list of languages spoken soon!
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5374 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 3 of 10 15 July 2011 at 2:34am | IP Logged |
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Congratulations. I can relate to your experience as it is quite similar to mine. This forum has been very helpful and I am thankful that I found it. I still remember that I found it when I googled "after pimsleur." I doubt I ever would have found Assimil without this forum.
Good luck with your future studies. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| hf Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 4897 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Bengali, Urdu, English, Hindi Studies: Spanish, Arabic (classical) | Message 4 of 10 15 July 2011 at 6:09am | IP Logged |
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Thanks iquanamon and James29 for your words of support.
Considering I'm almost done with Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish (which I think is a fantastic introduction to the language), what other grammar books would you recommend? I am also considering the possibility of trying Platiquemos at some point. I can spend 30/40 minutes on Spanish each day (mostly during my commute and workout), so I am wondering if Platiquemos will be more suitable for me or if I should stick with Assimil for now. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5782 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 5 of 10 15 July 2011 at 1:18pm | IP Logged |
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Hf, if I were able (¡ojalá!)to go back in time and start learning Spanish all over
again, but this time avoiding the mistakes I made I would pretty much do it exactly the way you are doing it! I can't think of a better way than Michel Thomas and Margarita Madrigal, followed by Assimil and practice with people who already speak the language, followed by platiquemos and a trips to Spanish speaking countries, I really can't! I think you've done a really good job of researching how you want to go about it. I would only add 3 things: 1) Platiquemos is very expensive, don't get me wrong, it's worth it, but the first 3 (of 4) levels of FSI Basic Spanish (essentially the same course) are available for free on the web, and by the time you finish both levels of Assimil I reckon the 4th will be too.. 2) If there is a TV series you love in English watch it online (mine was the Simpsons). Most series are available in a Mexican version, and a Spanish version. 3) Obviously you know the importance of reading. What kind of things do you plan to read in Spanish? I'm sure the guys here could make lots of good suggestions! Good luck! Edited by Random review on 15 July 2011 at 1:18pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| hf Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 4897 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Bengali, Urdu, English, Hindi Studies: Spanish, Arabic (classical) | Message 6 of 10 16 July 2011 at 3:30am | IP Logged |
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Random review, those are some great suggestions! I like to read about Spanish soccer as I am huge fan. So, I will look for good Spanish soccer magazines! I take it that you've used Assimil. How much effect did Assimil have on your conversational skills?
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5374 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 7 of 10 16 July 2011 at 3:48am | IP Logged |
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Randomreview's suggestions are great.
For me, Assimil had a great impact on my conversational skills. It does take time, however; and, the active phase is extremely important. I am not a great language learner so I needed a second active wave of Assimil before my conversational skills took off. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5782 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 8 of 10 16 July 2011 at 5:58am | IP Logged |
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@hf, I did not use Assimil's "Spanish with ease" (or whatever the latest version is
called), because I didn't find out about it until too late, but I have used (and still go over when I can- I'm certainly not beyond it yet!) the second level course "Using Spanish", which is utterly brilliant. the only criticism I can think of is that it is the Spanish of Spain, and no attempt is made to explain what expressions are not used in Latin America. Unfortunately I can't tell you what effect it had on my conversational skills because I never get to talk in Spanish (my last conversation was about 2 minutes long with a Venezuelan just over a year ago :-( ), but it certainly has helped my comprehension (written and oral) a ton. I have yet to find a European Spanish TV series that REALLY blew me away (though I quite liked a few such as the early series of "Aída"), but I really like two old Mexican series "El Chavo del ocho" and "El Chapulín Colorado" (both by the Chespiríto gang). I found them a bit difficult to understand at first, but I watched the new cartoon version of "El Chavo" online (it's really easy to understand and beautifully animated but AWFUL, how could they make the complex two-sided character of Don Ramón into such a 1-dimensional pathetic loser?!!!! Florinda Meza's revenge?) and then was able to understand the brilliant originals without much difficulty. There is also a bizarre Argentinian series called "the simulators" which is great fun, the reason I recommend it is that it was remade in both Mexico and Spain (and also Chile, I believe), I haven't seen the Chilean one, but the other three versions can all be found to watch online. If you like football (soccer) then that is easy, obviously I don't need to tell you to watch games with commentary in Spanish, the only magazine I remember reading when I was in Spain was called "Futbolista" or something similar, but I'm sure you'll find loads. If you don't mind me blethering can I suggest comics? In the UK you can buy such things by visiting London, so I assume you can also do so in the major U.S. cities. If I could start again I would personally start with the Spanish translation of comics such as Asterix (easy to understand and uses standard Spanish, though I can't help wonderng what's supposed to be funny about them!) before moving on to actual Sanish or Latin American comics. 3 good ones IMO are "Mafalda" (fantastic and easy to understand once you get used to the vos conjugations), "Mortadelo y Filemón" (deceptively hard but very good) and "Makinavaja: el ultimo choriso" (breathtakingly difficult to understand at first, it helps to read them out loud, but, if the first two are typical of the rest of the series, utterly brilliant!). Hope this is of some help. Edited by Random review on 16 July 2011 at 6:05am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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