Trying to figure out the best Latin American Spanish lessons? What works when learning to speak Spanish? Is it Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone – can I learn Latin American Spanish for free? There are a few free programs out there that will teach you a little, but I am here to try and inform you of the best, most effective methods to actually learn Latin American Spanish. Here I cover a few of them, but before i do that, I want to be totally honest with you – you need to know this:
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You can of course ignore what I say, but anyway, here are my thoughts on the top systems:-
This was the course that changed everything for me! I had tried others but this program was simply the best and easiest program that had me speaking Latin American Spanish quickly. It may sound silly to you but I actually looked forward to my study (listening) time. I even kept making excuses to get out of the house and go for walks so that I could listen to another lesson!
As there are no written or visual products required, and my ability to get peace and quiet in front of a computer was severely limited, the convenience of use is second to none. People may doubt “scientifically proven methods” but this system worked for me and millions of others.
Each Pimsleur lesson consists of a small conversation that is gradually built up. There is a lot of repetition at first but this gives your brain a chance to memorize each new item before moving on. The new words you learn in each segment will be used in subsequent lessons, but at a gradually decreasing frequency. Once this foundation is built, adding new words and phrases becomes easy and natural because there’s a clear framework to attach them to. The lessons are in 30 minute segments and while some days you may feel that one lesson a day is enough, there will be days when three or four can be done, especially at the beginning.
The confidence I got from the very rapid progress I made was the most important thing of all and that kept me motivated all the way through.
When I began, I just started listening and never looked back – no instructions, no books required, just get going. Yes, at some stage you may want to do some reading and writing as I discussed , but the whole idea is to get a solid, fast start and that is what Pimsleur does.
You can buy the course in small sections, as I did at the beginning, but I ended up getting the whole course because I had such great results immediately and I really didn’t want to stop.
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It is not the cheapest but it is the best and ultimately, the best value for me!
Fluenz is a program that uses both audio and visual methods of teaching. This is an increasingly popular program that in my opinion is a viable and cheaper alternative to Rosetta Stone. I found much of this course had a lot of similarities to Pimsleur as far as the use of repetition and constructing small conversations is concerned, and that is a good thing. Unlike Pimsleur, there is a lot of written (or typed) work required, which does help reinforce much of what you have learned in the video lessons, and the presentation of the materials is excellent.
The video lessons are clearly explained in English and Spanish which makes it much more user-friendly than Rosetta Stone and you start by learning phrases that you will actually use.
The audio component can be used when you are driving in your car and serves as further reinforcement of the video lessons. Other features are the listening comprehension, the voice recorder which allows you to compare your pronunciation with native speakers, and online flash cards.
If you can get sufficient “quiet time” alone in front of a computer, I would probably recommend this product as the best option for someone starting from scratch.
This world renowned course is, partly due to being well advertised and promoted, one of the most well-known and popular language learning systems. It comes in various formats, CD, download to your PC or tablet and online through their App. To get the most out of Rosetta Stone, you will need use of a computer due to the large amount of visual content and extensive use of a microphone; you can use a tablet, but a PC, Mac or laptop is generally preferred. This is very much an “immersion course”, meaning that there is little or no English. It may seem like a good idea to immerse yourself in a language but you will learn that without referring to English when needed, it can make it much more difficult. Imagine yourself in a classroom and your Spanish teacher cannot speak any English, and you need something explained and clarified in your own language in order to continue – you will not get the help you need and therefore will possibly not get the full benefit of your lesson. The greaterissue here is that you may carry on studying with a total misunderstanding of a certain section, which will result in this snowballing into a big problem later in the course. As with Pimsleur, this course is not particularly cheap but is one of the better systems available.
A major advantage with this system is the price that is very reasonable.
This is another system that uses workbooks but if preferred, by utilizing the audio CDs, it can primarily be used as something to listen to in the car. Living Language also offers use of an online tutor for small group lesson learning. In contrast to Rosetta Stone, thankfully there are English instructions but I found the volume of material for certain sections to be too large. That is not a problem if you already have a good knowledge of Spanish but to start out with this system, I feel would require a lot of backtracking and repeating of lessons. The use of the workbooks may help, but to me that is an inconvenience when comparing it to Pimsleur. I also feel that at the end of this course, your understanding of Spanish would be far greater if you had taken the Pimsleur course instead.
In Summary:- The systems I have reviewed here are all very good programs that will help you learn the language. Pimsleur stands out as the easiest system for learning and the most effective. In my opinion, Fluenz is better than Rosetta Stone and Living Language, not only as a Spanish course but also a better value for your money.