future is maroon Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I was thinking of doing a night class to learn Spanish after the summer/once the next batch of night classes start. I fancied doing some research beforehand and so can anyone recommend any courses online that you can teach yourself Spanish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peebo Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Rosetta Stone is great, by all accounts. I have only tried it very briefly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah O Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Apply for an ILA (if you can). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_hmfc Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 As Peebo said, you could try the Rosetta Stone idea. I know it's not a night course or the like but it's a home thing you can do any time you want. I've been thinking of trying their level 1 for a start, but I'll admit the cost is a bit much, at around ?150. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004XBQ6TQ/ref=asc_df_B004XBQ6TQ8099341?smid=AUZ9T9RE4EL8X&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22242&creativeASIN=B004XBQ6TQ As Foxy Knoxy said, you can apply for an ILA where you can get ?200 off the course, depending on your income, and if you haven't claimed an ILA in the last year. http://www.ilascotland.org.uk/What+is+ILA+Scotland/ILA+Scotland+%C2%A3200+accounts.htm Or Stevenson College look as though they're offering night courses. http://www.stevenson.ac.uk/search/?courseSearch=1&courseSearchBoxText=spanish Out of interest are you wanting to do it because you want to live there, or just because you're interested in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bolton Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Sign up for this. It's free and pretty good. Easy to pick up and drop in and out of. http://www.spanishdict.com/learn There's also free stuff here which is not bad. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/ Don't pay for this stuff, you don't have to. These two sites together will give you a decent start, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flux Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 http://www.byki.com/fls/fls.html As recommended on Hot UK Deals. http://www.hotukdeals.com/freebies/free-language-software-1225006#comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Rosetta stone is fantastic, i've been learning japanese with it for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_hmfc Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Rosetta stone is fantastic, i've been learning japanese with it for a while. How far along or advanced are you? Also, how does it actually work? Is it basically just a massive dictionary and corrects mistakes, or is it done just like you would in a class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 How far along or advanced are you? Also, how does it actually work? Is it basically just a massive dictionary and corrects mistakes, or is it done just like you would in a class? Rosetta stone is almost like game, it teaches you in a different way to any other language course i've ever seen. In most language courses you would see and question or phrase in English next to the equivalent in the foreign language. Rosetta stone is different in that there is no english used at all, they just use pictures. It's not that easy to explain if you haven't seen or used it yourself. Learning japanese seems to be one of the harder languages to learn mainly due to the fact that you are learning to read and write as well as speak the language, Japan has three styles of writing, so you are almost learning three languages in one. I'm not sure how advanced i am as i've never been to Japan yet to try it out, but i do a lot of Karate so it comes in handy for that i suppose. If you are planning on learning a language i would definitely recommend Rosetta stone, it is expensive but deals can always be found and you'll be amazed at how quickly you learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougal Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Rosetta stone is almost like game, it teaches you in a different way to any other language course i've ever seen. In most language courses you would see and question or phrase in English next to the equivalent in the foreign language. Rosetta stone is different in that there is no english used at all, they just use pictures. It's not that easy to explain if you haven't seen or used it yourself. Learning japanese seems to be one of the harder languages to learn mainly due to the fact that you are learning to read and write as well as speak the language, Japan has three styles of writing, so you are almost learning three languages in one. I'm not sure how advanced i am as i've never been to Japan yet to try it out, but i do a lot of Karate so it comes in handy for that i suppose. If you are planning on learning a language i would definitely recommend Rosetta stone, it is expensive but deals can always be found and you'll be amazed at how quickly you learn. How do you know if you are pronouncing words correctly? As I would imagine that as with any language pronounication would be extremely important!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 How do you know if you are pronouncing words correctly? As I would imagine that as with any language pronounication would be extremely important!! The software comes with speech recognition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougal Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 The software comes with speech recognition Good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_hmfc Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 The software comes with speech recognition How much did it cost you and what levels did you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 How much did it cost you and what levels did you get? I got levels 1 to 5 but i can't really remember what i paid for them though, maybe ?400. It's not cheap but it is worth it as it does work. I'm thinking of learning another language next year, i'm not sure what one yet but i'll be using Rosetta stone again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Just checked it's levels 1 to 3 that i have. They are on offer just now for ?259, although i'm not certain i'm pretty sure i paid a fair bit more for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_hmfc Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Just checked it's levels 1 to 3 that i have. They are on offer just now for ?259, although i'm not certain i'm pretty sure i paid a fair bit more for it. They have Spanish level 1 on Amazon for ?140. Sold out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodog Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 They have Spanish level 1 on Amazon for ?140. Sold out. The official site has a discount on just now. You can try an online freebie here http://www.rosettastone.co.uk/personal/how-it-works/test-drive makes sense to try before you shell out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiewave Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Try this: http://www.studyspanish.com/ Also: www.rae.es www.wordreference.com www.proz.com And look up the Instituto Cervantes website. I'm a Spanish-English translator, been living in Spain for five years so fire me any questions you have. Good luck! Read the newspaper in Spanish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bolton Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 If you actually want to become good at a language, you are better off in a class/language swap. You can learn all the vocab and grammar forms a language has to offer, but without regular natural use and exposure to authentic language you will never actually be able to communicate to any level. I am an English teacher abroad, and we see this all the time with our students. Studying a language isn't learning a language. You have to use it in a real and meaningful way on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heres Rixxy Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Michel Thomas is good for speaking. You can download it too ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_bolton Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Spot on. Rosetta Stone and Michel Thomas are good for people who want to sit at home and go through levels of stuff. I'm tired of hearing students say, 'Well I got to level xx of such and such a book / CD / online course', and then they are gobsmacked to find they can't hold a conversation. For anyone who actually wants to go out and actually use the language, nothing beats a class or, even better, living in the country. PS No offence to Robbodog or Rixxy, just my (prejudiced - I'm also a language teacher) opinion. We can't have CDs and books putting us out of a job! It is true, though. You can't learn a language in your house. Nobody can. Unless a class happens in your house... These CDs etc may be a decent starting point, but they'll never teach you to communicate. You need interaction for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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