Learning Spanish as an adult

[Joe Grendel]

Short of taking a Mexican mistress, what's the best way (i.e. fastest, not-throat-cuttingly expensive) way to learn Spanish as an adult?

[Michael P]

Get arrested, convicted, and sent to prison in Mexico.

[Joe Grendel]

Get arrested, convicted, and sent to prison in Mexico.
Not exactly the vocabulary I'm looking to learn.

[Slam_Bradley]

Short of taking a Mexican mistress, what's the best way (i.e. fastest, not-throat-cuttingly expensive) way to learn Spanish as an adult?


Interestingly, I found that having a Mexican girlfriend is definitely the best way.

[Michael P]

Not exactly the vocabulary I'm looking to learn.
Hey, if you can't say "Come at me in the showers and I'll fucking cut you," what's the point of learning a second language?

[Joe Grendel]

Interestingly, I found that having a Mexican girlfriend is definitely the best way.
Yeah, but divorce is a hell of a lot more expensive than any lessons.

[Cotton]

Working at a Chinese Restaurant?

[Shellhead]

Full immersion. Listen to language tapes in your car, listen to them while you go for a walk or jog, on your Walkman. Start watching only spanish-language tv shows at home, if you have cable, and try to listen to spanish-language radio stations in your area. Buy spanish language newspapers at the newstand, and read those in your spare time.

The easy part is spelling, nearly everything is spelled the same way it is pronounced, and the rules are much more consistent than english. The hard is the verbs, there are lots and lots of tenses to learn.

[ragnarok_2012]

When you find out, tell me. I have a pretty decent vocabulary, but my listening comprehension is weak. I'm not fluent yet, but here's some stuff that may be of use.

The 501 Spanish Verbs books are a great reference for looking up verb conjugations. You'll probably want to know present tense, future tense, and a couple past tenses at the very least. When it comes to future tense, you can get by with saying "Voy a" (I am going to) before the verb. A Spanish-English dictionary is a no-brainer. My personal test of a Spanish-English dictionary is to see whether or not they have swear words. I've made spanish flash cards (english on one side/spanish on the other) with 5 or more spanish words or phrases. I currently have 100 flash cards. I'll often review 1 or a few cards when I have the opportunity. If you have a series of words on a single card, I'd recommend having them be related somehow. For instance: putting food words on a single card. Set a goal for how many cards you want to make, and think about the things you would like to be able to talk about in Spanish. I don't know how many words you need for fluency, but if you have 500 of the more common spanish words down pat you'll be doing pretty well for a beginner I would think.

There are lots of great tape or cd sets on the market. And there are lots of great classes. The virtues of one vs. the other are pretty self-evident. So if you're a self-starter, try the cd set. If you prefer having a good coach look for a class or tutor.

[MacQuarrie]

Short of taking a Mexican mistress, what's the best way (i.e. fastest, not-throat-cuttingly expensive) way to learn Spanish as an adult?
Move to a spanish-speaking country.

[Core]

It definitely helps to have someone to learn along with you, someone with whom you don't mind making an ass of yourself with when practicing your new language.

It's also good to have a native speaker to practice with and use as a reality check for your knowledge. Many of the Spanish language guides out there teach you a stilted form of the language that's really only good for talking to a judge. Having a native speaker to help you learn some of the idiosyncracies is great.

[Sanagi]

To help out Joe, let's all post in Spanish from now on.

Vamanos, amigos! Donde estas mi sombrero?

[ragnarok_2012]

To help out Joe, let's all post in Spanish from now on.

Vamanos, amigos! Donde estas mi sombrero?

Esta en la oficina, mi amigo.

[ragnarok_2012]

Hey, if you can't say "Come at me in the showers and I'll fucking cut you," what's the point of learning a second language?

Hmmm, offhand I think that would be:

"Vengame en la ducha y voy a cortarte"

[Nikita]

To help out Joe, let's all post in Spanish from now on.

Vamanos, amigos! Donde estas mi sombrero?


Que?

................

[Sanagi]

Que?

................
I said, roughly translated, "I think Nikita's avatar is making a pass at me. Does my hair look okay?"

[ragnarok_2012]

I said, roughly translated, "I think Nikita's avatar is making a pass at me. Does my hair look okay?"

Tu pelo esta bien.

[Fabian]

Do a combination of both of the popular suggestions. Learn the basic verbs and rules, and then immerse yourself in the language and begin calling Guapo ir me your best friend

But don't watch Spanish television unless you want to sound like a soap opera star

[Joe Grendel]

But don't watch Spanish television unless you want to sound like a soap opera star
Will it help me meet Salma Hayek?

[Fabian]

Will it help me meet Salma Hayek?
No, she thinks soap opera stars are below her

But you can hang out with me amigo

[Guapo Méndez]

Hmmm, offhand I think that would be:

"Vengame en la ducha y voy a cortarte"


"Avenge me in the shower and I'm going to cut you?"

:D

I agree with what they have said, Joe. Read books in spanish...comic books are good material. Watch Telemundo, so you can have a reasonable spanish accent. Soap Operas are recommented, but balk at calling everyone by their two given names.
Try talking to yourself in spanish. Think in spanish. Visit the mexican equivalent of CBR (kidding).

Oh, and Salma Hayek is spoken for. ¿Recuerdas, amigo? ;)

[Sir Tim Drake]

No vale la pena aprender el espanol. :D

[Punchy]

I would love to learn Spanish too. The immersion part would not be difficult for me considering the neighborhood I live in. All of the billboards are in Spanish, all of the drive-through workers speak Spanish, etc.

[Winslow]

My family is going to learn Spanish. We're planning on ordering software from RosettaStone

http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/catalog?affiliate=google16&language=esp

The State Department uses this program for their ambassadors. I've read it's the best and fastest way to learn (outside of hearing it and speaking it everyday of course)

[Guapo Méndez]

No vale la pena aprender el espanol. :D

Drop the "el" and the phrase is perfect (missing ñ notwithstanding.)

[Slam_Bradley]

No, she thinks soap opera stars are below her



I'll happily sound like a soap opera star if I get to be below her.

[Typo Lad]

I'll happily sound like a soap opera star if I get to be below her.

You stole my joke you... you... puta!

[Slam_Bradley]

Sex with latina women is also a good way to learn the lingo.

[Typo Lad]

Sex with latina women is also a good way to learn the lingo.

Yeah, well sex with Southern Belle's is a good way to learn... well, okay, not much in the way of language skills, but other stuff that's JUST as important.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Drop the "el" and the phrase is perfect (missing ñ notwithstanding.)

Lo siento, no sé cómo escribir un ñ en Firefox.

[Beatnikman]

I learned how to say "Permane ser sentados, por favor" by standing in line for the Matterhorn at Disneyland for like, an hour. So you might try that.

"Permane ser sentados, por favor." "Remain seated, please."



My friend Tony didn't learn it even though he stood there, too. He thought they were saying "Cinnamon toast and tacos, por favor."

[Fabian]

You stole my joke you... you... puta!
Estan de pelos estas chavas

[Typo Lad]

Estan de pelos estas chavas


Man, BableFish sucks. It translated that as "Estan of hairs these chavas"

WTF?

[Fabian]

Man, BableFish sucks. It translated that as "Estan of hairs these chavas"

WTF?
That's the second time I broke it. My spanish is too strong

[Guapo Méndez]

Man, BableFish sucks. It translated that as "Estan of hairs these chavas"

WTF?

"De pelos" is an expression. The english equivalent would be "hot" "cool" "amazing" "incredible".

"chavas" means "girls".

[Fabian]

"De pelos" is an expression. The english equivalent would be "hot" "cool" "amazing" "incredible".

"chavas" means "girls".
You're out of the club. And la Academia, with Jolette hopefully

[ragnarok_2012]

Those Rosetta Stone sets are quite expensive. I wonder if they're worth the price.

[ragnarok_2012]

About the flashcards, here are some places to start. Hopefully they'll give you ideas for words to look up:

Numbers
Dates/Time
Weather
Emotions
Food/Restaurants
Clothing
Bodyparts
Colors
Greetings/Pleasantries
Business
Legal
Shopping/Stores
Computers/Writing
Directions/Addresses
Health
Home/Furniture/Bathrooms
Airport
Magazines/Comics/Books
Emergencies(Fire, Help, etc.)


True story: I took a semester of German in college. It was neat, and I learned a lot. But towards the end of the semester I realized that we never covered the word for bathroom. You'd think that that would be something that would be covered in a beginning german class.