How to Learn Spanish Faster

So you've decided to learn Spanish. Great choice, you'll be joining millions of speakers around the world. The problem is one weekly lesson at the local community centre isn't going to get your lingo in shape before that holiday to South America or that in time to land that big promotion that requires a second language. You know how to say 'Hola!' to your friends, but you just don't feel confident having a full conversation with your amigos yet. There are ways you can learn Spanish faster.

Here are some tips to get your Spanish skills increasing as quick as Speedy Gonzales;

Take an Online Course: Even if you are already attending a class. Enrolling in an additional online course can help speed of your learning. The great thing about online courses is that you can move through the material at your own pace, and in some cases pick what you are learning. It should be easy to pick up different vocabulary in your class, and you will find that the extra practice help a lot.

Vocabulary Programs: These programs have become quite a useful tool for language learners. Many of these programs send you a few words each day in your target language, usually to your email account or mobile phone. Set aside five or ten minutes each say to learn these new words and build your vocabulary.

Language Immersion: This is the process of immersing yourself in a community where only the target language is spoken. Booking a holiday in a Spanish speaking country like Mexico or Peru for a week or two is a great way to set your skills on the increase.

Local Culture: Is there a community of Spanish speaking people nearby you? See what local festivals or other activities you can join in on. You will be surprised how much you can learn from these events. Find out if you have access to Spanish language TV or radio networks where you live, you may find that watching or listening to one or two of these a week will help you build your vocabulary and also assist in pronunciation.

Find a Language Buddy: Spanish is such a popular second language choice, you will be sure to find a friend who is learning as well. Meet up once a week for coffee and practice your language skills with each other.

Practice, Practice, Practice: Yes, it does actually make perfect! Try to make time everyday to review what you have learnt so far, or look ahead in your class materials. Even ten or fifteen minutes a day can make a huge difference to how quickly you learn. You may like to develop your own system of flashcards that you can use at home to test yourself or to learn new words.

Of course, there is no miracle answer of program that will have you speaking fluent Spanish in seven days. Keep practicing Spanish whenever you get the opportunity and you will find that your skills will follow. With a little time and effort you can learn much quicker than you thought.

Here's a great way to get started with the Spanish language for free - take the 12 daily Spanish lessons over at the Spanish Lessons For Free website. When you finish the lessons, they'll also give you some really important tips and methods for learning any language quickly. Well worth it, for free!

Oh, and make sure you complete the challenge at the end of lesson 1 - It makes all the difference!

Learn Spanish Lessons Online the Fun and Easy Way

Since the dawn of the Digital Age, the Internet has provided us with thousands of opportunities to shop, read, discover, and learn online. One of the best ways to learn Spanish is to learn Spanish lessons online. You can always find quick tips and advice with short lessons that will help you to become fluent in Spanish enough to hold casual conversations. Or, you can take a complete Spanish language course that includes, reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

There are many Spanish courses online that promise you will be speaking Spanish as if you were a native. However, you need to realize that if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is! There are some programs to learn Spanish lessons online that will teach you a few words and phrases but you won't be even close to knowing how to speak the language fluently.

When learning any foreign language, you have to immerse yourself into language, and understand the language completely. This includes, all verb tenses, and grammar. If anyone tries to tell you that learning a language is easy, they are not telling the truth. It takes time to learn Spanish lessons online, and to learn all the intricacies of the language.

To teach yourself Spanish online, and to learn it completely, you should choose a quality online Spanish course that has a multifaceted plan. The course should have interactive lessons, CD's, even DVD's where you can learn from the comfort of your home, or anywhere you want.

If you think you're ready to start learning Spanish and want to get a kick-start to learning it, I highly recommend you check out Rocket Spanish--to learn more about Rocket Spanish you can go to the followinghere

If you want to see a real customer review of Rocket Spanish, check out this video to see if Rocket Spanish is right for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is8A_WSlFk4

3 Easy Ways to Learn Spanish Free of Charge

Learning Spanish in this day and age is nearly as necessary as having a computer. There are many people that live in the United States that speak Spanish. There are many different online games, internet websites, and Spanish speaking neighborhoods that make it easy to be around Spanish stuff all the time. These are a few ways that may help you become more Spanish friendly.

1. If you want to have fun and learn a new language like Spanish the best way is to find an online video game. There are all sorts of different games to choose from. For example, they have cross words, hang man, and different word games. It is as easy as finding a search engine and typing in free Spanish online games. Finding games on the internet is very easy. You also have many to choose from and it is a great way to gain knowledge while having fun all at the same time.

2. Another way to help you learn Spanish with out having to buy different programs is to search different Spanish web sites. Although you may not be fluent enough to understand most of what you might be reading you can use your basic knowledge of different items and scroll your mouse over the items and relate the item with the Spanish term. Using these simple ideas will open up a different world. A world you have never explored. Just be patient and take your time.

3. If you live in the United States you probably do not live far from a Spanish speaking neighborhood. I personally live in one and you experience a lot of needing of understanding Spanish. People say, when you are in Rome, act like the Romans. Same situation. You never know what you might find you may learn. If you submerse yourself with fluently speaking Spanish people you may be able to teach them some English and they may teach you some Spanish. Time to travel outside of your realm.

I have personally tried these tips and they work quite well. Online games are fun for you and the family. Different web sites are also fun and some are quite difficult. When considering a second language you will need to devote time, determination, and headaches. you will find that you are using you time as an asset to your future and it could also open doors of opportunity.

You are going to be able to speak at a restaurant, at an airport, with new friends... in basically every situation you can think of! So, whether you are interested in learning Spanish for your job, to communicate with neighbors, or if you are planning to travel to a Spanish speaking country, learning a new language online has never been easier!
Learn Spanish Online with the Best Spanish Course Online!

How to Use Learning Spanish Audio Tools Effectively and Improve Fluency

Learning how to be fluent in Spanish or any other second language is not so difficult if you are using the correct set of tools. Audio based tools are a fantastic addition to the process of language acquisition and learning Spanish audio programs are a main part of this virtual language tool chest. Here are five tips which will help you and your Spanish fluency.

Tip 1. Mimic what you hear

When you are listening to songs, watching TV or movies in Spanish, make sure that you occasionally stop and repeat out loud some of the text. While you are doing this, make sure that you mimic not only the accent but the inflection of the voice that you hear. Practice this skill everyday and you will see a definite improvement in your fluency.

Tip 2. Have conversations with native speakers

The whole point of learning Spanish is to speak and communicate. One of the easiest ways to practice and improve is to speak with native Spanish speakers. You can check out communities of Spanish students at local universities and form a conversation club. If you have a business in a Latino neighborhood, try out your Spanish in the store. You might surprise yourself.

Tip 3. Communicate

Do not be afraid to use your Spanish skills. You must practice them in order to develop. Get rid of all your inhibitions and do not be afraid to make mistakes. These are very important and will help you improve. The main point is that you are understood. Always go for fluency over accuracy.

Tip 4. Get groups of students together

Practice, practice, practice. You must use your new language skills as often as you can. One of the best ways is to form some sort of social group that has the same goals in mind. Find some friends who are learning Spanish and go out for coffee or just get together and practice. Remember that fluency is much more important than being correct. Keep the conversations moving and have fun.

Tip 5. Watch DVD movies

There is a fantastic tool available these days and that is the DVD. Go out and rent some movies. Many DVD movies have subtitle features. Some, if not most are dubbed into Spanish as one of the language options. Try watching your favorite movie in Spanish with subtitles in Spanish. You would be surprised at how effective this can be.

If you would like to improve your Spanish fluency, get instant access to my free 10 part e-course called, The Key to Language Fluency E-Course by going here: Spanish Fluency E-Course

Free English to Spanish Translator

I you're looking for a free English to Spanish translator, then I'm sure you want to write something in Spanish. However, I don't suggest you use any free english to Spanish translators - I believe you should be doing something else. As someone who wants to write in Spanish, I'm sure it won't be your last time trying to do so, and in that sense I think you should simply learn Spanish.

You might think that learning Spanish is too hard or requires to much work. I'll be honest with you - you do need to be motivated and put some effort into learning Spanish. In another sense, after you get to know the most popular Spanish words and you're able to speak a little-bit, you'll find it fun to talk to someone in Spanish or to listen to someone speak Spanish. At this stage, you'll amuse yourself by trying to understand and find the right words to express yourself.

Now, if you simply continue using free English to Spanish translators, you'll keep on sending Spanish texts that are very poorly written. Even if you only know basic Spanish, with some tools you will be able to write much better than by simply using a free English to Spanish translator. These translators don't understand sentence structure nor most grammar, and they often simply translate word by word which doesn't give very good results. That's why by simply investing into learning Spanish, you'll be able to seem proficient, professional and knowledgeable when you write in Spanish.

When I first started learning Spanish, I was scared of how much work there would be and of giving up in the middle of learning it. When I first started learning some vocabulary, I did use free English to Spanish translators, but I only translated one word at a time. If you translate anything more than that, then you will not get effective translations. Free English to Spanish translators are good tools to use, but use them wisely.

Now, you might think that learning Spanish is a very hard process, but if I can do it you can too. When I first started, I decided that a Spanish class wouldn't be a good option for me. I thought that learning myself from home would be better, since I can manage my own sessions and work when I want to. So the next step I did from there was to do my homework: I researched how to learn Spanish on my own, and I did some research on the most popular Spanish courses.

Today, I can speak fluent Spanish thanks to a course I got my hands on, called Rocket Spanish. This course helped me a lot to learn Spanish, and together with some language learning tips online I learned Spanish quite quickly. Rocket Spanish is truly one of the most easiest courses to learn from because it installs directly on your computer and it comes with many audio files. These audio files helped me acquire great pronunciation.

If you would like to learn more about Rocket Spanish and how I learnt Spanish, simply go to My Rocket Spanish review now.

Getting to Know Rocket Spanish

If you have ever wondered what Spanish course to take then you have probably been searching for the Spanish complete course that will teach you everything that you need to know. Rocket Spanish promises to be the course that will teach you how to have a very fluent conversation in Spanish within three months.

Most people who choose to learn how to speak Spanish wish to be able to have everyday conversations in the language with people that speak as their mother tongue. Often times when one is learning how to speak Spanish they may find that practicing on people that speak it can assist them in the learning process because the people that speak it naturally will teach them what they are doing wrong.

Rocket Spanish promises to deliver some highly advanced teaching techniques in a Spanish complete course that will allow one to learn the language in at least one third of the time that it would normally take at a college or nighttime classes. Although these are some impressive claims, there are many people who have found much success with this program.

Containing 12 hours of audio lessons the Spanish complete course from Rocket Spanish will teach the student the proper pronunciation of Spanish words as well as conversational speaking. There are two course books that accompany the audio lessons as well as two additional software programs that are available to help further your knowledge of the language.

The creator of Rocket Spanish offers a 60 day money back guarantee if one does not feel that the program is helping him/her to speak the Spanish language as fluently as they wish or as quickly as they anticipated.

As an added bonus, a person contemplating whether or not to utilize the Rocket Spanish program as their Spanish complete course can utilize the trial run which is a free six day e-course that will teach a few of the Spanish language basics. This can be a great tool to decide if this is going to be the best program.

There is a lot to be said for the ability to be able to carry on a conversation in another language. This program has been very helpful to many people who have traveled around the world to various locations that consider Spanish to be their mother language. Any time one visits another country it is important for them to be able to locate certain places that they wish to visit, restaurants, retail outlets, hotels, or even taxicabs. Learning conversational Spanish with the Rocket Spanish program has proved too many people to be a great way to quickly learn a language before traveling to the country that actually speaks it.

It is no wonder, with all of the various Spanish learning programs available, that many people are turning to rocket Spanish because of the Spanish complete course that it offers in such a short amount of time. It is expected that as time goes on more and more people will be utilizing the lessons, tips, and tricks taught in Rocket Spanish.

If you would like even more information on the Spanish Complete Course then don't hesitate any more and check out the following link:-
Spanish Complete Course

When You Need To Learn Spanish Fast - Know Where To Turn To

You just got a memo from the boss. He wants you to be in charge of the company's division in South America. This is that promotion that you have been working so hard for. Unfortunately, you don't speak a word of Spanish and you ship out in six months. Here are some things you need to know if you want to learn Spanish fast.

Take a class: Almost every community college in America has an introductory course for people who want to learn Spanish fast. Most institutions have very accredited teachers who know what they are talking about. Most teachers spend their entire summer in a Spanish speaking country to stay fluent and up with the new terminology. For example, ten years ago, who in America knew what a 'blog' was? Not many. Chances are that 'blog' is a word that has been given a Spanish name, and is something that most people won't know if they don't interact with other Spanish speakers.

Buy an audio program: An audio program is a good idea for those people who don't have time to take a class, but still need to learn Spanish fast. An audio program goes at your own pace and at your own time. If you want to learn Spanish at 3 AM, feel free to do so. Make sure you buy a good audio program, though, as there are many out there on the market. Just taking a few minutes to read reviews can save you time and money.

Full Immersion: If you have the time and the money, then total immersion is for you. It is a proven and guaranteed method for anyone to learn Spanish fast. For this method, you travel to a Spanish speaking country and surround yourself with only locals. That means you must stay out of tourist destinations! You can't be around English speakers at all. Besides, when locals find out whom you are and that you are trying to learn their language and culture, they will be more than happy to help you learn to speak Spanish. Plus, you may make some friends for life!

As you can see, if you want to learn Spanish fast, it is entirely possible. These tips can take anywhere from three weeks to six months to work, but they do work. Try them out. What do you really have to lose?

If theses tips have helped you and you want more help on how to learn Spanish fast, check out http://www.squidoo.com/learnspanishfast101/ and get the information you need to learn the Spanish language in a super fun and quick way!

How to Tell If You Are Learning Genuine Spanish Language Or Not - The Indirect Method

Except if you are out learning the Spanish language and planning to be a jester and/or make people laugh, you are encouraged to discover fast enough whether the Spanish language you are learning or is being taught is genuine or not.

When you adopt the indirect method, you are sure to avoid all the embarrassment with an incomplete vocabulary that is sure to make you blush and stammer when you speak incorrectly especially when you are part of an exciting conversation and you are expected to dazzle everybody close to where you are speaking the Spanish language in a confident, free, easy and fluent manner.

It is a pathetic sight to make mistakes in public and become laughed at. Imagine feeling like you were caught taking a shower with your clothes on, it's totally absurd.

However, imagine the thrill and admiration you will command and receive as you speak Spanish easily, confidently, fluently and with the correct intonations among local Spanish speakers whether in Latin America or Europe?

Not only will you be the toast of the moment, you can watch as everyone around will view you with envy and treat you with respect because it is a wonderful sight to behold when you come across total strangers conversing freely in your local language.

Everybody can use a little recognition and attention sometime.

You must realize that it is absolutely easy to learn Genuine Spanish starting right from the basics to the advanced. There are enough resources online that you can access and become proficient in the use of Spanish for business, pleasure, when with friends, colleagues, in the marketplace, etc.

Whatever resources you are using right now, endeavour to speak to a native Spanish speaker and find out how vast you have become in mastering the Spanish language.

A few helpful tips and corrections here there should go a long way to ensuring that learning to speak the Spanish language is good money spent well and a quest worth all the effort and investments.

With Shortcut To Spanish, you can successfully learn to speak Spanish language in seconds without being laughed at or embarrassed in public again -easily, fluently and confidently. Discover a new world of opportunities and possibilities with Spanish Made Easy.

How an Accent Reduction Coach Can Help You

This article struck me as interesting, and it was on one of the websites where authors put their articles to be used by other webmasters. It is written for people needing to improve their English, so just substitute Spanish wherever you read English in the article. (The terms of service of the articles website don’t allow me to change the article.)

This could be a good idea for someone with access to native speakers of Spanish who have good accents, which is in many places!

By Susan M Ryan

An accent reduction coach can tell you which sounds and patterns you currently use that contribute to your accent. Then you can focus on the areas that are problems for you and help you learn the sounds and patterns of spoken English.

People from many different fields are now looking for ways to improve their American English pronunciation and reduce their accents. These include: doctors, nurses, clergy, business executives, engineers, professors and call center employees. They understand that clear spoken English will allow them to communicate more effectively with business associates, customers, colleagues and friends.

You may be one of the many people learning to read, write and speak English in your native country. Chances are that your reading, writing and grammar are excellent. However, you may have found that your spoken English is so accented that American English speakers don’t always understand you when you speak. Your foreign accent prevents American listeners from understanding you, causing frustration and breakdowns in communication.

Accent reduction involves changing or modifying some of the sounds and patterns in your current speech to make you sound more clear and comprehensible to American listeners. By learning to recognize and change the sounds and patterns that you unconsciously transfer from your own language to English, you can learn to speak in a way that will allow American listeners to understand you more easily.

An accent reduction coach can identify the pronunciation feautures that keep Americans from understanding you. Then she can help you learn the sounds and patterns of spoken English that you need to adapt in order to sound more American.

After each session with your coach you simply must practice your pronunciation every day for 20-30 minutes, even more if you can. This will help the new sounds and patterns you are learning to become natural for you. Most people actually begin to both hear and speak English differently once their coaching sessions begin.

People who take accent reduction courses are usually highly motivated individuals who are looking for better job opportunities or promotions. increased social opportunities and better cultural understanding. If this sounds like you, it may be time for you to investigate these kinds of classes.

Susan Ryan is an American English pronunciation and accent reduction instructor in Washington, D.C. Visit her blog to read more about Accent Reduction Coach.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_M_Ryan
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8 Reasons to Use an Online Spanish Language Course

A great way for learning to speak, read, write, and understand Spanish is to use an online Spanish Language course. Because an online Spanish language course is so versatile, and interactive, it is highly effective for today's learning style.

Actually, I am fluent in Spanish, but I had to learn on my own, with a lot of trial and error, mostly error! This was due to the fact that I lived in Spain with non-English speaking people and had almost no instructional material to use. The only thing I had was a first-grade Dick and Jane type book.

Different way to learn Spanish

If you are unable to immerse yourself in the language and culture by actually living in a Spanish speaking country, you need to find another way to learn. There are courses offered at community colleges, high schools, and private schools, plus you can always listen to tapes and CD's. I have personally used all these methods since returning to the US, but found them greatly lacking.

I found the classroom setting a big distraction and also quite boring. One of my classes was a little exciting though: we had a Cuban exiled criminal who was quite interested in the pretty American teacher. We all watched out for her, especially after class. This was part of president Carter's amnesty for them.

The tapes and CD's were also rather monotonous and quite out of date. I really was not interested in how to buy a brown umbrella, or hail a taxi. Probably the biggest benefit of the tapes and CD's was the fact that I could listen to native speakers, though even that was out of date as well.

One time I loaned a Spanish language cassette tape course to a female friend, who told me she didn't like it at all. Turns out that most of the dialog was in a bar, with a man trying to pick up a woman! Funny, I hadn't even noticed!

Another series I own focuses on a businessman trying to get an apartment in a big city. This was OK, but I'm not a big businessman, and I don't like big cities. So, a lot of the dialog just was irrelevant.

Interactive, relevant and up-to-date

This brings up the fact that an online Spanish language course is up-to-date and relevant. Because it is interactive and updated, you get fresh information and terminology. So, rather than learning how to leave a big tip and hail a taxi, you learn how to use the internet and a cell phone.

These interactive courses teach you things like slang words, jokes, riddles, games, and how everyday people might speak. This is much more useful than elephants, and desks! In the real world, people just don't talk like a book.

With the emphasis on up-to-date usage and interactive participation, you will be in a much better position to actually be able to carry on a conversation. For example: if you can talk about futbol, you automatically have a connection!

Because an online Spanish language course is kept current, you will get things like updated grammar and dialog. This keeps the program more interesting and motivating.

It is a known fact that learning on a computer is much different than a conventional style of learning. People have much shorter attention spans online and tend to browse and skim much more, looking for the main points. This type of course meets that need very well.

8 reasons for using an online Spanish language course

Interactivity-you participate Fresh and current Self-pacing Designed for internet users Costs are kept at a minimum Good to the environment-no packaging Learning materials are updated Fits all levels of competency

These are just a few of the many very good reasons to use an online Spanish language course. Overall, if you cannot immerse yourself in the language and culture by living abroad, this is the best way to learn a language.

Since living in Spain and traveling in South America, Randy Hough has continued to learn Spanish and test program after program to find the best. You can read his reviews and comments on his site: http://CompareSpanishLanguageCourses.com. You can compare the benefits of many Spanish language courses and find what fits your learning style. Ask me about the time the drug lords henchmen almost cut me in pieces in Mexico! I was very glad I spoke fluent Spanish that day!

Steps to Learning Spanish Online

Learning a foreign language is both challenging and exciting. The sense of accomplishment after you've successfully passed a language course is indescribable. There are benefits derived from learning other languages - in business, for example, it;s easier to close deals when you know the language of your client. For job seekers. It's a great advantage to speak multiple languages, as well.

Spanish language courses have increased in popularity in recent years - maybe because more Spanish soap operas are available on cable! Fortunately for those who want to learn the language, Spanish courses are available online. You can of course, try and learn Spanish on your own, but you'll see better results if you take proper Spanish course.

If you'd like to translate Spanish text online, it's simple:

1. Using a search engine, find a language translation page on the web. There are many to choose from.

2. After selecting a translation page, choose the appropriate translation format - say, Spanish-to-English - indicate the languages you are translating.

3. If you'd like an entire web page translated into English, simply paste the URL into the space provided and then press the submit button. A translated version of the page will then appear.

4. If you want other text translated, you have to simply paste the text instead of the URL into the space provided and then press the submit button.

Things to remember:

o Bear in mind that the translations produced are quite rough - usually an intermediate Spanish student could do better.

o When pasting in your own text, you may be limited to one or two paragraphs.

There are also tutorials available online, offering tips on how to speak Spanish:

1. In speaking the Spanish language, remember to pronounce the letters B and V the same way they are pronounced in English. This is easy to remember.

2. Don't bother to learn verbs in anything other than the present tense.

3. Don't forget to pronounce the letters D, G, H, J, L, Q and Z the same as they are pronounced in English. Again very easy.

4. If ever you don't know the Spanish word just add "o" or "a" at the end of the English word in order to make into a noun or "ar" at the end to make it into a verb.

5. Remember that if a Spanish word looks like an English word, it probably means the same thing.

6. Also bear in mind to forcefully pronounce all consonants and to muddle the sounds of vowels.

7. Don't forget to study courtesies such as "por favor" (please) and "gracias" (thank you) are important in Spain and Latin America.

8. Speak using the "tú" form of "you"

9. Avoid redundant pronouns

10. Hopefully, learn something!

It is still recommended that you take a professional Spanish course in order to learn correct grammar and pronunciation. Be sure to practice what you've learned in order to become more fluent in the language.

Jeff Linaker has an interest in Recreation & Hobbies and Learning Spanish Online, for more FREE information and articles please visit Learning Spanish Online Resources

Tips On How To learn A Foreign Language

A very interesting article :)
When referring to the languages I speak they are English, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish which to many may seem like an impressive number but before some get the idea that I should be admired for my linguistic skills. I would like to say that this is due more to circumstances then skill. First of all I was born in New York City where I spent the first 3 months before being sent away to live with my grandparents who spoke both Spanish and Italian, so unsurprisingly the languages I started speaking were Spanish and Italian. By the time I was five years of age I spoke both these languages well however I did not speak English at all so it was with this in mind among other things that my parents brought me back to New York where I started learning English. It was strange to me at first; going to school in a country that was my own hearing people speak a language that I did not understand. With time however since I was still at that early age in which languages come with ease; English started becoming more and more comprehensible and in a bigger way it was the cartoons I watched on television which I had already seen in Spanish that helped me. It is because of this factor which I experienced when I learned English at the age of 5 that I can lay claim that those who are in their very youthful years need not to have languages taught to them as they will learn them their own. It is with this in mind that I urge parents whose wish it is for their children to learn a foreign language or two to simply expose their child to the language as I was by my parents who sent me to a school where everybody spoke English.
Of course when giving this advise I have not lost sight of the fact that not all parents have at their disposal the chance to send their child to a school where the language they want their child to learn is spoken either because they do not live in a country where it is spoken or they don't have the funds to send their child to a school in which all subjects are carried out in that language. It is to these parents that I suggest that constant exposure to that language by all means at their disposal would be the most appropriate. When I say this I have in mind that parents naturally if they speak the language in question should do so with their children; this basically being the way most people get to speak a language at the start; from their parents.
However to those parents who are not speakers of the language they wish their child or children to learn then I would suggest exposing their child or children to that language by way of television such as "Cartoon Network" or perhaps films on DVD. As an idea to follow first have the child watch the film in his or her first language and then in the second one; repeating this process as many times as possible everyday. To many parents it may seem that their children only waste time when they sit in front of the TV set and to a large degree they do but time spent watching TV need not be a waste of time specially if it can help their child learn a foreign language. I recall in my many years as an E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) teacher; a five year old child. It was this child who spoke fluent English. Naturally making grammatical errors but then again what child his age does not. Regarding his accent I can say in earnest that this child from Warsaw, Poland spoke English with no traces in his accent that would have given away even to a foreign accent trained ear like mine that he was not an American. One might think as I did that this child had spent time in America or another English speaking country or that his parents were English speakers but when I asked the child's mother she informed that this child had neither set foot in an English speaking nor did she or her husband speak any English what so ever. As far as lessons were concerned he had only had those which were offered at the public school which he attended which did not exceed those that would have taught him the very basics. My curiosity took over my actions at this point making me ask how it was possible for their son to speak English fluently like any American child his own age even without the slightest trace a foreign accent. To this question I was met with the answer that this child watched "Cartoon Network" in English practically 24 hours a day.
If there is an unfortunate side to learning languages it is that those who did not start at a very early age in life for the most part will always be at a disadvantage to those who did. They will tend to speak with an accent that will classified as foreign and for the most part struggle with grammar however I say this not with the aim of dissuading but of informing those who start past the age of 10 that they will have to work harder. Of course this is not to say that they will not learn and learn well but perhaps certain nuances of the language will be lost to them.
Many are the reasons for wanting or needing to learn a language from living in a country to seeking a job to so many others that I will not go over all of them however as many as there be reasons there also be methods. If the later be the case I have found that the "target method" to be the most efficient when the matter be simply learning to communicate. As this is what most people seek to get when they study a language. By communicating I have in mind learning how to understand and be understood in a second language which by its own virtue does not concentrate so much on grammar's rules but on how one should speak a language using correct grammar without the need to necessarily go over a lot of rules that would not necessarily make one a better speaker. I in my fourteen years as an ESL (English as Second Language) teacher have come to discover that those who know more rules regarding for instance when to use "present perfect" as opposed to when to use "past simple" do not always speak more grammatically correct however it is important to have a basic understanding of the tenses if one is to use them correctly. During the course of this time there is a lot I have taught my students but also a lot which I have discovered for myself from both my students and from teaching them and here are some tips which I would like to provide those who are seeking to learn a language:
1. Find a teacher or a school; this is of more importance to total beginners as languages are not like history which can be learned solely by reading it. Languages require the spoken part which involves learning how words are pronounced in languages that are not always systematically phonetic so for this reason I recommend getting a teacher. For total beginners I also suggest starting in a group because at the start what people are most in need of is repetition. For instance a teacher might begin with each student saying "My name is ___." and if there should be 20 students in the class then we should hear this sentence repeated just as many times and therefore making it more provable that the sentence will stick in our mind then if we had just heard it repeated twice. Granted groups advance more slowly but the speed in which we cover the material is not the issue but what is, is how much of it we absorb and I noticed specially when I was studying French and Polish how much easier it was to learn things because of the repetitive nature to be found in groups.
2. When learning a second language we must think in the language we are trying to learn. There are those however who may say that for beginners this is the neither possible or recommendable but to those I would say that on the contrary it is. The reason I say this is for instance if a person is learning Spanish and the first sentence he is presented with is "Yo me llamo ___." (My name is ____.) then he or she should say this sentence not translating in to English and then repeating it in Spanish but knowing what the sentence means and simply repeating it. This method perhaps may be slower at first but will pay off in the future because if the student can say the sentence in the language he or she is learning without having to translate in his or her mind this will make it possible for that student to become fluent as that person will be able to speak without thinking of the words. Fluent speaking is when a person gets an idea and can put that idea in to words without thinking of the words because they come automatically. Naturally this does not mean that if a person speaks a language fluently he or she will speak that language correctly as these are two different things. Fluency dealing with how much time passes from the moment the thought enters the mind to the moment the words come out and only this. Many of my students on many occasions have asked me how can they think in the language they are speaking and to them I tell the following. When speaking or repeating a sentence or word in a language one should pretend that the only language one speaks or knows is the language one is trying to speak. In other words one should forget all other languages that one may speak and if one does so speaking a foreign language fluently will be easier ; reason being that translating as one goes along slows one down. This even holds more true when listening to a language for if we had to stop and translate every word in to another language that is being said to us by the time we translated the first word the whole sentence would have gone by so with this in mind I say we should only think in the language we are speaking or listening to forsaking all others.
3. To learn a language when we wish to translate a sentence what we should do is translate the general idea of the sentence and not word per word but as a whole for it is there where we see the general idea. For instance in Italian we say "Io me chiamo Gianni" which when translated word per word would be "I call myself Gianni" which in English does not have the same meaning. This however if translated not word per word but the general idea we would get "My name is Gianni". The reason this stands as truth is that every language is different and not only that words are different but their grammar. Grammar being the order in which we place words. Sometimes however it is not a matter of grammar which in an of itself differs one language from another. As an example I can give that Polish only employs three tenses (present, past and future) and does not have articles, definite or indefinite but the way people speak. For instance in French it is correct to say "J' ai 40 ans" which when translated directly in to English would be "I have 40 years" which in proper English would be "I am 40 years old". This proving my point that is not always a question of grammar but of the way people in different languages speak this making it that the same thing is expressed in a different way. As an added example I can give that in Polish the sentence "happy birthday" does not exist but in its place Polish people say (from a literal translation) "all the best wishes".
4. Never ask why! In languages it is not important to know why Polish does not use articles or why English does not have articles that differentiate genders like French which has them in the form or "le" and "la" or why Spanish and Italian do not use the letter "k" to spell any of their own words. What is important is to understand how the language is and speak it as such and not waste time analyzing why it is one way or was made one way and not another. Knowing this; if we could even find out why will not help us speak the language we are trying to learn anymore then knowing why most of us have two instead of three eyes would help us see better. So in short do not worry about why it so just accept it and speak it or write it as such.
5. Languages do not require thinking or least none that be analytical but the ability to understand a situation and repeat the sentence that explains it to another person. For instance when we say "This is a pen." we establish what something is and if the object we were establishing were a table then the structure would be the same "This is a table". These two sentences only requiring us to change one word but not the structure which should not change since the situation has not.
6. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. When learning a language mistakes are as unavoidable as is falling down to a child who is learning to walk. If that child or his parents were afraid of their child falling down that child would never learn to walk; same thing with languages. I always tell my students that if they can not avoid mistakes at least they should try to learn from them. One of the reasons people are afraid or perhaps embarrassed about mistakes is what other people might think. This if one logically thinks about should not represent a problem as those who are mindful will understand that the person who is speaking is not a native speaker of that language and will not only understand if that person makes some mistakes but will not think less of that person for doing so.
7. Using good grammar is not the most important thing! Unless we are teachers of that language or writers in that language; then grammar is not the most important thing if we just want other people to understand what we are saying. Grammar only becomes an issue when we are misunderstood or not all. For instance if I heard someone say "I had bought a book, yesterday" I would understand that this person bought a book yesterday. This despite the fact that he or she used "past perfect" in a situation when he or she should have used "past simple". So my advise to those who are speaking a foreign language is to not worry about what is grammatically correct and just to speak.
8. Practice as much as possible! To learn to speak Spanish fluently or any other language well we need to have at least 20 hours of contact a week with the language. By this I mean taking lessons but they are not enough. For instance if a person took piano lessons this would not be enough to learn the piano as that person would have to have a piano he or she could practice on at home otherwise lessons would not be so beneficial. Having said this what I recommend to those who do not live in a country where the language they want to learn is spoken is to look for as much contact with the language in question as possible. May be in the form of watching television in that language, making friends with people who speak that language or just having a romantic acquaintance that would also contribute to one's linguistic needs apart from all the rest.
9. The four parts to languages are the following: the spoken one, the read one, the written one and listening. To practice the last one all we need is to watch films in that language maybe even with subtitles. With regard to reading this we should practice for the reason that it is the best way for us to expand our vocabulary in the language as we have time to look up the words we do not understand. Writing should be improved by reading because after seeing the words many times this should teach us how to spell them. The speaking perhaps is the hardest to practice as it is most advisable to not do this alone as this would force one to answer oneself.
In all my years as a language teacher and learner of languages it has been my experience that has taught me that when speaking or learning a language as in life all we can do is our best and hope for just that so with this in mind I leave those who should read this with the following thought. It is better to speak a language badly then not at all because if we really think about it how many people speak a language with grammatical perfection even their own let alone a second or a foreign one.
My name is Gianni Truvianni, I am an author who writes with the simple aim of sharing his ideas, thoughts and so much more of what I am with those who are interested in perhaps reading something new. As for the details regarding my life I would say that there is nothing that lifts them above the ordinary. I was born in New York City in 1967 on May 21st and am presently living in Warsaw, Poland because my wife happens to be from this particular country that was also the birthplace for my only daughter. My daughter being the star of "Little Opera Singer" which was my first ever completed story.

Oryany Handbags Katie Spanish Satchel

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Rosetta Stone V4 TOTALe: Spanish (Latin America) Level 1-5 Set

Develop your command of the language. From the simple to the complex, gain the confidence to share your ideas and opinions in your new language. Develop the conversational skills to plan adventures, care for your health and move abroad. Talk about government, work, movies, family, and more. Includes everything you need to learn at home and on the go.

What Will I Learn

This level will help you:

• Build your vocabulary and language abilities
• Read, write, speak and understand your new language
• Speak without a script
• Retain what you've learned
• Practice unscripted conversations in your new language
• Negotiate complex situations with confidence and accuracy

Sample topics include:

• The basics, such as age and family relations
• Questions, greetings, introductions
• Telling time, calendar terms, the weather
• Directions, locations, dining out
• Emotions, opinions, ideas
• Political, media, business terms
• Arranging home repairs
• Planning to move abroad
• Discussing the arts and tourism
• Careers and conducting interviews
• Problem-solving and commercial transactions

What Do I Get?

Interactive Software

Our Lets award-wining version, complete with proprietary speech recognition technology.

Audio Companion

For your CD or MP3 player so you can review while on the go.

Headset with Microphone

For use with our state-of- the-art speech-recognition software.

Live Online Lessons

Practice sessions led by native speaking tutors.

Games & Community

Language-enhancing games move you towards real-world proficiency.

Mobile Companion

Learning application for your iPhone or iPod Touch device.

Our Method

Recreate the natural way you learned your first language and reveal skills that you already have using Dynamic Immersion. This award-winning method has been adopted by countless organizations, schools and millions of users around the world.

Learn Naturally: Discover how to speak, read, write, and understand--all without translating or memorizing. Our award-winning solution recreates how you learned your first language, unlocking your natural abilities.

Speak Confidently: Perfect your pronunciation with speech-recognition technology. Gain the confidence in your new voice as you practice with other learners in our exclusive online community and participate in online sessions coached by native tutors.

Immerse Yourself: Be surrounded by your new language. From core lessons to online sessions, Rosetta Stone gets you engaged and interacting with others.

Stay Motivated: Experience accomplishment with each moment of achievement; with dedicated success agents you will never lose sight of your language-learning goals.

Your Natural Ability. Awakened.

Natural Discovery

Learning your first language is as natural as smiling. Effortless. Rewarding. Every step in Rosetta Stone feels like that. Clear, compelling images appear precisely, in juxtaposition, conveying meaning. Intuitively, you just know what it means.

• Our puzzle-like environments--a systematic presentation of sounds, images, and text--help learners absorb meaning intuitively.

Rosetta Stone's award-winning software, where you will interact by speaking, clicking, selecting phrases and writing.

Speech Activation

Rosetta Stone's proprietary speech-recognition technology provides immediate and ongoing feedback.

Build your confidence and polish your pronunciation skills with state-of-the-art speech-recognition technologies and success-filled dialogues.

• Our software provides immediate and ongoing assessments of your speech through Actionable Feedback, which helps you pronounce syllables, words and sentences correctly and easily.

• Based on a collection of literally millions of speech samples, our proprietary speech-recognition algorithms and speech models were engineered with a singular purpose--to help you communicate with accuracy, confidence and ease.

Native Socialization

Language-learning games will keep you motivated along the way.

Practice with native speakers in our live interactive sessions and our online community. Every conversation gives you the confidence to communicate in your new language.

• For many, traditional language-learning fails because it lacks real conversation. With Rosetta Stone you'll play games and chat with native speakers and other learners in our online language community.

• Hundreds of native-speaking tutors trained in the Rosetta Stone method are ready to help reinforce the language you're learning through live, online conversations. From Day One you'll be speaking your new language with confidence and ease.

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Easy Spanish Phrase Book: Over 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use (Dover Easy Phrase) (Spanish and English Edition)

More than 770 basic phrases for everyday use enable you to communicate instantly on a host of topics: health and medical situations; essential services; boat, plane, and train travel; much more.

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The Rosetta Stone Audio Companion CDs Are Mostly Useless

Seeing as how Rosetta Stone (relatively) recently released Levels 4 and 5 Set with Audio Companion, I decided to purchase the complete program (levels 1-5, see my complete review) both as a means of refreshing my Spanish skills and as a way to check out the latest and greatest from perhaps the best Spanish learning tool on the planet.
I was particularly interested in trying the Audio Companion CD’s advertised as coming with the program.  It’s been a while since I’ve used Rosetta Stone, and my previous experiences didn’t include any audio CD’s (I guess they didn’t exist back then).  I was looking forward to honing my pronunciation (a major strength of the computer program) and practicing useful conversations.  Sadly, I got neither.
The audio companion CD’s are nothing more than a listen-and-repeat version of the phrases covered in the corresponding computer lesson a la the Living Language Ultimate Spanish series.  Needless to say, this isn’t the most effective way to learn the language.  I mean sure, it’s better than nothing, but I expect more from a program as expensive as Rosetta Stone.  The complete Rosetta Stone program is upwards of $600 while Ultimate Spanish products are right at $100 for the complete program.  If I wanted listen and repeat, I would have bought Ultimate Spanish (actually, I did…not worth the money unless you can get it used for under $25, in my opinion).
That said, Rosetta Stone is still well worth buying.  It’s the best, most complete product I know of.  In conjunction with a good Spanish grammar aid (like the Practice Makes Perfect series), it can get you as close to fluency as you can get without traveling to a Spanish-speaking country and hiring a private tutor, for a fraction of the cost.  I just don’t appreciate the obvious money-grab of advertising the audio companions as a major pro of purchasing the program.  After all, if that method of learning Spanish actually worked, there would be no market for Rosetta Stone to begin with.
Buy Rosetta Stone from Amazon.com and see what all the talk is about.  It’s expensive, but I think it’s well worth the price if you are to learn to speak Spanish fluently.
A cheaper version of a Spaning learning program is here
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Brazil Butt Lift - Workout DVD (English and Spanish)

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Improve Your Spanish by Speaking Spanish at Work

The idea of working on your Spanish by speaking it at work won’t apply to everyone, of course, but if it doesn’t apply to you maybe you can modify the concept so it does provide you with an opportunity, through other community groups, for example.
Today I’m suggesting that if you have a job where some of the employees are Hispanic, get up your nerve and try speaking a little Spanish with them. Even if you just try to say something very basic, chances are that — once they realize you are trying to learn to speak Spanish fluently — that they will be  very pleased.
I’ve noticed this delighted reaction when traveling as well. A couple of years ago, my husband and I were vacationing in the Ozarks and we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant in a small town in Arkansas. There was a gray-haired Hispanic man running the place and when he walked by our table and said hello, I said “Vivimos en Jaliso.” (We live in the state of Jalisco.) His jaw dropped, and we had quite a long conversation.
The convenient thing about practicing your Spanish with co-workers is that you see them regularly. Once they realize you are serious about improving their Spanish, they are likely to help you. They may tease you about your pronunciation or other errors you make, but it will be in a light-hearted and friendly way. You will be able to ask them how to say something you want to learn.
This will give you a chance to pick up vocabulary that relates to work, or at least to the things around you. You can point to something, and they can tell you what it means. You can say a phrase that has to do with your work, and they can translate it for you. If you do this quite a bit, you will pick up useful words and phrases.
If you are doing this with people for whom English is a second language, you may be able to help them a bit with their English. At the very least, they will understand what you are feeling.
This practice is a great way to use words you may be learning in one of the Spanish learning programs here.
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Foreign Language Tips on Learning Spanish Online in Only 3 Months

Many people think that learning a new language is difficult so they don't even attempt to learn. There are many reasons why people don't want to learn a new language. The main reason is that they think that they will have to take time out of their busy schedules to go back to school to learn. The opposite is actually true.

Learning to speak Spanish has become the most desired languages to learn. It is the second most spoken language in the world and rapidly growing. Learning to speak Spanish is in higher demand than most languages also learning the language does not have to be difficult. In fact, Spanish can be learned in the comforts of your home; online. The days of driving to a classroom a couple of times a week to take Spanish classes is a thing of the past. You don't even have to work around the schedule of a tutor. Today's advances allow you to learn Spanish quickly and efficiently at home and on the internet in only 3 months.

Here are some tips on how you can learn to speak Spanish in as little as 3 months or less.

1. Learning to speak Spanish software programs such as "Rocket Spanish" guarantees that it can help people gain the skills to learn fluent Spanish in 3 months or less. Other interactive language courses will give you the tools you need to speak, write, and read Spanish.

2. Join a Spanish group that meets online so gain the practice you need to improve your skills. Getting involved with a Spanish community that meets on a regular basis will enable you to improve your Spanish speaking skills much faster than practicing on your own.

3. Read everything you can in Spanish. Start by purchasing children's books, then work your way up to more complicated books and novels.

4. Watch the Spanish channel whenever you can. Instead of watching your weekly programs in English, see if the same program is being aired on the Spanish channel. This way you will be able to easily associate different scenes with the language that's spoken.

Learning to speak Spanish in 3 months is subjected to constant practice and effort on your part. The object is to surround your entire environment with things that enhance your study of the Spanish language. Lastly, continue to practice speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish to ensure that you will become proficient within 3 months.

You can quickly and easily learn to speak Spanish by investing in a quality Spanish speaking course. See immediate results with the top Spanish tutoring program currently being used by thousands of people wanting to learn Spanish just like yourself.

Spanish Grammar

Learning basic Spanish grammar isn't very hard to do, and it's even easier if you already speak French or Italian. If you don't speak either of these two languages, then you can learn them after learning Spanish. Spanish grammar is very good to know - you'll be able to communicate with Spanish speaking people and travel the world. Before you start learning Spanish grammar rules and conjugation charts, I suggest you study some Spanish vocabulary.

A fact that is to your advantage in Spanish is that the thousand most spoken Spanish words make eighty percent of regular speech. This means that if you simply learn the thousand most popular Spanish words, you'll understand most of what you will hear in Spanish, given that you're not hearing a medical explanation. This can be used greatly to your advantage because if you focus on these thousand words, you'll be able to get around with the little Spanish you know.

The rest (20%) can be obtained simply by using the thousand words you know. When you see a word you don't understand, you'll be able to decipher what it is since it'll be used in it's context close to many other words you already know. This is why Spanish is easy to learn - once you know these thousand words you can go out there and speak it, and by speaking it you'll learn alot more.

Now that you have words to work with, you need to study a little Spanish grammar before going out and speaking - you need to be able to make sentences and express yourself. Without any vocabulary you won't be able to study Spanish grammar since vocabulary are the building blocks of your sentences.

To study grammar, I suggest you learn one tense at a time with the most verbs possible. You should get a list of the most common verbs and learn their conjugation in present. Revise the verbs that are not conjugated normally, and once you know the present tense on the tip of your fingers, move onto the past. This way you will master Spanish grammar slowly but surely.

Once you know some Spanish grammar it's very important to go out there and use it. This is the only way you'll make sure of not forgetting it - and this also goes for vocabulary.

When I first started learning Spanish, I used a great Spanish course called Rocket Spanish. Thanks to the course, I now speak great fluent Spanish.

I'd love it if you would read about my experience learning Spanish with Rocket Spanish. Simply read my Rocket Spanish Official Review.