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Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes
Anyone had success with a particular method, book, tapes, CDs? Went to Barnes and Noble and there was a wide variety of stuff ranging from "point-to-phrases" to the Rosetta Stone. Suggestions/evaluations requested.
Thanks in advance!
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For self learning, I heartily recommned the Pimsleur comprehensive series. Spanish comes in three levels of thirty 1/2 hour lessons each (90 total). There also is a "plus" volume with about ten additional lessons that I didn't find particularly helpful, but it did provide some additional practice (not very useful additonal vocabulary in the plus volume). They are very incremental and build up slowly, one lesson upon another, periodically revisiting at a different level, or in a different context, things you may have learned in earlier levels. Much conversational repitition but again in different contexts so that you do learn how to form unique and contextually relevent sentences (as opposed to just learning rote phrases).
Some people that I've loaned them to found them tedious. I've enjoyed using them. The 1/2 hour lesson format works great for commuting, time on the treadmill or other otherwise down time. They are pretty expensive (about $150 per level on e-bay, so $450 for the three-level comprehensive series). It is recommneded to do only one lesson a day - so three months gets you there. I have used them for Spanish, Italian and Greek prior to travel and always have been able to negotiate basic situations acceptably. Certainly not fluent by any means, but contextually apporpriate basic conversation nevertheless. I have been complemented on pronunciation/accent by some locals in all three cases, so I think they must be good for that. Also for listening comprehension, but not so much for reading or formal grammer - it's pretty much all conversational audio - the grammer you learn is though observing patterns in the conversations. Perhaps they could serve as solid refersher for you prior to going to give you head start on immersion learning once there.
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