[Darby1]

I may be going to Spain next year to visit my cousin. The city she lives in has a large population of Germans and I speak German (well...enough to get by). However, I would like to learn some Spanish, as I hope to travel beyond just this city.

Anyway, I see that there are some free podcasts on itunes, as well as some downloads at a fairly low cost.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these? And does anyone have any advice for somebody trying to learn another language? I need to look into a conversational Spanish class, but that may be cost prohibitive.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, any advice from anyone whose been to Spain-what to see, what to skip, etc., would be great.

Thanks!!

[nelie]

Do you have a library membership? Libraries may have pimsleur to check out but also sometimes there are online resources libraries offer. Also watching some spanish language tv is a bit useful. You will want to look for spain spanish over latin american spanish but even exposure into latin american spanish will be helpful.

[jtammy]

The best resource I have seen for learning a foreign language (short of total immersion or intensive study) is Rosetta Stone. Some libraries do offer free access to this online, or you can purchase the software yourself.

[MaryEllen]

Rosetta Stone is very expensive.

There is a program online called Before You Know It that is good for word lists, but it doesn't show conjugation or any grammar stuff.

There are also a lot of self-help websites...try Google.

[Darby1]

Thanks ladies!

I've heard of Rosetta Stone and when I looked up the price I was shocked! I knew it was expensive, but I had no idea it would be that much! They should include a flight to Spain for that price!!

I checked with the library and they have the Pimsleur cassettes available and they have the Rosetta Stone on order.

I'll do some googling as well.

Thanks so much! I knew I could count on the ladies here at 3FC.

[Petunia418]

I took 10 years of Spanish... it was one of my college majors. I don't have anything specific to tell you but there is a great book available for about $10 called Hide This Spanish Book. I found mine at Borders. It gives you a lot of street/conversational/social Spanish which would be perfect if you plan to go out a lot.