So how many of you are learning to speak Spanish?

Joiner3020

We live in Derbyshire and are currently taking Spanish lessons at night school. There are a lot of Spanish courses offered by both Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council.  Look up Adult Education on their web sites www.derby.gov.uk and www.derbyshire.gov.uk both offer courses from beginner to advanced.

Regards

David & Janet

Am I allowed to say this? I'm sure it'll be deleted if I'm wrong but my Spanish teacher Min be on the radio on friday 12th at 6pm, talking about all things Spanishy.

It's 87.7 fm (I think) it's a new station trying to get a licence.

He probably knows more about the English language than us Brits do, it's quite embarrasing really. Listen if you can.

i was told by a tapas bar owner in Marbella recently that the bast way to learn is to take a Spanish girlfriend or boyfriend, not wishing to fall out with my wife i think my preffered option would be to study in Guatemala, last time i was there (5 yrs ago)the courses were 80 USD for a week including a home stay and a 2 week course covered all the basics, the downside is that you end up speaking with a latino accent and run the risk of kidnapping.

Nothing wrong with learning Spanish in Central America.  I learnt mine in Mexico and Costa Rica and boy, do they speak quickly!!!  A bit different getting used to the accent on the CDS, what with the thervetha etthetera, but found the CDS was easy to understand.

On the CB, however, they will speak to you in proper Spanish but when they talk to each other it is a mixture of Spanish and Catalan.  The further north you go, the more Catalan takes over.

Which reminds me, I was crossing the border into Mexico once and a border guard, real stereotype with the Viva Zapata moustache and sweaty armpits (gun at the side) noticed I was carrying a book called the Boys from Brazil which featured a swastika on the cover.

Border guard; "Hey senor, are you a Nazi?"

Me: (envisioning the next 10 years in a Southern Mexican prison) "No, it's only a book, really" (Sweat, sweat, sweat)

Border guard " Que lastima, senor, we have a meeting every Wednesday and I was going to invite you!!"

Hi everybody.

I am trying (and have been for a number of years now!) to learn Spanish. I believe many Spanish courses are now widely available in MP3 format, which I think would be ideal as I could load them onto my ipod and swot up whilst running or sunbathing in Spain itself!

Does anybody out there have any suggestions as to where I might get hold of such a course?

Thanks very much.

Geoff

Check out

www.bbc.co.uk/languages

Good old Auntie

aprendo hablar espanyol ahora. En el classe en glasgow y con el cd en el coche. ESCUCHO  todos los dias. Michel Thomas es muy bueno.

try him out  he is really good.    £80 FOR 8 HOUR COURSE ON CD IN ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS

dOES THIS SOUND LIKE AN AD ON SKY?

NO COMMISSION HONEST.

GERRY

Si Gerry, Michel Thomas es muy bueno.  I managed to get the cds for 10 pounds!  yes only £10.00 ,brand new too, on good ol ebay, amazon.co.uk has the course too at reasonable prices, worth a go. 

Dont know if this is of interest to anyone, http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/

Jill

Try FriendsAbroad.com

You can speak in any language with people from all over the world for free by email

Hi Jillb,

Michel Thomas is good, we have the CD's, but his voice sends me to sleep!

I have slept through Cd's 2,3,4,5....yawn...6.7.8....yawn!

oh sorry night night.................

Hi Fibby,

Yes , I know what you mean about his voice,  does drone a bit... but do find that I can remember more with his way of teaching, than other cds, its just the actual putting into practice! thats  the hard bit for me, embarrassed that i might sound a bit like a del boy speaking spanish!!!(Hee Hee)

Jill

Hi all

l am lucky to live in Mijas Costa - here the local townhall provide Spanish lessons.....from October to May each year, three x one hour lessons a week and the cost is.... around 15 euros a MONTH. There are 3 centres Mijas Pueblo, Las Lagunas and La Cala.... there might be more but l am not sure on that.

Obviously these lessons are very popular and often oversubscribed - so long as you have an address in the Mijas Costa area then you are in with a chance on the sign up day which is usually very early September each year. There are 4 levels - basic, intermediate, advanced and then conversation perfection.

l went through the 4 years, enjoyed almost every moment, made some good freinds and it has given me a very good basis to continue learning. l know many people that 'repeat' the years for quite a while until they feel really comfortable. The teachers were fantastic and so patient even with the slowest of us.

Maybe in other areas there is something similar - just try at the local townhall - ask in the foreigners department if there is one or the tourist office might even know.

Certainly here on our little bit of the coast adult education is taken very seriously and in addition to the Spanish lessons there are all manner of things to take part in --- flamenco dancing, painting, computer courses of all sorts, yoga, martial arts etc etc the list is too long.

l must say being able to converse with everyone that l come across helps - and mistakes are made (constantly) but most are really happy to help you learn more and are much more friendly when they realise you are making the effort.