Spanish language CD's?
 

Midwesterner here already depressed with the weather and fairly well convinced I'm ready to move to Mexico. Problem is, I have no Spanish language skill.

I drive 30 minutes to/from work and I though that would be good time to start atleast some basic conversational Spanish from CD. I did a quick search and found there are many of them and they can be quite costly. I don't mind the cost if they are good but I was hoping the learned Fodors communuity could help me sort through the options. Suggestions?

Hi Jette - just saw your post of Nov 15 with 0 responses. Have you had any luck finding a good Spanish CD using other avenues? I too am looking for same. Thanks!

I'm currently listening to Learn in your Car: Spanish and think it is pretty good. I got it from Barnes & Noble after looking at some of the reviews on Amazon.com. The lessons are short, so definitely things you can learn in a 30 minute car ride. I downloaded mine to my iPod and listen to it while taking public transport and walking to and from work.

Biarritz Language Schools.

Pis

I suggest Learn in Your Car Spanish or Global Access Spanish. Both are excellent.

Have you considered taking a class from your local community college? Short of living in a Spanish speaking country, that's the best way to learn
the basics. I recommend a Conversational rather than a grammar class. It will get you speaking the quickest.

With all due respect to the other fine Spanish CDs out there, by far the best is "Spanish With Michele Thomas".

I live in South Texas, am hispanic, and avoided Spanish like the plague until I was sent to Spain. I figured I'd better learn atleast a little Spanish. I picked up this set and was absolutely amazed at the progress I made. The others are a listen and repeat. "My house is green" "Mi casa es verde". Boring! This one is set with an instructor and two students on the cd and you as the third student. You would be surprised at how much you learn from others' mistakes. At first the instructor was a little annoying because he has a habit of smacking his lips (pet peave) but if you get past that he is great. Instead of trying to teach you as many words as time will allow, he teaches you tricks to instantly learn many words.

Example: Any word in English that ends in -ion is the same in Spanish exept you use the Spanish stresses and accents. There are a few exeptions to this rule like "translation" is not "translation" but rather "traduccion".

Instantly you know several Spanish words. This set is filled with things like that. And he also drills the other students (and you) on how to put together sentences using what you have already learned.

It comes in two versions, the 2 cd set and the 8(?) cd set. The 2cd set is merely the first 2 cds of the larger set but would be great if you just want to try it out. I think it costs around $16 as opposed to $80 or so.

In a matter of 3 months, using the cds and being immersed in the language, I went from on a scale of 1-10, being a 1 to being about a 5 or 6 and that was without really trying. I don't think I ever finished the cds.

In my opinion you would be wasting your money with any other sets.

p.s. He makes them for other languages also.

And i thought this got burried w/no responses.....Thanks everyone!

Your local library is a good place to try out different ones. I usually start there before I spend $$$.

DOn't know about Spanish, but I'm very pleased with the Pimsleur French CD's I bought. I have about $600 worth of them...not cheap, but you get 16 CD's with each "level". They make it learnable strictly in the car. NO "read along" necessary (although I think some basic knowledge of the language would help so you have SOME idea what the words look like when they are written)

I bought a mini-set of Pimsleur at B&N for $35ish. You could try the Spanish ones that way to see if you like them. It is a bit of a waste, thought, because the Level I set's 1st 4 CDs are basically a repeat of the smaller set. You can save a little by buying on Ebay.

When I was looking for my French lessons, the library only had cassetes - maybe yours will be more advanced. Good Luck!

Be a little careful about making generalizations about English words in Spanish. Many English words ending in
-tion transfer to a Spanish word ending in -ción. However, the other poster made that comment about all English words ending in -ion. Sorry, that doesn't work. Take "onion," for example. In Spanish, it's "cebolla." So glad you guys are learning some Spanish, though. I second/third...the comment about trying to actually take a class somewhere to start learning the language. There is nothing like the personal contact for motivation, correction, etc. ¡Felices estudios!

Read to the end of the sentence where it reads:

There are a few exeptions to this rule like "translation" is not "translation" but rather "traduccion".

Maybe I/he should have said that "MOST words that end with the SUFFIX -Tion.

good spot though.

p.s. I am currently using the Pimsleur Italian CDs mentioned above and find that they are pretty good although it takes forever to learn one phrase, but once it's learned, it's learned.

Not a CD, but there is a free interactive website that's alittle interesting for beginners: spanishcow.com

Belle

Cassettes work out better in order to pick up a lesson EXACTLY where you stopped, including midway.