Spanish Self-Study

[13132]

Mods please move my thread if this is the wrong place... I wasn't sure where to put this.

I took a few Spanish classes in college just so I could satisfy my foreign language requirement. However, the more I shadow and work in the medical field I see the importance of being a bilingual Spanish/English speaker in this country.

Has anyone here successfully self studied spanish, and if so how did you do it? I do have a very fundamental knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so I am looking for something to build from that starting point.

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[Lucca]

I'm a native speaker but am constantly working to improve my Spanish. Understanding grammar is the most important part, since you have that down all you need to do is build up from there and that means reading. Read a lot. Read familiar books, books you've read before in English (or whatever your most comfortable language is) but in Spanish. Read the news in Spanish. This will build your vocabulary. Watch spanish movies and soap operas. This will build your listening ability; it's very important to "hear" a lot of spanish as a non-native Speaker since most Spanish speakers (barring Colombians) speak very quickly and truncate a lot of their words. For example "Para donde vas?" is usually "Pa' donde vas?". It seems trivial but you might want to get used to these things. Other than that, the best tool for learning a language is to completely immerse yourself in it, if that's an option for you then take it.

 

[Reckoner]

I agree with the poster above, but if you want something a little more structured, duolingo.com is supposedly more effective than classes or Rosetta Stone. And it's free. I had a friend who used it to improve their French and they seemed to like it.

 

[13132]

I agree with the poster above, but if you want something a little more structured, duolingo.com is supposedly more effective than classes or Rosetta Stone. And it's free. I had a friend who used it to improve their French and they seemed to like it.

Thanks to both of you. I downloaded Duolingo as an app, but I haven't started using it yet. I will check out the website...probably has more functionality/features.

 

[BABSstudent]

Check with your school to find out if they have a program to help foreign students adapt to life in the US. I did that and spoke Spanish to a student every week for a few hours. We would switch about halfway through and speak English. It helped both of us.

 

[deleted303591]

There are several online resources.

I would also like to point out that Arizona State University - Online, offers a Bachelors of Art in Spanish, completely online. Here are the courses offered online (virtually every semester). ASU invests in top-notch technologies, but all you would really need for conversation in Spanish is a wired or Bluetooth headset with microphone (otherwise it can be awkward). Obviously all you would probably need are the lower-division courses, but they probably are a GPA booster. Make sure to consult ratemyprofessors (for reviews) and myedu (for average GPA by course).

I am finishing my degree online at ASU, and I have been very impressed by them, and the support they offer, so far.

Oregon State has online Spanish courses, including a course called Spanish for the Healthcare Professions

 

[aesculapian]

There are several online resources.

I would also like to point out that Arizona State University - Online, offers a Bachelors of Art in Spanish, completely online. Here are the courses offered online (virtually every semester). ASU invests in top-notch technologies, but all you would really need for conversation in Spanish is a wired or Bluetooth headset with microphone (otherwise it can be awkward). Obviously all you would probably need are the lower-division courses, but they probably are a GPA booster. Make sure to consult ratemyprofessors (for reviews) and myedu (for average GPA by course).

I am finishing my degree online at ASU, and I have been very impressed by them, and the support they offer, so far.

Oregon State has online Spanish courses, including a course called Spanish for the Healthcare Professions

These all require tuition-- do you know of any resources where you can just learn Spanish for free on your own? Like an open online learning course, à la Coursera or something?

 

[13132]

Duolingo has been great so far. Try it out.

 

[Jennyfishy]

Definitely going to recommend Duolingo. Several people in my study abroad program in Argentina used it to supplement their lessons (they had no prior Spanish background) and they loved it. There are tons and tons of lessons available for a free app! If you progress far enough, even the advanced sections are fairly difficult/good review for me (I've been studying Spanish probably for at least 5 years).

You can also try playing around with livemocha. I don't think it's as well organized as DuoLingo, but it does have some decent flashcards to boost vocabulary.

 

[Doxorubicin]

Mods please move my thread if this is the wrong place... I wasn't sure where to put this.

I took a few Spanish classes in college just so I could satisfy my foreign language requirement. However, the more I shadow and work in the medical field I see the importance of being a bilingual Spanish/English speaker in this country.

Has anyone here successfully self studied spanish, and if so how did you do it? I do have a very fundamental knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so I am looking for something to build from that starting point.

I second using Duolingo... It's an excellent resource!

Also, Roll Tide!

 

[RedPhys]

I'm a native speaker but am constantly working to improve my Spanish. Understanding grammar is the most important part, since you have that down all you need to do is build up from there and that means reading. Read a lot. Read familiar books, books you've read before in English (or whatever your most comfortable language is) but in Spanish. Read the news in Spanish. This will build your vocabulary. Watch spanish movies and soap operas. This will build your listening ability; it's very important to "hear" a lot of spanish as a non-native Speaker since most Spanish speakers (barring Colombians) speak very quickly and truncate a lot of their words. For example "Para donde vas?" is usually "Pa' donde vas?". It seems trivial but you might want to get used to these things. Other than that, the best tool for learning a language is to completely immerse yourself in it, if that's an option for you then take it.

Actually, even among Colombians, if you are from the Atlantic coast, it's like someone from the Caribbean.

So yes, it's really important that you get listening practice. Spoken Spanish can be so different from written Spanish.

 

[Andross]

I found that a particularly fun way to practice was you actively listen and sing along to music/music videos. It improves your vocab and speaking fluidity.

However nothing beats immersion in a Spanish speaking country. Just wait until you dream in Spanish...

 

[Nena01]

Actually, even among Colombians, if you are from the Atlantic coast, it's like someone from the Caribbean.

So yes, it's really important that you get listening practice. Spoken Spanish can be so different from written Spanish.

Yes, people in different parts of Colombia have different accents. The cleanest spanish is from Bogota, as far as I know.

Mods please move my thread if this is the wrong place... I wasn't sure where to put this.

I took a few Spanish classes in college just so I could satisfy my foreign language requirement. However, the more I shadow and work in the medical field I see the importance of being a bilingual Spanish/English speaker in this country.

Has anyone here successfully self studied spanish, and if so how did you do it? I do have a very fundamental knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so I am looking for something to build from that starting point.

OP, this is an awesome interest. Idk of any actual resources that would be helpful. However, I recommend immersing yourself in the Hispanic culture. Like someone said- listen to music, watch movies in spanish or with subtitles in spanish, or even listen to spanish radio.

In my opinion, probably the BEST way to practice your spanish is to date someone who is fluent in Spanish! Better yet, date someone who doesn't speak a lot of English It's an excellent way to force yourself to learn.

 

[13132]

This thread has exceeded my expectations. All great advice but since I just got accepted to med school (won't likely defer) I think that immersion abroad is not an option. And Nena01, my current English speaking girlfriend might not be too happy about my dedication to learning Spanish through a new relationship

 

[pDeluxe]

+1 for Duolingo.

I took four years of Spanish in high school, but largely forgot it all since I never really used it in a conversational sense. I've been going through the Duolingo app and its all coming back to me, and I'm learning a lot of things that I didn't know before. I still suck at past/future tense though/

 

[BillrothI]

+1 for Duolingo.

I took four years of Spanish in high school, but largely forgot it all since I never really used it in a conversational sense. I've been going through the Duolingo app and its all coming back to me, and I'm learning a lot of things that I didn't know before. I still suck at past/future tense though/

+2. Same situation here. DuoLingo works very well as a 'refresher course.' Highly-recommended.

-Bill R.

 

[deleted303591]

These all require tuition-- do you know of any resources where you can just learn Spanish for free on your own? Like an open online learning course, à la Coursera or something?

I realize that this costs tuition, but it might be an asset to have formal training and education in Spanish, at the college or university level. Plus, this is a GPA booster.

I do not know about Coursera or other free sources, but I know that MOOCs are very hyped and overrated.

While "free" solutions provide good options, at this point of time, they are limited in their own way. They have a purpose and they do work, but I believe that formal training would be beneficial and an asset for an applicant.

I am not against free solutions at all, but I think that your time (but maybe/probably not money) and effort is best spent through formal education. This is only an asset for an applicant.

 

[JuanPabloCastel]

(-) 1 for duolingo.
my friends and I have an odd obsession with learning languages and we've done loads of research on the different programs and their strengths for learning different languages. for spanish, the best of the free (including things we can find for free through torrents) that we have found is, by far, memrise. duolingo might help you with doing well in nonconversational (literature) spanish classes and in translation, but if you want an intuitive knowledge of vocabulary, memrise is the way to go. after that, you can perhaps use duolingo to get structure and grammar down, but i think watching a movie with subtitles and pausing after every sentence and repeating it 5 times to yourself until it is second-nature is the best way to do it.
of course, this is all for if you are a loner. the number one way is, and always will be, practicing with native speakers. many spanish speakers would love to help someone interested in their language, especially for such a good cause.

 

[13132]

(-) 1 for duolingo.
my friends and I have an odd obsession with learning languages and we've done loads of research on the different programs and their strengths for learning different languages. for spanish, the best of the free (including things we can find for free through torrents) that we have found is, by far, memrise. duolingo might help you with doing well in nonconversational (literature) spanish classes and in translation, but if you want an intuitive knowledge of vocabulary, memrise is the way to go. after that, you can perhaps use duolingo to get structure and grammar down, but i think watching a movie with subtitles and pausing after every sentence and repeating it 5 times to yourself until it is second-nature is the best way to do it.
of course, this is all for if you are a loner. the number one way is, and always will be, practicing with native speakers. many spanish speakers would love to help someone interested in their language, especially for such a good cause.

I will look into that. I am a recent graduate still living in my college town and I discovered the Spanish Department has a two hour "Cafe Hispano" at a local Starbucks were speakers of all level can come and converse about anything. You can even just listen! I will definitely be checking that out.

 

[13132]

I realize that this costs tuition, but it might be an asset to have formal training and education in Spanish, at the college or university level. Plus, this is a GPA booster.

I do not know about Coursera or other free sources, but I know that MOOCs are very hyped and overrated.

While "free" solutions provide good options, at this point of time, they are limited in their own way. They have a purpose and they do work, but I believe that formal training would be beneficial and an asset for an applicant.

I am not against free solutions at all, but I think that your time (but maybe/probably not money) and effort is best spent through formal education. This is only an asset for an applicant.

I think a paid/formal course is out of the question for me. I recently graduated (and found out I have been accepted to a med school this cycle!) and am working full time. I can't justify the money or structured time commitment of a class, but I think you make good points. Ideally, I would pay for a class and take them at my alma mater (where I am currently employed).

 

[HopefulSlav]

I would watch movies that I knew in Spanish and would use that to study. I would suggest Napoleon Dynamite.

 

[okokok]

There's a sitcom on YouTube called "extra" or "extr@" that's meant for language learners but still (somewhat) entertaining (in that it seems like an actual sitcom with simpler language and not a language-learning program). They have a version of the show for Spanish-, French-, and English-learners. I just started the Spanish. I like that the episodes are only ten minutes long because that's about all I can concentrate on trying to hear and understand before getting tired and my attention flagging. People compare the storyline to the American show Friends.

I think the absolute most important thing though is to practice speaking. I lived in Japan for three years and lived with Japanese roommates, but when I left, I was good at listening and reading but not as good at speaking. I was always embarrassed of how dumb I thought I sounded and didn't put myself out there enough when it came to having conversations. I'm trying not to repeat that mistake with Spanish.

 

[deleted303591]

I think a paid/formal course is out of the question for me. I recently graduated (and found out I have been accepted to a med school this cycle!) and am working full time. I can't justify the money or structured time commitment of a class, but I think you make good points. Ideally, I would pay for a class and take them at my alma mater (where I am currently employed).

I wanted to wish you congrats on your acceptance!!!!

Good luck!