Ways to approach fluency in Spanish without taking a course

[theWUbear]

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When I graduated undergrad I had taken three straight 300+ courses in Spanish and was well on my way to achieving my goal of having a level of competency in Spanish that would allow me to one day be able to speak with patients in Spanish (and on a day previous to that mention I can do that on med school applications).

I am currently taking a post-bacc filled with Bio courses, to be followed by a free summer and then two years of Masters in Biology. I'd love to continue Spanish classes, but that is not an option.

Does anyone have tips for learning/improving/sustaining Spanish language ability when one is not able to take a course?

 

[Isoprop]

practice with native speakers?

 

[sgtbrushes]

Language immersion is the most efficient way, without a doubt, to learn a language. If there are no fluent Spanish speakers in your neck of the woods, you can try Rosetta Stone. It's expensive, so try to see if you can borrow a copy from a friend, family member, or school, but it does a pretty good job of simulating immersion.

 

[dw2158]

join a spanish meet up group.

 

[voitokas]

Start a medical Spanish club in medical school

 

[s1lver]

Watch movies with Spanish subtitles or watch Spanish movies with English subs.

 

[rowerontheriver]

Does anyone have tips for learning/improving/sustaining Spanish language ability when one is not able to take a course?

Take a trip to Mexico (or Spain though it may cost more). If you have a free summer, it's a great time, and you can get a fight for fairly cheap, and lodging in a non-touristy area can be very affordable.

 

[FallenHero]

move to california

 

[bunnity]

I second the movies suggestion - and go for movies that you know well in English, like kids' movies or ones you've watched a bunch of times.

Try your library for Rosetta Stone.

 

[loveoforganic]

Drive around in Mexico until you run out of fuel, then drop your cell phone in a puddle.

 

[brooklynblunder]

i heard rosetta stone was actually really good

 

[chman]

EDIT: Did not realize the OP was already at the 300 level making my suggestions useless.

 

[apumic]

i heard rosetta stone was actually really good

Only if you're learning your colors still, lol.
Honestly, Rosetta Stone is extremely basic Spanish -- nowhere near the level needed to make it useful.

Immersion is the only way to really get your Spanish to any degree of fluency. You need to be out there talking w/ native speakers, making mistakes, etc. As an English speaker first, you haven't learned Spanish until you have said you were pregnant or aroused or hoped someone would f*** you at least once in Spanish on accident! (mientame! comeme! estoy embarazado, estoy excitado, estoy flojo....)

A lot of the Spanish speakers that move to the US learn English by watching tv.

There are some things you will be able to pick up by doing that, and speaking with others, but there are some things you will not.

Verb conjugation is the number one thing you need to learn, and is the hardest IMO. You can pick up verb conjugation cheat sheets at your college book store. Once you learn how to do that it will be a lot easier to put sentences together.

Verb conjugation is definitely important to learn. I'd suggest learning is as you use it. That is, find someone who speaks Spanish and talk to them. Tell them stories, etc. Listen to what they say. In all honesty, you really only need the present and both past (preterito y imperfecto) tenses. They don't actually use the formal future tense except in hymns and older literature. Conversationally, they use the ir a [infinitivo] construction or the present with a date (e.g., Regreso a mi país en Julio.) When showing desire for something, etc. or to show doubt or uncertain future, the subjunctive is used. (In their minds, it is "the future tense," although it's really a subjunctive tense -- basically take the present yo form and switch AR<-->ER/IR verb endings for the present subjunctive and use the 3rd person plural preterite and substitute -ara for AR and -iera for ER/IR). With those 5 tenses in mind, you can say most things. The more complex Spanish tenses (of which there are a total of 14 "official" tenses and numerous other derivations) are helpful at times but can be worked around as needed.

 

[neskalee]

Try working at a fast food restaurant in California for 3+ years.
I'm totally fluent and I learned a little Russian too! Also got to hear a lot of great stories about border jumping and people running across the desert with no water for 9 days at a time. Exciting stuff.

 

[chman]

Verb conjugation is definitely important to learn. I'd suggest learning is as you use it. That is, find someone who speaks Spanish and talk to them. Tell them stories, etc. Listen to what they say. In all honesty, you really only need the present and both past (preterito y imperfecto) tenses. They don't actually use the formal future tense except in hymns and older literature. Conversationally, they use the ir a [infinitivo] construction or the present with a date (e.g., Regreso a mi país en Julio.) When showing desire for something, etc. or to show doubt or uncertain future, the subjunctive is used. (In their minds, it is "the future tense," although it's really a subjunctive tense -- basically take the present yo form and switch AR<-->ER/IR verb endings for the present subjunctive and use the 3rd person plural preterite and substitute -ara for AR and -iera for ER/IR). With those 5 tenses in mind, you can say most things. The more complex Spanish tenses (of which there are a total of 14 "official" tenses and numerous other derivations) are helpful at times but can be worked around as needed.

I have only taken one quarter of Spanish, so all I use is present and past tense. I also use the tense for "ing" with the ando or iendo endings. That seems to get me by.

 

[apumic]

I have only taken one quarter of Spanish, so all I use is present and past tense. I also use the tense for "ing" with the ando or iendo endings. That seems to get me by.

Honestly, when I studied abroad it was actually easier for the people who knew about that much Spanish to become conversational quickly. Whereas, for me, it took longer although I ultimately got more out of the experience. But I noticed that initially those who only knew 1 tense (present) could communicate pretty well (they just sounded awkward). Whereas for me it took time b/c I was deciding how to say it b/c I had multiple possible ways and I wanted to sound "correct." Then I dated a bilingual girl down there and any sense that I was actually starting to speak Spanish well was quickly dashed, lol.

Moral is, I guess, just say it. The truth is most of what they say is pretty simple: "Quiero bajar" (I want to get off) if you want off the bus (not "Si puede parar el autobus usted, lo aprecio, para q pueda bajar yo" -- "If you would stop the bus I would appreciate it so I can get off"). When talking with pts, you probably only need a few basic phrases to at least get by (obviously, giving diagnoses, treatment plans, etc., should be done by someone who speaks the language at a native level of fluency):

Bueno! Como esta? -- hello, how are you?
Ha tenido problems con...? -- have you had problems with...?
Tiene dolor en su...? -- do you have pain in...?
Describe su dolor. -- describe your pain. (Of course, you need to know some terms to understand their description... you could also ask "Es su dolor como...? -- is your pain like...)
Hay otros problemas? -- are there any other problems?
Voy a verificar su...? -- I'm going to check your.... (pulso -- pulse, presión sanguinea -- blood pressure, etc.)

 

[alexlex143]

Only if you're learning your colors still, lol.
Honestly, Rosetta Stone is extremely basic Spanish -- nowhere near the level needed to make it useful.

Immersion is the only way to really get your Spanish to any degree of fluency. You need to be out there talking w/ native speakers, making mistakes, etc. As an English speaker first, you haven't learned Spanish until you have said you were pregnant or aroused or hoped someone would f*** you at least once in Spanish on accident! (mientame! comeme! estoy embarazado, estoy excitado, estoy flojo....)




Verb conjugation is definitely important to learn. I'd suggest learning is as you use it. That is, find someone who speaks Spanish and talk to them. Tell them stories, etc. Listen to what they say. In all honesty, you really only need the present and both past (preterito y imperfecto) tenses. They don't actually use the formal future tense except in hymns and older literature. Conversationally, they use the ir a [infinitivo] construction or the present with a date (e.g., Regreso a mi país en Julio.) When showing desire for something, etc. or to show doubt or uncertain future, the subjunctive is used. (In their minds, it is "the future tense," although it's really a subjunctive tense -- basically take the present yo form and switch AR<-->ER/IR verb endings for the present subjunctive and use the 3rd person plural preterite and substitute -ara for AR and -iera for ER/IR). With those 5 tenses in mind, you can say most things. The more complex Spanish tenses (of which there are a total of 14 "official" tenses and numerous other derivations) are helpful at times but can be worked around as needed.

You are making it waaaay to complicated. It's not ESSENTIAL to learn conjugation and verb tenses explicitly. Like most people have said, it's about immersion. That's the best way to learn. People who speak Spanish don't come here and learn how to conjugate our verbs in the mandative subjunctive and the past subjunctive. They learn by immersion. By speaking, especially since it's all around us.

Since you are pursuing a medical career (I presume), you could try volunteering at some county clinics. There are plenty of Spanish speaking folk that use county services and I'm sure it could help you practice. Since you've already taken several Spanish courses, I'm sure you have somewhat of an idea how to converse. You just need to practice practice practice. Nunca vas a poder hablar con nadie si no tratas!

 

[apumic]

You are making it waaaay to complicated. It's not ESSENTIAL to learn conjugation and verb tenses explicitly. Like most people have said, it's about immersion. That's the best way to learn. People who speak Spanish don't come here and learn how to conjugate our verbs in the mandative subjunctive and the past subjunctive. They learn by immersion. By speaking, especially since it's all around us.

Since you are pursuing a medical career (I presume), you could try volunteering at some county clinics. There are plenty of Spanish speaking folk that use county services and I'm sure it could help you practice. Since you've already taken several Spanish courses, I'm sure you have somewhat of an idea how to converse. You just need to practice practice practice. Nunca vas a poder hablar con nadie si no tratas!

Immersion is best, which is exactly what I stated. You need to get out and actually practice; however, to practice, you need some fundamental skills. The best Spanish teaching programs have a combination of classroom instruction (i.e., learning the grammar and getting some guided conversational practice) and immersion experience (i.e., learning the language in-country). You can live in a Spanish-speaking community for years w/o learning any Spanish beyond "hola" b/c they will talk to you in English and/or adapt their language to your very limited understanding and/or avoid conversation topics that are too advanced for you when you're around.

To really converse well, you need some basic knowledge of the language. If you read my whole post, you might have noticed I emphasized that there are only a few phrases the OP needs as well as the fact that in everyday conversation most things are said simply (e.g., the quiero bajar example). OTOH, to really speak the language, it's going to require more a advanced understanding of the language. Adults learn language differently from young children. We know this from studies of the brain itself. When teaching adults, you relate it to what they already know. You will get that most from a good instructor. (Hence the simplifications of -ó = ed, -aba = used to and haber -ado = have done, for instance.)

A combination is best. Take it from someone who learned Spanish as a second language, became fluent, and now tutors others in it. You have to immerse yourself but having some structured learning alongside the immersion experience (or integrated w/ it) will greatly accelerate the learning process.

Looking back at my post, you completely missed the point of the examples. They are a guide to what the OP needs to learn. In a given conversation in Spanish w/ a native you have hundreds of things to learn; you cannot learn them all at once. Therefore, it is best to have some idea of what you should pay attention to at first. Learning idiomatic phrases, for instance, isn't going to help you if you're still missing a basic intuitive grammatical understanding of the language.

 

[alexlex143]

Immersion is best, which is exactly what I stated. You need to get out and actually practice; however, to practice, you need some fundamental skills. The best Spanish teaching programs have a combination of classroom instruction (i.e., learning the grammar and getting some guided conversational practice) and immersion experience (i.e., learning the language in-country). You can live in a Spanish-speaking community for years w/o learning any Spanish beyond "hola" b/c they will talk to you in English and/or adapt their language to your very limited understanding and/or avoid conversation topics that are too advanced for you when you're around.

To really converse well, you need some basic knowledge of the language. If you read my whole post, you might have noticed I emphasized that there are only a few phrases the OP needs as well as the fact that in everyday conversation most things are said simply (e.g., the quiero bajar example). OTOH, to really speak the language, it's going to require more a advanced understanding of the language. Adults learn language differently from young children. We know this from studies of the brain itself. When teaching adults, you relate it to what they already know. You will get that most from a good instructor. (Hence the simplifications of -ó = ed, -aba = used to and haber -ado = have done, for instance.)

A combination is best. Take it from someone who learned Spanish as a second language, became fluent, and now tutors others in it. You have to immerse yourself but having some structured learning alongside the immersion experience (or integrated w/ it) will greatly accelerate the learning process.

Looking back at my post, you completely missed the point of the examples. They are a guide to what the OP needs to learn. In a given conversation in Spanish w/ a native you have hundreds of things to learn; you cannot learn them all at once. Therefore, it is best to have some idea of what you should pay attention to at first. Learning idiomatic phrases, for instance, isn't going to help you if you're still missing a basic intuitive grammatical understanding of the language.

for someone who has taken several 300 level Spanish courses (like the OP stated), I'm sure they have already have "some basic knowledge of the language." I think you're dumbing it down. The OP has basic knowledge, so what they need to do now is apply that knowledge. You're dumbing it down way too much. Maybe all the information is good for someone who is just starting out with Spanish. For someone who already has the fundamentals down, what needs to be done now is actually immersing oneself in an environment where one can practice constantly. I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but it seems like you completely misunderstood what the OP was asking.

 

[apumic]

for someone who has taken several 300 level Spanish courses (like the OP stated), I'm sure they have already have "some basic knowledge of the language." I think you're dumbing it down. The OP has basic knowledge, so what they need to do now is apply that knowledge. You're dumbing it down way too much. Maybe all the information is good for someone who is just starting out with Spanish. For someone who already has the fundamentals down, what needs to be done now is actually immersing oneself in an environment where one can practice constantly. I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but it seems like you completely misunderstood what the OP was asking.

Sorry, I scanned his OP and then replied to where the thread was at the time. I didn't see where the OP had stopped. I agree that straight immersion is probably most appropriate at this point. The aforementioned ideas such as working in a Mexican restaurant (or any number of other restaurants as well) or finding a Skype buddy to talk w/, etc., would be good ways of getting that immersion experience w/o moving. There are a number of free websites that will connect you with native Spanish speakers. For many of them, the idea is that you help them w/ English and they, your Spanish.

 

[casillas]

Only if you're learning your colors still, lol.
Honestly, Rosetta Stone is extremely basic Spanish -- nowhere near the level needed to make it useful.

Immersion is the only way to really get your Spanish to any degree of fluency. You need to be out there talking w/ native speakers, making mistakes, etc. As an English speaker first, you haven't learned Spanish until you have said you were pregnant or aroused or hoped someone would f*** you at least once in Spanish on accident! (mientame! comeme! estoy embarazado, estoy excitado, estoy flojo....)


.

So true, one time in Spain i told someone i just met that i was 'caliente' instead of saying 'hace calor'. so instead of saying that i was hot (temperature) i told a stranger that i was horny. Considering i was a foreigner in a club at 3am i am Lucky the guy (i'm female) did not take me to my word.
But i learnt my lesson.

 

[apumic]

So true, one time in Spain i told someone i just met that i was 'caliente' instead of saying 'hace calor'. so instead of saying that i was hot (temperature) i told a stranger that i was horny. Considering i was a foreigner in a club at 3am i am Lucky the guy (i'm female) did not take me to my word.
But i learnt my lesson.

Haha... yep. You made the one common mistake I forgot to mention! lol
But yeah, each of the ones I mentioned was one either I or someone else made while I was abroad... lol... apparently there are a lot of ways of describing your horny self in Spanish! lol...

 

[chman]

So true, one time in Spain i told someone i just met that i was 'caliente' instead of saying 'hace calor'. so instead of saying that i was hot (temperature) i told a stranger that i was horny. Considering i was a foreigner in a club at 3am i am Lucky the guy (i'm female) did not take me to my word.
But i learnt my lesson.

Yea, I was lucky to have a Spanish teacher that taught us words that, if said just a little different, will get you into some trouble. She said that she thought it was weird that more Spanish teachers did not teach that as one of the first things.

 

[apumic]

Yea, I was lucky to have a Spanish teacher that taught us words that, if said just a little different, will get you into some trouble. She said that she thought it was weird that more Spanish teachers did not teach that as one of the first things.

So did mine, but the thing is you can't teach all the possibilities. There are literally hundreds of mistakes you could make (probably thousands). Misconjugate "lie to me" and it becomes "f*** me." Mispronounce cogear ("to limp" -- by not enunciating properly) and it becomes "to f***" (coger). Hablame is "talk to me" but comeme is.... Ser bueno is along the lines of "to be a happy person" (a bit awkward to say but nonetheless) and "estar bueno" would be along the lines of "to be good at the moment"; however, while "ser flojo" is "to be lazy," "estar flojo" has a very different meaning (es como despues del sexo pero antes de la proxima vez). Pretty much... if you live there long enough as a foreigner, you're bound to make some mistakes, which is half the fun of it (as long as you can take the embarrassment). At the least, it makes for some great and memorable stories!

 

[fizzgig]

OP, spanish should be the easiest to keep up with here (accessibility-wise) 🙂

i took 3 foreignlanguage lit classes in college too. i then wandered off to grad school and didn't try to regain it til probably 5 years out from the last class. reviewing a bit of grammar might not be a bad place to start (basic conjugations, odd conjugations, different tense conjugations for common stuff, word order, endings on words). once you realize you sorta remember that stuff, maybe make some vocab lists (you like medicine? make a med list. hobbies, your life plan, family, stuff that is conversational or that you would use to explain when people would ask you common questions if you were getting to know them). i don't know if that is necessary but that's what i did. the reason is that to practice writing and speaking you'll want to be interacting with real people if possible, so in your sort of preprep of getting your mind back to even thinking about it, get ready for those interactions. you need to be able to hear it, read it, write it, and speak it, and one doesn't necessarily translate to the next (might for you, doesn't always for me).

listening: find some podcasts. might have to sort through some that speak too fast or are too basic, but should be able to find some where a person just talks about a topic in clear spanish for a few minutes, or explains a grammar rule or something in spanish. download a bunch of the podcasts and listen to them while you walk places, in your car, whatever. i also second the tv shows/movies idea. listen to stuff you like dubbed in spanish. you can put on the subtitles (spanish) if need be to see what word it was you needed to look up, but ideally don't use the subtitles. hopefully you will be able to hear a word and know how to spell it so you can look it up. it's kinda neat after forgetting it all to realize you can watch tv in a foreign language.

writing: this seems kinda painful, but even as listening gets so much better, your ability to formulate for yourself can lag. find a penpal site somewhere online and find some people who will correspond. i found this really helpful to get me to just start making my own sentences.

reading: you probably can find more stuff in spanish than other languages... find magazines, newspapers, or go back and reread your books from your lit classes. you can probably order kid novels in spanish too offline. starting with easy books (elementary school level, where it's 100 pages but is not super literary) might be a good place to start. you can even get stuff you've already read if you order popular books (harry potter or something i'm sure).

speaking: i second the meetup thing. if you don't know how to find a native speaker then look for a group that meets with the intention of peer pressuring everyone into not speaking english during their meetings, however awkward and halting the conversations seem. also, your penpal peoples, if they are into learning english or if they're just super friendly, may suggest skype conversations. since you're doing spanish there may also be opportunities in your community once you're comfortable, so go volunteer!

don't know how easily all that will apply to you but it seemed i was in a similar situation and i think making sure all the individual parts are there will give you variety and bring it back faster. time for me to take my own advice and get back to that meetup group 🙂

 

[jvesco22]

You can teach yourself along with a Spanish mamasita brah.

Take a look at a few of these things down here and you can find all of these for free if you know where to look!!

1. Rosetta Stone(Beginner Stuff) - Like someone said it won't teach you anything beyond basic words and phrases. The way the program is set up, it sucks for anything else.
2. Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Audio Set)
3. Pimsleur Spanish Course (Castellian aka "Proper" Spanish from Spain)

Then take a look at a few of these books, not for free though brotha.

1. Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs (Get the pocket version 333 verbs)
2. Madrigal's Magic Key to SPANISH
3. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses(Dorothy Richmond)
4. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions(Dorothy Richmond)
5. Stories from Latin America(It's a Book that has stories in Spanish and translated to English on the opposite page.
6. Any Spanish/English Dictionary(I have The New World Dictionary)

As mentioned before, try watching some novelas(Spanish Soaps), after a bit of learning, just to see if you can understand anything(Spanish speakers speak FAST)

Lastly and most importantly, you gotta get with a Spanish speaking princess. Not only will she be there to help and hold conversations with you in Spanish, chances are, she will be stacked from the back as well 😀

This is my situation and because my parents didn't teach me Spanish as a kid, I've had to learn it on my own. So far so good. I'm able to hold a conversation with my woman and her family. Although sometimes I'm lost, for the most part I've been doing real good, thanks to everything I've used.

It takes time, good luck!

 

[LizzyM]

Lived with a family that did not speak English.

TV (I prefer newscasts to soaps but both are good and game shows are hilarious but rather useless), movies with subtitles, radio & newspapers, books & comic books.

Worship services.

Friends who did not speak English.

A lover. 😎

 

[MT2MD]

O_O, I like that last reason.

 

[apumic]

Lived with a family that did not speak English.

TV (I prefer newscasts to soaps but both are good and game shows are hilarious but rather useless), movies with subtitles, radio & newspapers, books & comic books.

Worship services.

Friends who did not speak English.

A lover. 😎

Worship services work surprisingly well as you get to see the words on a screen as you sing them. Additionally, everything is slower, so you get to a point where you say things properly more quickly.

The lover route works quite nicely as well.... I still talk to my ex who's native and it gives me plenty of practice. I also learned all the "what not to say"s from her... you definitely won't get some of those in the classroom!

 

[hasp]

Only if you're learning your colors still, lol.
Honestly, Rosetta Stone is extremely basic Spanish -- nowhere near the level needed to make it useful.

Immersion is the only way to really get your Spanish to any degree of fluency. You need to be out there talking w/ native speakers, making mistakes, etc. As an English speaker first, you haven't learned Spanish until you have said you were pregnant or aroused or hoped someone would f*** you at least once in Spanish on accident! (mientame! comeme! estoy embarazado, estoy excitado, estoy flojo....)




Verb conjugation is definitely important to learn. I'd suggest learning is as you use it. That is, find someone who speaks Spanish and talk to them. Tell them stories, etc. Listen to what they say. In all honesty, you really only need the present and both past (preterito y imperfecto) tenses. They don't actually use the formal future tense except in hymns and older literature. Conversationally, they use the ir a [infinitivo] construction or the present with a date (e.g., Regreso a mi país en Julio.) When showing desire for something, etc. or to show doubt or uncertain future, the subjunctive is used. (In their minds, it is "the future tense," although it's really a subjunctive tense -- basically take the present yo form and switch AR<-->ER/IR verb endings for the present subjunctive and use the 3rd person plural preterite and substitute -ara for AR and -iera for ER/IR). With those 5 tenses in mind, you can say most things. The more complex Spanish tenses (of which there are a total of 14 "official" tenses and numerous other derivations) are helpful at times but can be worked around as needed.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]For me there is nothing as effective as living in the environment be it as a home-stay or with a program that focuses on teaching Medical Spanish. Your level of interaction and satisfaction in dealing competently with Latino patients and their families is the reward for the time and expense of spending time in a Spanish healthcare setting..


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]There are programs that cost $1000 to $1300 per week, I have lived in Honduras for 15 years and I can live for 3-4 months on that amount of cash. But if you need to be pampered and have your own guide/translator, well you are going to have to pay for that luxury. There are good programs here that are in the $250 to $350 range but they are best suited for those individuals and groups that have initiative, a 'get into it' personality and at least basic Spanish skills. There are few people in any of the many public & private health care facilities where I have volunteered that have time to lend you a pen, much less help you with your Spanish. .


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]WHEW, there are some clinics and areas in Honduras that are so desperate that if [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]you have skills (suture, basic lab & micro, etc.) you will be really able to get involved!

Almost all will welcome you and give you a letter of thanks for you time spent with them. Also it is a great way to get into the official world of CESAR's & CESAMO's...

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]When I came to Honduras 15 years ago it was not my intention to work in health care but there was such a need at the Community Clinic on the island that I now call home that it was hard not to volunteer. Where I settled was in Utila in the Islas de la Bahia (Bay Islands) and at that time all the health care care needs were in the hands of one Practical Nurse. I ended up being the 'doctor' for 6 years and then as administrator I was able to find medical staff (a DO) to replace me. The experience that you gain and friends that you make will serve you for a lifetime. One of the Dive Resorts here even allowed visiting docs to stay and dive at their place for free- can't beat that!!.


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]My background is as a Respiratory Therapist & Nurse Anesthetist and I was called .[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]on to handle all types of emergencies, with that as a background I was able to be certified as a Senior Hyperbaric Chamber Operator.
.

 

[hasp]

You can teach yourself along with a Spanish mamasita brah.

Take a look at a few of these things down here and you can find all of these for free if you know where to look!!

1. Rosetta Stone(Beginner Stuff) - Like someone said it won't teach you anything beyond basic words and phrases. The way the program is set up, it sucks for anything else.
2. Learning Spanish Like Crazy (Audio Set)
3. Pimsleur Spanish Course (Castellian aka "Proper" Spanish from Spain)

Then take a look at a few of these books, not for free though brotha.

1. Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs (Get the pocket version 333 verbs)
2. Madrigal's Magic Key to SPANISH
3. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses(Dorothy Richmond)
4. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions(Dorothy Richmond)
5. Stories from Latin America(It's a Book that has stories in Spanish and translated to English on the opposite page.
6. Any Spanish/English Dictionary(I have The New World Dictionary)

As mentioned before, try watching some novelas(Spanish Soaps), after a bit of learning, just to see if you can understand anything(Spanish speakers speak FAST)

Lastly and most importantly, you gotta get with a Spanish speaking princess. Not only will she be there to help and hold conversations with you in Spanish, chances are, she will be stacked from the back as well 😀

This is my situation and because my parents didn't teach me Spanish as a kid, I've had to learn it on my own. So far so good. I'm able to hold a conversation with my woman and her family. Although sometimes I'm lost, for the most part I've been doing real good, thanks to everything I've used.

It takes time, good luck!

I agree with everything except:
3. Pimsleur Spanish Course (Castellian aka "Proper" Spanish from Spain)

Here in Honduras, you need more colloquial Spanish, and for 6 years I lived with a native woman, that is what made me fluent... however it was not all homemade tortillas and crab soup!! Latina ladies can take some adapting to.

 

[theWUbear]

My thread has been revived! I appreciate everyone's comments...I think pod-casting and reading in Spanish is an easy way for one to rebuild vocabulary - podcasting I think is a fantastic idea since it would help with conversational skills. The Honduras story is also amazing...I will consider a trip to Latin America during the period after I finish my masters and before I start medical school.

OP, spanish should be the easiest to keep up with here (accessibility-wise) 🙂

i took 3 foreignlanguage lit classes in college too. i then wandered off to grad school and didn't try to regain it til probably 5 years out from the last class. reviewing a bit of grammar might not be a bad place to start (basic conjugations, odd conjugations, different tense conjugations for common stuff, word order, endings on words). once you realize you sorta remember that stuff, maybe make some vocab lists (you like medicine? make a med list. hobbies, your life plan, family, stuff that is conversational or that you would use to explain when people would ask you common questions if you were getting to know them). i don't know if that is necessary but that's what i did. the reason is that to practice writing and speaking you'll want to be interacting with real people if possible, so in your sort of preprep of getting your mind back to even thinking about it, get ready for those interactions. you need to be able to hear it, read it, write it, and speak it, and one doesn't necessarily translate to the next (might for you, doesn't always for me).

listening: find some podcasts. might have to sort through some that speak too fast or are too basic, but should be able to find some where a person just talks about a topic in clear spanish for a few minutes, or explains a grammar rule or something in spanish. download a bunch of the podcasts and listen to them while you walk places, in your car, whatever. i also second the tv shows/movies idea. listen to stuff you like dubbed in spanish. you can put on the subtitles (spanish) if need be to see what word it was you needed to look up, but ideally don't use the subtitles. hopefully you will be able to hear a word and know how to spell it so you can look it up. it's kinda neat after forgetting it all to realize you can watch tv in a foreign language.

writing: this seems kinda painful, but even as listening gets so much better, your ability to formulate for yourself can lag. find a penpal site somewhere online and find some people who will correspond. i found this really helpful to get me to just start making my own sentences.

reading: you probably can find more stuff in spanish than other languages... find magazines, newspapers, or go back and reread your books from your lit classes. you can probably order kid novels in spanish too offline. starting with easy books (elementary school level, where it's 100 pages but is not super literary) might be a good place to start. you can even get stuff you've already read if you order popular books (harry potter or something i'm sure).

speaking: i second the meetup thing. if you don't know how to find a native speaker then look for a group that meets with the intention of peer pressuring everyone into not speaking english during their meetings, however awkward and halting the conversations seem. also, your penpal peoples, if they are into learning english or if they're just super friendly, may suggest skype conversations. since you're doing spanish there may also be opportunities in your community once you're comfortable, so go volunteer!

don't know how easily all that will apply to you but it seemed i was in a similar situation and i think making sure all the individual parts are there will give you variety and bring it back faster. time for me to take my own advice and get back to that meetup group 🙂

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]For me there is nothing as effective as living in the environment be it as a home-stay or with a program that focuses on teaching Medical Spanish. Your level of interaction and satisfaction in dealing competently with Latino patients and their families is the reward for the time and expense of spending time in a Spanish healthcare setting..


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]There are programs that cost $1000 to $1300 per week, I have lived in Honduras for 15 years and I can live for 3-4 months on that amount of cash. But if you need to be pampered and have your own guide/translator, well you are going to have to pay for that luxury. There are good programs here that are in the $250 to $350 range but they are best suited for those individuals and groups that have initiative, a 'get into it' personality and at least basic Spanish skills. There are few people in any of the many public & private health care facilities where I have volunteered that have time to lend you a pen, much less help you with your Spanish. .


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]WHEW, there are some clinics and areas in Honduras that are so desperate that if [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]you have skills (suture, basic lab & micro, etc.) you will be really able to get involved!

Almost all will welcome you and give you a letter of thanks for you time spent with them. Also it is a great way to get into the official world of CESAR's & CESAMO's...

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]When I came to Honduras 15 years ago it was not my intention to work in health care but there was such a need at the Community Clinic on the island that I now call home that it was hard not to volunteer. Where I settled was in Utila in the Islas de la Bahia (Bay Islands) and at that time all the health care care needs were in the hands of one Practical Nurse. I ended up being the 'doctor' for 6 years and then as administrator I was able to find medical staff (a DO) to replace me. The experience that you gain and friends that you make will serve you for a lifetime. One of the Dive Resorts here even allowed visiting docs to stay and dive at their place for free- can't beat that!!.


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]My background is as a Respiratory Therapist & Nurse Anesthetist and I was called .[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]on to handle all types of emergencies, with that as a background I was able to be certified as a Senior Hyperbaric Chamber Operator.
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