Last week I signed up for an online Spanish class on a whim and now I'm thinking that was not smart.
How effective can an online language class really be?
I had four years of French in high school that mostly consisted of memorizing vocabulary, conjugating verbs and learning that the French think we're odd for bathing every day. In college I had two more semesters, in which the teachers spoke only French and the students were required to as well, and that's when it finally started clicking for me.
I'm not saying that's the only way to learn. Unless I'd been willing to plant myself in a francophone country, I never could have gotten to the point of speaking and understanding spoken French without the boring groundwork of verbs and vocab.
But sometimes I feel like spending a few months in Latin America really might be the only way for me to learn Spanish.
Failed attempts to date:
- I've tried to learn using the Pimsleur method. I found this to be incredibly effective, but the CD's are expensive, so I progressed only as far as the library had materials.
- I've tried watching the Spanish channel and listening to Shakira.
- I've tried online sites like StudySpanish.com.
- Lib, who's fluent, changed the language setting on my cell phone to Spanish and started emailing me only in Spanish (did not last long).
- Most recently, Mom and I took a Spanish class at the college last year, but it was a waste of time and we dropped out about three-fourths of the way through.
Almost immediately after signing up for this latest class I realized now is probably not the best time for me to give Spanish another shot, but by the time I got around to canceling my registration it was too late to get my money back. Therefore, I'm going to stick with it and see what I can learn. The class is only six weeks long, and it did get rave reviews from past students.
So if you walk into the office and I'm sitting in front of my computer wearing headphones and a puzzled look, now you know why.
1 comment:
Hurrah for not giving up! I can't wait until we can converse in Spanish.
I thought of 2 suggestions I would give to anyone wanting to learn another language:
1. Go to the place where you hope to use your language once you know it. If you want to learn a language so that you can volunteer, go ahead and connect with an organization and study what you need to study to make each interaction successful. Eventually you'll build a great language base, get the vocab that's pertinent to your interest, and probably pick up a good deal of the fun slang & culture along the way. This principle should hold true for any goal (travel, movie viewing, etc) except for employment.
2. The other thing I've found helpful is to find a friend who is equally fluent in English (or lacking) as you are in your second language & set up an exchange. Spend an hour speaking English, however hard it may be for the non-English speaker, and then flip-flop. The conversations will start out slow (and may involve dictionaries at first), but you'll gain speed & accuracy with time.
Suerte y te quiero mucho!
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