Comments Off December 31st, 2009

How Long Does It Take To Learn Spanish?

I am often asked, “how long does it take to learn Spanish?” I’m afraid that this is largely a million-dollar question and one for which there’s no simple answer.

Sadly there are simply too many variables concerned, in that so much depends on how much effort someone is ready to put into studying the language, and also which strategy or program they are going to be using. Add to that the incontrovertible fact that while some students may decide to use the services of a personal mentor, others will select a classroom environment instead. In fact, some individuals will rather opt for using one or other home study program which gets use out of books, multimedia, software, and audio recordings. You also have to ask yourself whether or not the individual will be learning the language in a land where it’s spoken as the local language, or whether they’ll be learning it in their home country. Similarly, the standard of a program or the experience of a teacher will also influence the result.

Since these variables will have such a direct impact on how long does it take to learn Spanish, it is just not possible to provide a simple response to this query. In reality, I have personally known individuals who after six months, were able to communicate confidently in conversational Spanish, but I have also met individuals who have attempted to study the Spanish language for a period of years, admittedly on an on and off basis, and yet after many years they can hardly get by.

Instead of attempt to provide a single response to this question, I’d rather offer what I feel to be the quickest way of learning Spanish. The most vital step of all, is for a person to seize each available opportunity with regards to interacting in the language they wish to learn, regardless of what language that could be.

While you actually do get those who are firm believers in the lecture room approach, I personally feel it takes too long unless it is done in association with another technique. To my mind, a self study strategy of top quality is by far superior in that it allows a student to move forward at their own pace rather than being tied down to the average study room pace. This is particularly true regarding scholars who are really intent on learning the Spanish language.

In this situation, I might suggest a student to select a reputable program which includes a range of audio lessons, multimedia lessons, and of course, written Spanish. Additionally, they should choose a program which allows for lessons to be downloaded onto a mobile device so that they can listen on their iPod for example. Remember, if you’re serious about learning a language, then you should aim for having the ability to not only speak it and read it, but also to write it and understand it. Unless a program covers all four of these areas, it should be avoided or at least, you will require some extra material.

As you may have already heard, Rocket Spanish is an intensely well-liked program, and not without reason. Considering that it addresses all four of the area’s discussed, it has gained a reputation for providing students with aclass] foundation for basic Spanish which in turn will make sure that you’re able to communicate confidently in Spanish within a relatively short space of time. Likewise, Rosetta Stone is known to be just as good, in that it also addresses the four areas discussed above. Furthermore, it is available in two versions so that students can choose between the “Spain” version and the South American Spanish version. Judging from testimonials, it seems that the Rosetta Stone program takes a little longer to work through, which of course means it’ll take you a little longer before you develop conversational Spanish but in general, it ranks right up there with Rocket Spanish. Also, Rosetta Stone is significantly more expensive.

As you can see, there are too many variables involved for me or anyone else to be ready to give a single answer with regards to “how long does it takes to learn Spanish. However, you’ve potentially also gathered by this point that there are several things you can do in order to speed up the process. Actually, many students go as far as using both the programs mentioned together with each other in order to develop conversational skills as fast as possible. However, unless you are continuously exposed to the Spanish language, no program will be capable of making you a hundred percent smooth. On the other hand, providing you are at an intermediate-to-advanced level, you might consider subscribing to Puerta del Sol Audio magazine which is a Spanish language abilities Magazine. Similarly, you’d be surprised at how much you can benefit from joining a Meetup group in your neighborhood that focuses on learning the Spanish language.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 4:41 amand is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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