Job Discussion Forums

[Silence820]

does anyone know of any good spanish classes in mexico city?

[geaaronson]

Rumor has it that UADY`s program is best. There is also a program at the Alliant University that gets good marks. International House has a program but I have heard conflicting reports at to its worth.

[wildchild]

um...no. but i would avoid academic institutions... just my personal preference.

i would go instead with a private tutor...

[TheLongWayHome]

[Silence820]

[wildchild]

some people just learn better watchin a TV, sometimes a dictionary handy.

i'm not one of them. I prefer human interaction.

but whatever gets er done!!!

[Oreen Scott]

Here's my take on things:

Watching TV works if you already have some knowledge of Spanish. After a year if I'm lucky and listen very carefully I can understand enough to get the gist of what's going on. The Novelas are supposively the easiest to understand.

The internet is a good resource, studyspanish.com is a great. There are many others I use.

I'm now at a somewhat conversational level, if I'm lucky, and the advantage of a professional Spanish teacher is that he/she speaks Spanish to you at a rate of speed and with simple enough language that you can understand.

Easy readers help - If you can find "Easy Spanish Reader" by William T. Tardy I'd recommend it.

Intercambio is good, but I think it only works when the Spanish speaker is at the same level of English as you are with Spanish, otherwise it's not fair.

I also use flash cards I've made at Quiznet.

In summary, I use a lot of different methods, and remind myself its poco a poco.

I'm going to Guatemala in March and plan a four week immersion course.

I doubt all Spanish schools in Mexico are crap. Becari here in Oaxaca has at least one good teacher because I worked with him for a while in September and October to bring my grammar to an intermediate level.

[TheLongWayHome]

[Phil_K]

Those 'Epiphany' moments are amazing! When people ask me the question that TLWH posed, I usually say, I don't know! It's like an organic growth - I couldn't tell you exactly when I reached fluency (if indeed that's what I have now, and besides, as in everything, I'm still learning). As an English teacher you are constantly telling your students, "Think in English", without really believing that's possible; then sometime in the future you realize that you are actually thinking in Spanish, i.e. not translating your thoughts. This kinda attachs to the other thread, "Is Spanish necessary. IMHO, this experience helps a lot with the mentoring of your students.

[Prof.Gringo]

[Emeris]

I'll agree with a couple of the previous posters and recommend using different strategies, including TV. After watching some every day you should see quite a bit of improvement after a few months. Soap operas are helpful because the actors tend to speak relatively slowly and clearly.

I think language exchanges are a good idea, and they're free. They helped me a lot.

[Prof.Gringo]

[Silence820]

[Emeris]

Language exchanges - intercambios - where you get together with a native speaker of the language you want to learn or improve (who wants to learn your language) at a cafe, for example. You spend half the time speaking in your language and the other half in the language you want to learn. As Oreen Scott mentions, they don't always work for everyone, but for some people they're very helpful - I'm one of the latter group.