So You Really Want To Learn Spanish-anyone use it?

[Jeanne in MN]

I did find one review in a Spanish thread, but when I did a search I get everything with "Spanish" in it.

 

Anyone care to share their experience with it? It appears to require a student book, teacher book and cds, right? Does the Castillian Spanish pose any issues with anyone?

[TexasRachel]

We just started it, only about ten lessons in. Dd likes it so far. I think its more complete than some of the others we've used. It is geared towards classrooms. There's discussions the kids should do, but I just have dd do them with DH. He's bilingual. He says it's pretty good. maybe once we actually get farther in I could tell you more.

[Sue G in PA]

My dd14 enjoys it as well. I think it is more thorough than most as well. I know Spanish, too, so that does help with pronunciation and the listening exercises.

[Jeanne in MN]

It's good to know it's a complete program.

 

So does it require those two books and the cd set?

 

How much does one book cover? Half a year? Full year? Other?

[Luckymama]

I just checked the Spanish version against the French we're using. It looks like they are set up the same, with the book, the answer book and the audio CD for each level.

 

Dd11 and I are learning French together. We've been working on French each day for only 15-20 minutes, one or two of the little sections, since October. Some days we just review the vocabulary flashcards we've made or play a little game. Right now we're in chapter 5 out of 9. If we had started in September (and not taken a long break when I was sick in Jan-Feb), I'd bet we would have finished the book this school year.

 

I purchased the separate assessment CD since I don't speak any French at all. I wanted to have the additional listening exercises for both of us.

[Ali in OR]

For us, the point of studying Spanish would be to communicate with Spanish speakers in the US. It would be helpful in certain future jobs to be bilingual (medical fields, teaching). For that purpose, I would only use a program that was Latin American Spanish. If you tried to use the language as spoken in Spain, you would sound "foreign" to local speakers. Some vocabulary is different and they use the vosotros form for plural 2nd person. It doesn't hurt to be familiar with that but it would be more beneficial to develop an ear for Latin American Spanish.

[Ohdanigirl]

I don't think this is so much of a problem. We use SYRWTLS in our home. We currently live in Mexico. The differences truly are not life altering. If we were learning the more casual "slang" type vocabulary, it might make a difference. Regardless of what program you use, you will run into vocabulary that is new or used differently.

 

Even in Latin America, the vocabulary varies, as do the accents.

 

HTH

 

Danielle

[Mabelen]

I don't think this is so much of a problem. We use SYRWTLS in our home. We currently live in Mexico. The differences truly are not life altering. If we were learning the more casual "slang" type vocabulary, it might make a difference. Regardless of what program you use, you will run into vocabulary that is new or used differently.

 

Even in Latin America, the vocabulary varies, as do the accents.

 

HTH

 

Danielle

 

:iagree:If you find a program that works well, don't worry about whether it is European Spanish, Mexican, Argentinian or Cuban Spanish. Anything that will have you learn the language well will be better than sticking to one regional variety but ending up not learning as much.