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Which is most effective for beginner's crash course in Spanish ?


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I was told the Spanish in 3 Days class will be offered in Boquete early February.   I've received several recommendations for this class.  I recently received an e-mail advertising a January Crash Course in Spanish taught by Renny.  Renny's class is significantly less expensive, but I do not know anyone who has taken her class.  Can anyone provide some feedback regarding personal experience with either of these beginner Spanish classes ?  We're looking to get the most bang for the buck and an effective jump start in Spanish.  Thanks !  Debe Emerson

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We did Renny’s class that began last January. We found it to be worthwhile. I assess myself as competent only at a basic level, providing that the subject matter is not dense/complex and that the Spanish speakers talk fairly slowly.  Marcelyn was not as successful. Our poor results are not a shortcoming of Renny’s class. At our age we just find learning a new language to be difficult. There is a lot of homework.

Personally speaking, I am very skeptical of any class claiming success after three days.

I still routinely complete one Duolingo session on my iPad everyday, and it is free but very basic, being more for vocabulary and phrases.

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I got an email from a friend who knows me well. He asked why I was "grousing" about having a lot of homework.

For clarification, I was not "grousing", but rather letting you know that there is a lot of homework. To my way of thinking, having homework is a good thing. Based on my experience, one cannot learn Spanish (or any language) by simply listening to a classroom lecture or participating in a discussion. You gotta work at it.

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3 hours ago, Bud said:

You gotta work at it.

I agree. We have taken private lessons, one on one, Spanish classes with Lisca Bruna. An excellent teacher. She gears the class for you. She can also teach two students that are on the same level together.

Personally, I do not do well in a group class. Some students will be way ahead of me and some not. Especially in a large class.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not everyone learns the same way.  We are doing Duolingo, Rocket Spanish and Language Transfer/The Thinking Method (on YouTube).  Each has a different approach to learning.  I find it better to switch between them to keep the neurons firing and to not be stuck with understanding only one delivery.   Ultimately, we need to practice with a native speaker to best understand at the speed and accent of the region.  

I am doing the reverse of how most Spanish speakers learn English...they watch TV in English.  I am watching tele novelas in Espanol.  I also have fun by translating what I find on Encuentra 24 that I don't yet understand, using Google translate.  That helps me learn valuable words that will be used in everyday interactions or descriptions.

Best phrases to learn first are

1)  Por favor, habla mas despacio (please speak more slowly)

2) Por favor, perdone mi espanol malo. Sigo siendo estudiante.  (please forgive my bad Spanish.  I am still a student.)

6-9 months total into this, and we  habla espanol poquito, no Bueno!   Ha Ha

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I too do Duolingo daily.  I also use Translate Google for words I run across on TV or while travelling about.  I live in Medellin now and even when I was living in Boquete I found that most Spanish speaking persons will correct you or help you out when you stumble.  Even though I have garnered enough Espanol to make small sentences, I am shy about doing so in public.  Need to get over this!  Are Rocket Spanish and Language Transfer free?

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