I'm posting this here because I just can't deal with the pinned thread in the Lounge anymore. . . <br><br>I'm wanting to learn Spanish starting as a complete novice. I'm going to look in to classes at nearby schools, but in the meantime, are there any recommended books that are good starters?<br><br>****************<br><br>[color:blue]VOTE</font color=blue>[color:red] for President George W. Bush on November 2, 2004</font color=red>

Transparent Language might interest you.<br><br>LINK<br><br>Only problem is no one forces you to spend X amount of time daily. The good is you can hone in on the words, topics you prefer. Common phrases and such...<br><br>

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Mactico or Myself could help... :)<br><br>%-) <--- me?

I think it depends on what the objective is. If you want to go to Spain or Mexico in three months time and be able to get around, talk to a taxi driver, even make small talk conversation I would recommend "Pimsleur". A google search will find the CD's. I've used it to get my brain thinking in Spanish before I go or to at least get some phrases to come out of my mouth in French so I don't sound too stupid. It sounds better to say, I'm really sorry but I don't speak French instead of I don't speak France.<br><br>You can load all the Pimsluer CD's into an iPOD and tune in whenever you want. I found two problems with this.<br>1) I could not drive a car while doing it. Your brain has to fully engage in the conversation and it is much harder then speaking on a cell phone.<br>2) People think you are strange if you keep repeating in Spanish that yes you are a north american and that you understand Spanish.<br>So when Pimsleur says find a quite place he means it.<br><br>Pimsleur is amazing if one commits to doing it. It is mentally tiring and takes a lot of work but one can achieve amazing results in two weeks.<br><br>If you want to read Spanish a completely different tact should be taken. The first time I went to Mexico I stayed with someone who recommended reading comic books. It worked and was entertaining to boot. Mexican comic books are a hoot. (Or they were in 1973.) I must have read 200 of them in a week. Reading them over and over again aloud was great fun. They are all conversational and use the current colloquialisms. So it helps reading and speaking. Switching your brain from translating to english direct to thinking in Spanish happened faster with comic books because they are second grade level. The other thing I read was the National Enquirer type paper. Reading about ghastly accidents and martians landing is also easy because it too is written at the second grade level.<br><br><br><br><br>luciferase is a four nineteener

I found the "living language" series with cd/cassette and accompanying book excellent help. but nothing beats immersing yourself and talking with native speakers.<br><br>It really depends on what kind of learner you are whether or not the classes will be of help. I took a $300 Berlitz course that only had 4 other students in the class. It was a total waste of money. I was outpacing the rest of the students because of my self-teaching and they were holding up the instructor from moving on.<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by squareman on 09/11/04 02:45 PM (server time).</EM></FONT></P>

Immersion = true, after a week in spain i was dreaming and talking in Spanish, never having studied it before. Also having a few beers in ya gets ya yacking with the locals rather quickly.<br><br><br><br>You cant polish a Turd.

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>Mactico or Myself could help... :)<p><hr></blockquote><p>Me too!<br><br>