Reprinted Articles

There are plenty of language self learning programs on the market these days. Some are quite expensive and some seem like a reasonable price but surely the ultimate judge of value for money is whether the product has managed to teach you to speak Spanish. Can you learn to speak Spanish from just a book and/or a CD or MP3 ? Well, kind of. This article will cover the advantages and disadvantages of using an audio language course to learn Spanish.

A definite advantage of an audio course is that it is a good simulation of the method we used to learn our native language. As a baby you learn your native language by listening and eventually repeating what you hear. This is the same method that is used with a Spanish CD or MP3. The words and phrases are listened to and repeated. There is a dialog that you take part in much like the dialog a baby has with it’s mother.

This is in sharp contrast to more traditional methods that require students to learn reading, writing and grammar at the same time. This is not an intuitive model as most kids learn these skills after they are fluent speakers. This teaching method works for some people but many get overwhelmed by the huge amount of knowledge and learning they have to take in and simply lose interest.

Another advantage of an audio course is that it teaches you correct pronunciation (provided the audio is by a native Spanish speaker). This is important for a student of a new language because practicing your skills is the best way to improve those skills. However, if you can’t pronounce words people will not understand you. This is in contrast to not getting the grammar right. People will understand what you mean even though the grammar is wrong. speaking to people not only improves your skills but gives you confidence, and this is important if you want to get fluent in the language.

Lastly, a great benefit of a learn Spanish CD or MP3 is that it is easy to use. The classic example of this is listening to the course as you drive to work each morning. You could also listen to it in the gym or when cooking a meal.

To some extent this is true. However, in my experience you can’t devote your full attention to more than one thing, especially when it comes to a new language. Michel Thomas has many audio only courses and he advises (in the introduction to the courses) that you don’t do anything else but listen to the audio. I tend to agree with him, especially on the first few listens.

If you have listened to the audios half a dozen times then it gets easier to multi task but initially I would say it is a no no.

So can you learn to speak Spanish with a CD or MP3 course ? I think they are really useful in teaching you the language. They will not make you fluent but they will give you some skills that can help you get to that kind of level. They break the learning process down into more sizable chunks. They concentrate on getting 2 core skills right rather than hitting you with five areas of learning. They also give you some confidence to speak to native Spanish speaking people. To me this is where the real learning comes from and having this confidence is essential.

Last 5 posts by Adrian Fletcher

• Homemade Dog Food Recipes - Learn To Make Your Pet's Food - June 24th, 2008
• Home Cooked Dog Food Is Easier To Make Than you Think - June 17th, 2008
• Are Sunbeds Healthy ? - June 7th, 2008
• What Are The Causes And Effects Of Skin Cancer - June 6th, 2008
• What Is Normal Cholesterol " The Good, Bad And The Ugly - June 4th, 2008

Tags: Education