Learning Spanish need recommendations.....

I found three books are very useful ( plus a dictionary just to get the various nouns):

Teach Yourself Series - Basic Spanish Grammar (one page of a lesson, say ser vs. estar and on the facing page about 12 test questions, answers in the back. About 100 grammar rules in all. This book has changed a bit from the one I had but is a good start.

333 Spanish Verbs - a small (very) red book with 333 verbs, a basic discussion on conjugation (subjective etc.) at the front, the top 30 verbs have an extra page of examples, all verbs have at least some examples, all verbs have all forms conjugated plus the past participle and progressive form and a pointer as to the conjugation rule, and there is a dictionary of other verbs, in both languages and a key to see how to conjugate them is in the back.

There is also a good Barrons book on grammar that is very tiny and is handy to have as reference especially for the rules and prepositions.

I need to look for Spanish on a CD. Sometimes I know what the written words mean but if you don't hear Spanish on a daily bases I am lost when hearing someone speak it.

Have you translated your favorite songs? Get a dictionary and work on translating songs that you like. Hearing them in this manner helps drill it into your mind. If you have problems translating anything, we're always here to help.

I also have the 333 Spanish Verbs, and I also highly recommend this book.

How I "Learned" Dominican Spanish!

I used,and highly recommend,the "Total Immersion" method!!
Weather you live in the DR or not,it seems to really work.Of course it is "easier" here.You can have "teachers" all around you.I started while I still lived in Boston.
1.Buy a "Franklin" "Spanish Professor" translator.
2..Read Spanish books,and newspapers.
3."Watch" Spanish "TV"
4.Listen (At home,and in the car)to Spanish Radio.(Preferably Dominican)And "Tapes" of Dominican songs.
5.Send E-mails,and/or "faxes" back and forth to a Dominican.
You have to train both the left and right halves of your brain.That means you must "See" written words.You must "hear" spoken words,and you must "write" the words.(Tip,read "outloud" kill two birds with one stone!)
6.get a set of audio tapes at the bookstore.Use them as directed,buy don't "obcess" about them!
Someone has already stated on DR1 that you should try and learn"proper" Dominican Spanish,not "Dominican Ghetto Slang".I initially made that mistake.Save the "slang" for later! When you say;"Boy pa ya mano" kind of classifies you as hanging with "low Lifes".
On the same subject,don't try to be a Dominican,(another mistake I first made!)be yourself,learning and speaking good Spanish,living and working in the Dominican Republic.You will get much more respect,from the kinds of people you need it from that way.
Dress "Nice".
Don't wear "shorts"!
Have a pen in your pocket,and a handkerchief too.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Tapes or CD's mean you can repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat

You can buy Barron's Mastering Spanish 1 and 2 via Amazon.com--for about $40 US each. This is the technology used by the Foreign Service Institute of the US to teach diplomats, Peace Corps, etc.

I have recommended it on this board before and still swear by it.

Do not make the mistake of thinking you can actually learn to speak Spanish by concentrating on a book of verb conjugations.

If you search this board you can find additional messages about this way to learn to speak Spanish.

But, don't kid yourself--you need to repeat (using a perfect model) dozens of times to get the rhythm, intonation, and pronunciation correct. That's why I advocate these tapes. If you are watching novellas, that's a great way to hear the rhythms, etc. but it's not a reasonable way to afford yourself the opportunity to practice in a meaningful way.

Good luck.

Pimsleur

I really like Pimsluur basic Spanish.

Chuckuindy

Music said:

Hola,
Can anyone recommend anything?
I want to learn how to speak, read and write.

I watch Spanish telenovelas which believe it or not has improved my spanish a quite a bit lol and I listen to music all the time. I can understand a lot more compared to when I first started listening to Spanish music.

Click to expand...

A couple other tips - CNN en Espanol since the newsreaders tend to have extremely good diction. Children's TV shows since by neccesity the script will be toned down a lot and the vocabulary part won't be so confusing.

Pen pals (not chat - too fast) via dating sites or others though at times (often) the written word and grammar is so horrendous you will soon surpass the writer even if they are native Spanish speaking, and you will have to almost read out loud and translate what you hear yourself say as the written will be 50% or more wrong.

YAT (Yet another Tip)

DVD's - listen in English with Spanish subtitles which are usually pretty good (and better than pen pals writing) then listen in Spanish with English subtitles. Then in Spanish no subtitles. Pick DVD's you like a lot of course.