Anyone know of any good Spanish distance learning courses?

[Donna Sch]

https://www.dundee.ac.uk/study/short/spanishbydistancelearning/ is one I'm looking at currently.
I want to know a little more than just super basic Camino Spanish as I will be needing to have phone conversations to organise accommodation etc since I will be on the Levante and Invierno in Winter. I have 13 months to play with. I used to study languages at high school many moons ago so I'm not starting completely from scratch with the grammar.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Hi Donna ,

I'm using from time to time "Duolingo"

Wish you well , Peter .

 

[Felice]

I'm currently using SaysomethinginSpanish, because it is mainly oral. I know some grammar but I need practice in speaking. The basis of the course is that they say a phrase or sentence in English then there is a gap in which you say the phrase in Spanish, followed by 2 native speakers saying it correctly. Better than nothing if you do not have access to a conversation class. It's a bit weird in places, in that they introduce things in a non conventional order, but I do feel more confident at getting the words out. My daughter came across the organisation as she is learning Welsh with them!

What really annoys me about the course, though, is that the male speaker is obviously Argentinian, and he pronounces some letters quite differently. Definitely confusing for me, a not very good linguist. Also the use of Usted all the time.

 

[laineylainey]

I am currently using an intercambio route to push myself to speak more Spanish. Mylanguageexchange.com
I have 3 people in Spain who want to improve their English. We take it in turns to speak Spanish or English. It does challenge me but I have learnt more Spanish in the last month than I have in classes the last couple of years.

 

[Turga]

Duolingo will let you practice basic grammar and sentences (for free). If you want to go a step further I personally think Fluencia is a good option. It also offers audio functions with voice recognition, but it is not a free offer. I think the price is around $90 for a one year subscription.

 

[Northern Laurie]

In addition to whichever courses you take, Netflix and other streaming services have foreign films. I will often watch in Spanish with English subtitles. It helps with comprehension, but not speaking.

 

[trecile]

I like the podcasts from Unlimited Spanish http://www.unlimitedspanish.com/podcasts/
He also sells courses, but podcasts are free, and the way that he teaches is very good.

 

[sharon w]

Hi Donna, there is an Instituto Cervantes in Sydney. Not sure what online courses they offer. I would contact them. I'm thinking of doing the same and I don't live in Sydney but further north.
Have you tried advertising for someone to converse with over a drink?

 

[C clearly]

There are free lessons as well as paid parts at Notes in Spanish, which is based in Madrid.

 

[HedaP]

Lots of excellent MOOCs available. Free and from universities all over the world. https://www.mooc-list.com/tags/spanish
I signed up for a free MOOC offered by The University of Salamanca. I tried to do the first few lessons but it needed a computer and at that time I only had a tablet. I should go back and try again because it was good.

 

[Former member 49149]

I like a lot of the suggestions, and will make a note. Another post came on the horizon today with a similar topic... when I began learning Spanish, among other things I thumbed my way through a dictionary, going from one long entry, sent to another, and so on. For about ten minutes. Daily. Aloud. That is the great thing about Spanish, more or less you say what you see. And I can still quote the first monologue from Linguaviva. My own very first and utterly useless sentence was: que limpio y ordenado esta el frigorífico! Accents are still a bit of a hit or miss. You can’t see them when talking....

 

[stevov]

I liked Memrise...simple, developmental, and stuff actually stuck...

 

[LesBrass]

When we moved to France I used the Michel Thomas cds' to help me with the language. My husband hated it but I found it help me enormously in our first year and my progress was way faster than his. I've recently bought the Spanish cd's and hope to learn at least enough to have some simple conversations on my next walk.

My biggest problem at the moment is separating the two languages... I say gracias instead of merci and si instead of oui... and so on

 

[t2andreo]

Based on the advice of several native English speakers who also learned Spanish whose opinions I value, I am using Duolingo daily, or nearly so.

In parallel, I also use a CD-based course I purchased from Pimsleur. I use the Pimsleur course, ripped to my Macbook and copied to my iPhone as mp3 files when I walk for an hour or two each day. There are 30 lessons. Once I finish them, I start over again. I am on my fourth cycle.

After walking, I try to do a hour or so on Duolingo, advancing a little each day.

IMHO Duolingo is better for teaching vocabulary and grammar. Pimsleur is better at pronunciation and hearing recognition. Duolingo at www.duolingo.com is FREE. Pimsleur was NOT, but was valuable to me as it is portable.

I have been doing Caminos for five years and have volunteered at the Pilgrim Office for the past four. Each year, they tell me my Spanish is better than last year. If I can communicate effectively and help others while I am at Santiago, my purpose is served.

I am not trying to give lectures in perfect Castellano or read Cervantes in the original. I am trying to achieve a basic functionality. Beyond that, the only way to improve is to use it every day. Even living in South Florida, the opportunity does not present.

Originally, I wanted to invest in an intensive month-long course at Santiago. However, people who know better dissuaded me by explaining that, unless I was going to use what I learned daily to reinforce and improve my fluency, I would lose the skill. So, until and unless I can live in Santiago for several months a time, I will be satisfied with the ability to communicate; to ask questions, give and ask for directions, give and ask for help, and shop effectively.

I hope this helps.

 

[trecile]

I remembered another good resource - Destinos, which is a 52 episode TV show developed to teach Spanish.

I have been taking college Spanish classes and know lots of words and grammar, but I'm not confident in my speaking ability, and struggle to understand people in regular conversation. I can understand my professors, and most of the other students, but I guess my ear is just not trained enough when listening to native speakers. So I've decided to spend about 6 weeks in Guatemala this winter. I discovered that it's supposed to be a really good place to learn Spanish, and very inexpensive! One on one lessons plus a homestay with a family including three meals a day is about $250 US/week! It will be cheaper than my university tuition.

 

[Kkort]

https://www.dundee.ac.uk/study/short/spanishbydistancelearning/ is one I'm looking at currently.
I want to know a little more than just super basic Camino Spanish as I will be needing to have phone conversations to organise accommodation etc since I will be on the Levante and Invierno in Winter. I have 13 months to play with. I used to study languages at high school many moons ago so I'm not starting completely from scratch with the grammar.

I have used Duolingo. It is probably better for learning to read than to speak, but it made it possible to have basic conversations.

 

[David Tallan]

I like the podcasts from Unlimited Spanish http://www.unlimitedspanish.com/podcasts/
He also sells courses, but podcasts are free, and the way that he teaches is very good.

I've started to listen to this. I've only done the first twenty or so podcasts, but the level is perfect for me. I can comfortably understand at least 95% of what he is saying without much translating in my head. He is speaking at the perfect speed for me. I wonder if the speed will increase after some more podcasts or if eventually I'll be looking for something a little faster as I work towards being able to watch or listen to something for actual Spanish-speaking people (which is currently just too fast for me to follow).

 

[trecile]

I've started to listen to this. I've only done the first twenty or so podcasts, but the level is perfect for me. I can comfortably understand at least 95% of what he is saying without much translating in my head. He is speaking at the perfect speed for me. I wonder if the speed will increase after some more podcasts or if eventually I'll be looking for something a little faster as I work towards being able to watch or listen to something for actual Spanish-speaking people (which is currently just too fast for me to follow).

Yes, he does start speaking a little faster as he goes on, and the language becomes a bit more complex.

 

[C clearly]

I remembered another good resource - Destinos, which is a 52 episode TV show developed to teach Spanish.

I've started to watch/listen to this, and it is quite good!

So I've decided to spend about 6 weeks in Guatemala this winter.

Let us know how that goes!

 

[trecile]

I've started to watch/listen to this, and it is quite good!

Let us know how that goes!

Now that I've booked my flights for Guatemala, I'm a little nervous - similar to how I felt when I booked my flights for my first Camino.

 

[Athena Atterdag]

Duolingo is very good for learning basic phrases and constructions, but whatever language I learn or practise with it, I always find myself wishing the material of the lessons were more diverse. Still, it's an excellent website for learning the basics of a language, and the app is quite good (doesn't work offline if you don't buy premium, though).

Memrise is superb for learning vocabulary. Last I checked, it was free to use.

I like Busuu - it has more exercises than Duolingo, and these are more diverse: you get reading, writing, listening, and even speaking if you wish to. Some units and exercises are available only to premium users, I purchased a 6 month subscription and I must say I didn't regret it (and the price is really moderate). However, I haven't tried the Spanish course (yet) - I'm currently learning French for my Paris-Chartres pilgrimage this May.

 

[Former member 49149]

Now that I've booked my flights for Guatemala, I'm a little nervous - similar to how I felt when I booked my flights for my first Camino.

Animo! Aupa! Ultreia!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Is there any way of accessing Destinos if you live in New Zealand?