Good Online Spanish Class (and looking for English)

[Robo]

In trying to improve my very Basic Spanish, I found this guy.
I really like the way he explains things and lays out the lesson.
And judging by the comments from Spanish Speakers, he seems to teach accurately.

P.S. I'm trying to find similar quality YouTube videos for my niece who needs to improve her English for University study.
She is Thai and will study in Australia.
If anyone knows of any please let me know.
Needs to be British/Australian English though rather than US

 

[Former member 49149]

Best is of course total immersion. In Inverness, Scotland! They say! It is where the best pronunciation is to be found.
Type in English level test as a starter, so your niece would know her base point.
Most of my language teaching experience was teaching English as a Second language, not as a foreign language - once you open the lid, you will find a confusing amount of options. it is a while since I accessed these, but it is a start. Good luck.

BBC Learning English - Learn English with BBC Learning English - Homepage

About BBC Learning English

www.bbc.co.uk

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/online-courses- small monthly fee, around £6
esolcourses.com
Breakingnewsenglish.com
Then there is a hilarious guy who teaches the 'th' among other things - he uses US English though. I will send it if I find it - and that is another thing - pronunciation is a game by itself, apart from grammar and correct usage. There was a book in my childhood:First Aid in English. I think it has been reinvented. It was the essential book in primary schools in Scotland. A small, ultra simple and cheap textbook. There are so many more now, the approach to language study has improved so much and has broadened the options. University courses eg MOOCS are also sources of free classes, and please note I am not referring any paid ones apart from the British Council one. You need to learn to ignore the MOOC offers to upgrade to a paid course for a certificate.

i found him: Dave Sconda. He is brilliant!

 

[Robo]

Best is of course total immersion. In Inverness, Scotland! They say! It is where the best pronunciation is to be found.
Type in English level test as a starter, so your niece would know her base point.
Most of my language teaching experience was teaching English as a Second language, not as a foreign language - once you open the lid, you will find a confusing amount of options. it is a while since I accessed these, but it is a start. Good luck.

BBC Learning English - Learn English with BBC Learning English - Homepage

About BBC Learning English

www.bbc.co.uk

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/online-courses- small monthly fee, around £6
esolcourses.com
Breakingnewsenglish.com
Then there is a hilarious guy who teaches the 'th' among other things - he uses US English though. I will send it if I find it - and that is another thing - pronunciation is a game by itself, apart from grammar and correct usage. There was a book in my childhood:First Aid in English. I think it has been reinvented. It was the essential book in primary schools in Scotland. A small, ultra simple and cheap textbook. There are so many more now, the approach to language study has improved so much and has broadened the options. University courses eg MOOCS are also sources of free classes, and please note I am not referring any paid ones apart from the British Council one. You need to learn to ignore the MOOC offers to upgrade to a paid course for a certificate.

i found him: Dave Sconda. He is brilliant!

Many thanks.
My niece is learning English as a second language.
She spent 2 years at high school here in Australia, and then completed high school and studies her first degree all in English back in Thailand.
Let's just say the teachers in Thailand were obviously not that great.
Her English really needs to improve before doing her post grad degree here in Australia next year!

 

[Robo]

P.S. Excuse my ignorance @kirkie

But how does learning English as a 'Second' language differ from learning English as a 'Foreign' language.
Aren't the two the same by definition?

Or what if learning English as a third or fourth language?

 

[Former member 49149]

EFL is English as an optional language study choice . Students generally travel to an English speaking country and pay a fair amount for lodging and attend classes for a set period of time, often aiming to take the Cambridge or equivalent Certificate of proficiency. Nowadays, of course, many of these language schools have a hybrid approach, online and in person.
Esol: English for speakers of other languages - generally, migrant peoples, who need to learn English for survival, not for learning how to book a hotel room. There is a world of difference in the target group, and type of language focus. I did a very little of the former, the rest of my teaching was with ESOL students from many countries, including two delightful young women from Thailand.
edit: I do not mean to be disrepectful of those who choose EFL. Their option is in view of joining an international language community, just as others do with different principal world languages. ESOL students often have had no formal schooling. They are an open page, nothing to unlearn! No bad history of hard teachers! They teach so much in return, believe me!

 

[Excursionista]

I've also heard very positive things from friends about online language exchanges. I'm sure there are Aussies who'd be happy to exchange English conversation practice for Thai conversation practice.

FYI, also from what I've heard, female language learners are likely to have a better experience (ie, less chance of encountering creeps) if they specify female conversation partners.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Needs to be British/Australian English though rather than US

I understand but I'm going to point you to YouTube's Rachel's English (for American English) anyway for two reasons.

First the reason I can get over with quickly; some readers of this thread might be interested. Now to get on why it may help your niece.

Rachel has a number of videos on how to get mouths and throats to make sounds. Yes, they tend to be for American accents but perhaps useful for other accents as well. I've seen at least one video on how speech gets speeded up. Some videos on using movies. Her videos would have to be curated to pick the ones best for general use.

 

[Robo]

I understand but I'm going to point you to YouTube's Rachel's English (for American English) anyway for two reasons.

First the reason I can get over with quickly; some readers of this thread might be interested. Now to get on why it may help your niece.

Rachel has a number of videos on how to get mouths and throats to make sounds. Yes, they tend to be for American accents but perhaps useful for other accents as well. I've seen at least one video on how speech gets speeded up. Some videos on using movies. Her videos would have to be curated to pick the ones best for general use.

Thanks, much appreciated.
I'll take a look, but American English varies from British English in so many ways it sounds clearly quite different to the British / Australian ear.

P.S. I got 2 minutes into one of her videos. The pronunciation is just so different

 

[Former member 49149]

Robo, I preferred British English for spelling and pronunciation as the students I had were destined to live in Ireland - which uses British English. However, one popular source for said students - The Simpsons! I do refer some online people to a mixture of resources with a range of accents. A woman from Uruguay I came across used a range of recorded speaking accents, as she subscribed to the idea that in real life people listen to different accents. My sister lives in BC in Canada and over the years I have noticed how her vowels have become Canadian. Returning to your preference, here is a link to a Wikipedia entry about The Received Pronunciation. Accents and register of vocabulary and style are fascinating, as also sources of division, as you may well know.

Received Pronunciation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[craiger1511]

Hola Robo. You might give a look at "Dreaming Spanish" (YouTube). Pablo offers an immersive Spanish approach to language learning that focuses on listening and watching hundreds of hours of videos before attempting grammar, reading or speaking. While I've (really) enjoyed studying Spanish via Duolingo, my progress has been slow, so I've tried adding an hour per day of "Dreaming" improve my listening skills. Chao.

 

[MariaSP]

Hola Robo. You might give a look at "Dreaming Spanish" (YouTube). Pablo offers an immersive Spanish approach to language learning that focuses on listening and watching hundreds of hours of videos before attempting grammar, reading or speaking. While I've (really) enjoyed studying Spanish via Duolingo, my progress has been slow, so I've tried adding an hour per day of "Dreaming" improve my listening skills. Chao.

As a Spanish teacher and a language learner, I don't see any reason why you should focus on listening to the language for hundreds of hours before attempting speaking or reading.

 

[craiger1511]

As a Spanish teacher and a language learner, I don't see any reason why you should focus on listening to the language for hundreds of hours before attempting speaking or reading.

@MariaSP - “Dreaming Spanish” takes a different approach to language learning (BTW I'm not a disciple, simply a curious language learner). Here's a link https://www.dreamingspanish.com/method . All of his videos are in the target language (Spanish) and have been a bit easier for me to follow than many other A2 - B2 videos on YouTube. Pero Duolingo es mi favorito.

 

[Wendykin]

I live in Canada, and am studying Spanish via Duolingo. Have done 2 partial caminos. Many Thai immigrants here speak English but hearing them for me is difficult with their homeland thick accents. When I taught ESL classes I zeroed in on phonetics for them because I felt it was needed to help them be understood better. Some visual YouTube videos on English pronounciation of phonetics may be helpful. Personally I feel like immersion with a native speaker in or from Australia on a regular basis from that country may be very beneficial since time is short. Try searching via Facebook for polyglots. Best of luck!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I'll take a look, but American English varies from British English in so many ways it sounds clearly quite different to the British / Australian ear.

You'll like the accent at YouTube's mmmEnglish channel better but perhaps not the course. Here's a video:

 

[C clearly]

It sounds to me like your niece is quite fluent in English, having done high school in Australia, but she may want to step up to a more professional level rather than talking like a 16-year-old.

If you search "elocution" or even "elocution australia" on YouTube, I think you will find some useful sites.

 

[David Tallan]

P.S. Excuse my ignorance @kirkie

But how does learning English as a 'Second' language differ from learning English as a 'Foreign' language.
Aren't the two the same by definition?

Or what if learning English as a third or fourth language?

In general "English as a Second Language" (ESL) is often used in the field when someone whose first language us not English moves to an English speaking country and learns English there. Here in Canada (the English speaking part) there are ESL classes for those immigrants who wish to learn English, the predominant language in our society.

"English as a Foreign Language" (EFL) is used when learning English in a non-English speaking society. So when I was teaching English in Madrid, I was teaching EFL.

 

[Felice]

In trying to improve my very Basic Spanish, I found this guy.
I really like the way he explains things and lays out the lesson.
And judging by the comments from Spanish Speakers, he seems to teach accurately.

Rob, is he teaching Spanish Spanish, or Latin American Spanish? In the same way that you want your niece to learn British English not American English, I want a course that teaches the Spanish spoken in Spain, not Latin America. Lots of courses start by saying that it does not matter if you are learning Latino Spanish as you will still be understood in Spain, but that is not the point as far as I am concerned. I'm not a good linguist and all those different words and different pronunciations just confuse me.

 

[Robo]

Rob, is he teaching Spanish Spanish, or Latin American Spanish? In the same way that you want your niece to learn British English not American English, I want a course that teaches the Spanish spoken in Spain, not Latin America. Lots of courses start by saying that it does not matter if you are learning Latino Spanish as you will still be understood in Spain, but that is not the point as far as I am concerned. I'm not a good linguist and all those different words and different pronunciations just confuse me.

As far as I can tell, it's Spanish Spanish.
Perhaps a Spanish speaker could confirm?

 

[trecile]

As far as I can tell, it's Spanish Spanish.
Perhaps a Spanish speaker could confirm?

I just watched a bit of it, but he does teach the vosotros form, which is rarely taught in the Americas. However he doesn't pronounces C and Z as a Spaniard would. Plus, the instructor has an American accent.

 

[Robo]

I just watched a bit of it, but he does teach the vosotros form, which is rarely taught in the Americas. However he doesn't pronounces C and Z as a Spaniard would. Plus, the instructor has an American accent.

Bummer.

Any other better (more Spanish Spanish) videos out there?

 

[trecile]

Bummer.

Any other better (more Spanish Spanish) videos out there?

It's not beginner Spanish, but I really enjoy Linguriosa

https://www.youtube.com/c/linguriosa

Within the channel there are playlists like Clases de Español

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJLRrrNxnePuek2wbmijOfrgFtgHyH0FG

 

[C clearly]

Rob, is he teaching Spanish Spanish, or Latin American Spanish?

As far as I can tell, it's Spanish Spanish.

He speaks English with an American accent, and shows a map of South America at the beginning of the video. But he doesn't speak enough Spanish to reveal his Spanish accent, until well into the first lesson when he pronounces "gracias" without the lisp So, likely American Spanish.

I think this illustrates perfectly why it does not matter at this stage! If you enjoy his style and find it helpful, go with it!

 

[trecile]

But he doesn't speak enough Spanish to reveal his Spanish accent, until well into the first lesson when he pronounces "gracias" without the lisp

Which isn't really a lisp, but a distinct phoneme.

Phonological history of Spanish coronal fricatives - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Towards the beginning of the video he demonstrates the pronunciation of all the letters and neither C nor Z are pronounced as θ, as they are in much of Spain.

 

[Robo]

It's not beginner Spanish, but I really enjoy Linguriosa

https://www.youtube.com/c/linguriosa

Within the channel there are playlists like Clases de Español

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJLRrrNxnePuek2wbmijOfrgFtgHyH0FG

Way too advanced for me

 

[MariaSP]

As far as I can tell, it's Spanish Spanish.
Perhaps a Spanish speaker could confirm?

No, not Spanish Spanish.

As others have mentioned, he pronounces C+E and C+I as 's', which is not common in Spain.
Also, in the alphabet, he calls W 'doble be'. In Spain, it's called 'uve doble'

Other issues:
- LL has not been part of the Spanish alphabet for more than 20 years.
- RR has never been part of the Spanish alphabet.
- V does not 'almost' sound like a B. B and V are pronounced exactly the same.
- The way he calls the letter Z is not Spanish or Latin American. It's an English speaker's way of pronouncing it.
- The pronouns he mentions at the end are not used 'all the time' as he says. The information about the person is conveyed by the verb conjugation, so pronouns are left out most of the time. There's nothing wrong with learning them, of course. But if you start adding them to all your sentences you're not going to sound very natural.

 

[Felice]

No, not Spanish Spanish.

As others have mentioned, he pronounces C+E and C+I as 's', which is not common in Spain.
Also, in the alphabet, he calls W 'doble be'. In Spain, it's called 'uve doble'

Other issues:
- LL has not been part of the Spanish alphabet for more than 20 years.
- RR has never been part of the Spanish alphabet.
- V does not 'almost' sound like a B. B and V are pronounced exactly the same.
- The way he calls the letter Z is not Spanish or Latin American. It's an English speaker's way of pronouncing it.
- The pronouns he mentions at the end are not used 'all the time' as he says. The information about the person is conveyed by the verb conjugation, so pronouns are left out most of the time. There's nothing wrong with learning them, of course. But if you start adding them to all your sentences you're not going to sound very natural.

Thanks for that Maria.
Do you know of any websites where they do teach Spanish Spanish???

[Off topic slightly, but before I went walking in France, I used the Pimsleur course to brush up and extend my very rusty French. It was really helpful to know how to correctly pronounce words (even if I did not get it right!!) and I was complimented on my accent on several occasions. French is such a lovely language that I really did not want to mangle it if I could help it. I've tried the Pimsleur course for Spanish Spanish but only has 1 level, unlike the American Spanish course which is at least 5 levels. ]

 

[trecile]

The pronouns he mentions at the end are not used 'all the time' as he says. The information about the person is conveyed by the verb conjugation, so pronouns are left out most of the time.

In the comments section of the video there is a link to a Quizlet for that lesson. I checked out the quiz part of it, and was marked incorrect for my (correct) answer of "Hablo español" as the translation for "I speak English" because I didn't write "Yo hablo español!"

 

[MariaSP]

Thanks for that Maria.
Do you know of any websites where they do teach Spanish Spanish???

[Off topic slightly, but before I went walking in France, I used the Pimsleur course to brush up and extend my very rusty French. It was really helpful to know how to correctly pronounce words (even if I did not get it right!!) and I was complimented on my accent on several occasions. French is such a lovely language that I really did not want to mangle it if I could help it. I've tried the Pimsleur course for Spanish Spanish but only has 1 level, unlike the American Spanish course which is at least 5 levels. ]

Mine
Vicente is from Spain, but he is focused on intermediate-advanced learners.
María Ortega is also Spanish. She's moving away from teaching Spanish but there are some videos on her Youtube channel that might be interesting.
I always recommend this website to my students. The videos are organised by levels. You will find several topics within each level and each video includes transcription and interactive exercises.