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Design Your Own Learning Plan!

You should know a few things about yourself before you develop a plan for studying Spanish. For instance - what level are you? Are you a complete beginner? Or maybe you took a couple of Spanish courses when you were in college, but it's been 20 years and you don't think you remember much of it. Or maybe you have some vocabulary and can do okay on the street, but you want to have real conversations in Spanish. Here are some things you need to do. (Maybe you should write down your decisions). It's not enough just to say "I want to learn to speak Spanish". It's a little more complicated than that. Decide:
Your current level. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. There are levels within each level, too of course. Write down where you think you are. Check out the ACTFL guidelines if you're unsure. You might think you're a beginner because it's been 20 years since that college class, but you'll remember some of it. You might still be a beginner of course, but having studied once will help. In fact, if you've ever taken ANY other language, it will help. Get a beginner Spanish book and look at it. Are the first few chapters far too simple? Maybe you're a beginner, level 2. See what I mean?

Your reason. Why do you want to learn Spanish? For the fun of it? For work? To travel? To move to a foreign country? The why will influence your motivation level and the number of resources, like time and money, that you're willing to commit to learning Spanish.
Your need for fluency. Do you just want to be able to order in a restaurant, take a taxi, ask directions (and understand the answers)? Do you want to be able to watch the news on Spanish television and understand it? Or maybe have real conversations with real Spanish speakers? Maybe you need to work in a Spanish speaking environment. How fluent do you need to be? Write it down.
Your need for speed. Do you need to learn quickly, because... say, you've just been made ambassador to Chile and you don't speak a word of Spanish? Or do you have all the time in the world because this is just something you'd like to do in your spare time? Or something in between, like an upcoming vacation to Machu Picchu? How quickly do you need or want to learn?
Your time. How much time can you spend on this? You can learn on 15 minutes a day. You won't learn quickly on 15 minutes a day, but you'll learn. You can learn by taking one class a week. Again, not quickly, but still learning. The larger the chunk of time you can devote per day to learning, the faster you'll progress. But be realistic. Nothing kills motivation faster than setting yourself up for failure from the start. Decide what you WILL do, not just what you CAN do. Write it down. I will spend _____ minutes per day learning Spanish.
Your money. You don't have to spend a penny on learning Spanish. There are tons of free lessons online. On this website alone, you can find enough free stuff to study for a long time. That being said, there are some really good resources that aren't free, that you could use when you weren't at your computer. Some are quite expensive; others less so. Attending an immersion school in another country will cost as much as a good vacation. What's your budget? Look around first. See what's out there. You could write down either a monthly figure or just a broad general statement, such as "I can afford to buy an occassional book or program" or "I can afford to really go for it and attend an immersion school for 16 weeks in Oaxaca". Or "I can spend ____ dollars a year (month?) on learning Spanish. Be realistic. Maybe that immersion school could be your vacation.
Your support system. Is your family on board with this? Do you have friends who are either interested in learning Spanish or who already speak it? Do you have access to a library or a good bookstore? Is there a Spanish speaking community in your town? Can you get Spanish radio and television? Can you listen to your mp3 player at work? Perhaps you have a long commute to work that would allow for listening to cds. Write down all the avenues and roadblocks to learning.
Your territory. Where will you be using Spanish? In your neighborhood? Mexico? Spain? Argentina? Peru? All over? It matters because there are differences in Spanish from country to country. Not overwhelming differences, but... Most languages have differences from place to place. Think about English. The English spoken in England is very different from the English spoken in the U.S. It's also different from the English spoken in Australia and New Zealand. But people in those countries can still understand each other (for the most part). So it is with Spanish. BUT.... if you're going to be speaking 90% of your Spanish to people from Mexico, then you should try to learn Mexican Spanish instead of Angentine Spanish.
Your learning style. Do you hate classrooms? Or maybe you need the discipline that signing up for a class brings with it, because you know that you won't stick to it if you don't "have" to be there. Would you prefer just listening to tapes while you garden, or do you need a visual component that either a classroom or a computer program would have? Or would you like both? Not everyone learns in the same way. Only you know what would work best for you. Think about this for a minute. Then write it down.
There should be 9 things on your list. Once you've made these 9 decisions, you should be a long way toward deciding on a course of action. After all, now you know where you stand and where you want to be. The rest is research.
Research. There are many kinds of materials and resources. Books. CDs and DVDs. Audio. Video. Classes. Cambios (a conversational exchange). Immersion schools. Radio. Television. Music. Newspapers and Magazines. Without making any decisions on what you'll try, just look around. Visit the library and bookstore. Look online (start here for the Learn page -or click Learn in the navigation bar above). Explore the possibilities.

What to Expect (or what not to expect) :

Don't expect to be mistaken for a native speaker. Ever. Not gonna happen. Unless you're 9 and plan to move to Buenos Aires, or you just have this "gift" for languages (a few folks do).

Don't expect to be fluent in 6 weeks. If you attend an immersion school and make a vow to speak ONLY Spanish for 16+ weeks, then you can expect to be competent in 4-6 months. Not fluent, proficient. But hey, proficient is good. Very very good.
Expect age issues if you're over a certain age. Being a little older shouldn't stop you from studying Spanish. It certainly won't stop you from learning Spanish. On the one hand, you do learn a little more slowly at 60 than at 20. On the other hand, you're MUCH more focused at 60. That makes a huge difference. You'll want to do your homework. Another age issue might occur if you take classes. Depending on the school and your age, you might be the oldest (or youngest) person in your class. We've seen both. Yet another age issue is hearing. An older learner might have more trouble hearing the conversation. And when you NEED to hear the conversation, that can be a little frustrating.
Expect Ah-Ha! moments. My wife said that her first ah-ha was when she was riding in the back of a car while two Spanish speakers talked in the front. She suddenly realized that she understood most of what they were saying. AH-HA! Another was further along in her studies when she couldn't remember if the conversation she had just participated in was in English or Spanish. She hadn't had to translate. She just understood it. AH-HA! Sweet.

Maybe Someday

Maybe someday you'll be in a Spanish speaking country, speaking Spanish to a local citizen, and a tourist, lost and confused, will come up to you and say, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" Maybe someday.
Maybe someday you'll make that phone call for a taxi in Madrid yourself, instead of getting the clerk at the front desk to do it for you.
Maybe someday you won't have to rehearse what you're going to say when you want to buy bus tickets.

How to Proceed. I'm going to start this for a total beginner and then progress to more advanced levels. If you already are at one of those advanced levels, you can just scan down to where it's relevant for you. Along the way, we'll be talking about all sorts of resources, so even advanced students might get something from the early conversations.

First, Train Your Ear. Before you do anything.... before you buy a book, sign up for a class, or listen to free online lessons, start training your ear. Unless you're in a hurry to learn, I would suggest that you spend at least a couple of weeks just listening to Spanish. It doesn't have to be active listening. Listen in the background. Play the Spanish radio station on your way to and from work. Turn on the Spanish tv channel while you clean the house. Rent movies in Spanish with English subtitles. Buy or download Spanish music. There is as much variety in Spanish music as any other kind. Try to find music with slow, understandable words. I especially like the Buena Vista Social Club (Cuban). What does this do? It helps to build pathways in your brain that facilitate the learning of Spanish. It gets you used to the sound of Spanish. It will help your feel for the pronunciation of Spanish as you get further along in your studies. As a bonus, if you listen to a wide variety of Spanish sources, it will give you a broader understanding of some of the culture of Spanish speaking people, from the beauty of flamenco to the bizarre-ness of some Spanish tv.
Listen and Repeat. Okay. A disclaimer here. Most language experts (of which I am not one) agree that languages are closed systems that don't really correspond directly with each other. So it's best to learn a language WITHOUT TRANSLATING. Hence, the importance of (and explanation for) immersion classes. All Spanish. No English. No translating. If you can do that, then that is absolutely the way to go. And the longer you can attend an immersion class or school the better. There are a few language computer programs that use the immersion theory. Rosetta Stone comes to mind. There. You've been disclaimed. That being said, it's really hard to start an immersion class or school with zero Spanish. Intimidating. Frustrating. Exhausting. And very few people enroll who have zero Spanish, so you'll be at a disadvantage. It's still the best way to go, but if you can't do that, or just want to learn a wee bit before you jump in with both feet, I suggest the listen and repeat method. My favorite is Pimsleur. You can get a cd or the full blown Spanish I, II, III and IV. But Pimsleur is expensive. If it's more than you want to spend, look on our learn page and find other programs, either online or off. Here's what I like about Pimsleur, and it's useful to know even if you use something other than Pimsleur. In Pimsleur a native speaker says the phrase and you repeat it. He (or she) adds another phrase and you repeat that. They advance to more difficult phrases, but always throw in those early phrases as well. There is some English in the beginning lessons, but eventually it's all Spanish, listen and repeat. They say that when you feel that you understand (and can say) about 80% of the lesson, then it's time to move on to the next lesson. At 1/2 an hour a day, it takes me about a week to move on to the next lesson. When I attended my first Spanish immersion school in Buenos Aires, I felt that my pronunciation was the best in the class. My vocabulary was a little weaker than some of the other students, but my pronunciation was good. Pimsleur. I'm certain that any listen and repeat program that used native speakers would also have served me well.
Vocabulary. Estimates vary, but the general consensus seems to be that you need to use a word between 20 and 40 times before it sticks. That sounds like a lot, but if you do what little kids do, then it's not so bad. What do they do? They talk. A lot. To themselves, to their toys. They say things over and over and over. You should too. Talk to yourself. Out loud is best, but it's okay to whisper. Whispering Spanish words to yourself throughout the day is a good way to improve your vocabulary. You're going to catch yourself doing it anyway, so just go ahead and do it. Label everything in your house. Everything. The mirror, the door, the silverware drawer. Your underwear (well, not your underwear, but put the words on the drawer where you keep your underwear). Then every time you look at one of those labels, say the word. Out loud. Use a program like www.studyspanish.com's vocabulary builder to find the words (and how to pronounce them - very important). So all through your studies, keep labeling things and talking to yourself.
So now you've listened to Spanish music, radio, tv etc for a month, and then started on a listen and repeat program for a month (while continuing to listen to Spanish radio, tv, music, etc) and have completely covered your house with Spanish word labels. Now what? If you're happy with what you're doing and aren't in any hurry, then feel free to continue listening and repeating. If you do a half hour a day of, say, Pimsleur, moving on once a week, then you can go for a couple of years before you get to the end of Spanish IV, Bear in mind, however, that, while you will be able to get around in the Spanish speaking world, you are not going to become fluent (or proficient) with just Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone or any other static program.You will become a good tourist and be able to navigate a foreign city, but you aren't going to connect with anyone. You need something more for that. Something like human interaction. And although a computer program will teach you to ask where the bus station is, you may or may not understand the answer. (Understanding speech is difficult).
Classes. This is where classes come in. And grammar. This is where you learn HOW to say things and not just what to say. I want... I wanted... I will want...... Very different ways of saying similar things, and you'll want to say it all three ways. You NEED to be able to conjugate verbs and to understand WHY it's said the way it is. Check your local community college. If you're lucky, there might even be a language school nearby. Maybe you could hire someone for one on one lessons. That's the best way, anyway. Big classes are better than nothing, but the smaller the better. At first, you're probably going to want a class with 3 to 6 or so students. That gives you a little breathing room. You get to catch your breath while the teacher tortures someone else. But remember, smaller is better. And one on one, with a good teacher, is best of all. If you don't have access to a school and can't find or can't afford a one on one situation, then it's time to turn to:
Grammar. You've got to learn some grammar. Well, I guess you don't actually have to. People have learned to speak Spanish without taking any lessons of any kind, just by learning on the street. Lucky them. YOU NEED SOME GRAMMAR. No way around it. Just so you won't sound stupid. If you can't take a class, then there are lots of books that make it simple. The Dummy books, or For Idiots or whatever your bookstore or library carries, are terrific. Spanish for Idiots. Something like that. And you're just going to have to memorize the conjugations. It's really not that tough once you figure it out. A verb ends a certain way if you're speaking about you. It ends another way if you're talking about we. We want. You want. Same word, different ending. And it also depends on whether you're speaking in the present or the future. I will want. You will want. We will want. Same word. Different endings. A good book will help clear it all up.
Mix it Up. I don't mean to imply that you start with listen and repeat and then drop it for classes. Mix it up. Do both. Add books. Experiment. Try lots of different stuff. If you get bored with something, try something else. Or alternate back and forth. It doesn't really matter what you're doing so much as that you're doing it regulary. Faithfully. Consistently. Mixing it up is more fun, anyway. Throw in a video program called DESTINOS while you're at it (a soap opera telenova developed by the University of Minnesota). Great fun and a really good way to learn. Mix it up. You're in this for the long haul (yes, it's going to take a while). Even if you do it the fast way (next entry), you're still going to want to keep up with what you've learned so that you don't forget it. Mix it up.
Foreign Immersion. If you're serious about learning Spanish, especially if you want to learn quickly, then foreign immersion is the absolute best way to go. At the immersion schools we've been to (5), we've asked each of them how long it would take, from absolute zero, to learn Spanish at full immersion. They consistently said that IF (and this is a big IF) you take a vow of Spanish -- that is, speaking ONLY Spanish for 95% of the day (allowing for the odd call home), and IF you take a full load of immersion classes and IF you faithfully do your homework and spend time out and about (in Spanish) in the community, then the average person could go from zero to proficiency in about 16 +/- weeks. Four months. That's fast. You won't be even close to that in 2 years with just cds, dvds, big classes, etc at home on an hour a day. Academia Hispano Americana in San Miguel de Allende Mexico guarantees fluency if you take their six month course from beginning to end. Guarantees it.

Hope This Helped. Just making the 9 decisions at the beginning of this exercise should have helped you get a better understanding of what you hope to accomplish. The subsequent material hopefully gave you an idea of what you might expect from various resources. Developing a plan of study is up to you. Use the material on our LEARN page. You might start with the tips on learning a language heading. Look at Online Lessons. Read the forums and blogs to see what other people have done or recommend. Here's an idea: start with the Beginner's Page.