Spanish lessons

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bbobandannie
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Spanish lessons

Postby bbobandannie » Tue Mar 29, 2016 10:37 am

Well, the day is getting closer and we are soon to make the move to Ardales. I have been studying on line Spanish and a few lessons but when we do make the move my company have awarded a small financial grant towards my resettlement. Only about 500 pounds, but I would like to spend it on language training.
Does anyone know of a decent language school in the Coin or Alhaurin area?

Thanks in advance

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costakid
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby costakid » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:44 am

Maybe its too far from you but there is an excellent one on the paseo at La Cala Del moral. East of Malaga city centre.

bbobandannie
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby bbobandannie » Thu Mar 31, 2016 8:18 am

CostaKid, thanks but I was hoping not to travel that far.

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wesdunn1977
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby wesdunn1977 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:37 pm

Would highly recommend getting a copy of Rosetta Stone if you have a computer, I already had a decent level from learning from music which is another good way to learn. your brain subconsciously remembers the words to a song if you hear it enough, find a good site that has the words from the songs like musica,com, have a dictionary or google translate handy to get the gist of the song then listen to them regularly.. you will be suprsied how quickly you learn Rosetta Stone really helped as my level improved... Having a tutor or someone to practice with is definitely required to build your comprehension skills.. Best of luck, it's not easy but you will get there if you stick with it and ask people for advice that have been there, I would certainly always be happy to pass some tips along :-)

elusive
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby elusive » Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:57 pm

Use duolingo from the play store or apple store.Also on their website Its the same format as rosetta stone but is totally free
Last edited by elusive on Mon Jun 13, 2016 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

pensure1988
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby pensure1988 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:39 pm


Unicorn
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby Unicorn » Mon Jun 13, 2016 12:10 am

I would advise one or two weeks intensive, living with a Spanish family and doing 4 hours lessons a day. It would give you a level of competence to be able to converse and from that you progress. I know there are schools in Granada and other places that do this and it is not so very expensive. I see many people doing a couple of hours a week and they rarely get conversational and generally give up.
There are also the Michel Thomas cds which I think are good as well.

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wesdunn1977
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby wesdunn1977 » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:31 am

Wanted to add something to the sound advice you got from Unicorn here, most I know give up when it comes to verbs and other forms of grammar, the problem I had is that I never understood what these things were in English, it's almost impossible to learn a another language to a decent standard if you dont know the mechanics of your mother language (Especially as you get older), I'm sure many others have had this problem. with that in mind it helps to check out a few English grammar websites or grab a book to cross reference what you are trying to learn in Spanish.

Best of Luck :thumbup:
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Unicorn
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby Unicorn » Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:00 am

Wesdunn I agree. But I would put more emphasis on speaking. In my experience far too much emphasis is put on grammar, gender etc and really the best idea is to get talking as soon as possible. People seem to be very anxious about making mistakes. So what? (OK tread carefully around chicken, kitchen and drawers!) Joining words together rather than random nouns so conjunctions important.
If you call a table masculine no big deal. If a word ends in a it is feminine, o masculine. There are exceptions but people will understand what you mean. Maybe learn some simple terms in grammar, but primary aim should be to communicate.

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chrissiehope
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby chrissiehope » Mon Jun 13, 2016 1:17 pm

I agree about conversation - years ago I did an online course which gave me a base from which to start, but it wasn't until I had managed a conversation (lots of hand signs & pointing !) with a Spanish lady who spoke no English, that I realised I could do it, and it gave me a huge confidence boost. I wouldn't say I'm now fluent in any way, but I can generally make myself understood - far harder is getting 'an ear' for the accent, especially inland where it's very 'Andaluz' ;-)
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littleeak
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby littleeak » Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:30 am

elusive wrote:Use duolingo from the play store or apple store.Also on their website Its the same format as rosetta stone but is totally free

Thank you elusive.............. was looking for something to improve my grammar so now working through through the levels.

elusive
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Re: Spanish lessons

Postby elusive » Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:52 pm

No probs. Its a really helpful app


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