BS: learning foreign languages by CD

Subject: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: RangerSteve
Date: 14 Sep 07 - 07:39 PM

Now that I'm retired, I thought it would be nice to learn Spanish. I'm part Mexican and a fan of Mexican music, so the Mexican version of Spanish is what I'm looking for. Does anyone know of any CD or CDrom courses available? I noticed that a company called Rosetta Stone offers a Latin American Spanish course, but the problem there is that the laguage varies from one country to another. I'm looking for a course that is devoted entirely to Mexican Spanish. I'm probably asking too much, but it's worth a try.

Thanks, Steve

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Sep 07 - 09:11 PM

This looks like it might be worth you chasing up - the heading says Latin American Spanish, but the label on the CD illustrated says "Learn Mexican Spanish".

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 14 Sep 07 - 10:57 PM

Why ANYONE would want to learn such a bastardized tongue is beyond my comprehension.

There are countless (10,000 or more) places that will give you "on-line" FREE lessons....with veral phrases.

Giveup your current browser and use www.google.com.mx until the New Year.

Go to your public library and ASK!!! - many tutorials are accessable from home through their subscriber services (i.e. Rosetta Stone)

Wear Lee jeans and a "wife beater" squat at the local building supply with a six-pack of Texquta...and repeat "Que Passa, Via con Pollo Loco, Amigo...Por Que Parkay?" You should learn "Spanganglis" real quick.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: mack/misophist
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 10:39 AM

Although I can't claim to speak Spanish, I do know enough to sometimes get the gist of a conversation. A few years ago I overheard a conversation that was so clear it was almost as plain as English. When asked what dialect they were speaking, the people said it was the Mexico City dialect. They said it is the clearest version of American Spanish. The point is that just 'Mexican' may not be specific enough. And watch out for that double r.

Note: Spanish speakers tell we that the real differences are in the idioms and usage, more that pronounciation or grammar.

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: artbrooks
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 11:20 AM

My Spanish professor (a professor of comparative linguistics from Spain) told me that New Mexican Spanish is similar to 18th century Spanish as it was spoken in Spain (which is reasonable, but a topic for another thread). My first-year class had people in it from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Mexico, as well as "native" New Mexicans, all seeking a firmer grounding in basic, grammatical, Spanish (well, a couple were after an easy A, but were in the wrong place).   I'd suggest going to your local community college and taking a Spanish 101 class as the first step. Or are you already in "I'm retired now, and don't understand how I ever found time to work" mode?

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: artbrooks
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 11:23 AM

Herself says that there are a number of towns in Mexico that specialize in Spanish immersion classes, that are from a week long to months. You live with a family. Stop by in Albuquerque on your way.

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: artbrooks
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 12:09 PM

Actually, this is Jenn. Herself? But anyway, the town I was trying to think of where friends of ours have studied is Cuernavaca. Also, if you Google "Spanish classes in Mexico" you will find lots of stuff. Wouldn't that be fun?

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: RangerSteve
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:21 PM

I'm on dialysis, and my insurance won't cover me outside the U.S., so traveling to Mexico is out of the question. Thanks, anyway.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: learning foreign languages by CD
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 04:16 PM

I'm homeschooling my 18-yr-old stepson, Josh. He's in his second year of German, and we're using Rosetta Stone. I had high hopes for Rosetta Stone, since I'd heard so much good about it.

I have to say I was disappointed. It's a nice supplementary tool, but I don't think it can beat plain human conversation with a live teacher as a means of learning a language.

The basic idea of Rosetta Stone is that you look at a picture, hear a native speaker pronounce a sentence about the picture, and repeat the sentence while reading it from the screen. The program has various exercises related to the pictures and sounds and matching them together. You can also record your speech and see how it matches the native speaker's rendition, or type the text you hear. There's a workbook for written exercises, and the first installment of the course has a grammar text.

To me, it's just an updated version of the Language Lab, which was state-of-the-art in the 1960's. Maybe it works for some people; but for me, listening to a recording and repeating it is excruciatingly boring.

But then, I was spoiled. I took three years of German from some pretty good teachers in the seminary, and then attended an 8-month course at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Our classes were six hours a day, with a couple hours of homework. At night, we memorized a short skit, and then we acted out the skit several times the next morning. We have readings and grammar and vocabulary in our text - but very little English. Most of the day, we just sat around in a circle and talked in German, and our teachers kept the discussion interesting and kept pushing up the complexity level of the conversation. We had language lab a couple of hours a week, but I think it was the least-effective aspect of my German training. What taught me the language was the total immersion in German. For six hours a day, every day, I rarely heard a word of English. I spoke far more German in Monterey than I did during my two-year assignment as a German linguist in Berlin.

Rosetta Stone is a pretty spiffy package, but I think it's a poor substitute for immersion in a language with a live teacher. It's a nice supplement to a teacher, but I don't think it would be very effective alone without a human teacher (such as myself). Or maybe I just don't want to believe that I can be replaced by a CD. We have Rosetta Stone English at the Women's Center where I volunteer, but it's not used very often. Human language teachers seem to do a far better job.

-Joe-