# Spanish lessons info please x



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

Hi there,
My kids don't enroll in spanish lessons for another 2 weeks, can anyone reccomend any good dvds/books thta would be a good start for my boys age 7,8,14 and me too ha ha i have already got the Oxford book and disc collection !
Many thanks x


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

emma wilson75 said:


> Hi there,
> My kids don't enroll in spanish lessons for another 2 weeks, can anyone reccomend any good dvds/books thta would be a good start for my boys age 7,8,14 and me too ha ha i have already got the Oxford book and disc collection !
> Many thanks x


I've used this one for little kids

Spanish for Kids

and the good old bbc

BBC - Schools - Primary Spanish

this one is really useful for adults

Learn Spanish

bear in mind that the 1st & 3rd are american sites & therefore south american spanish - so some of the vocabulary is a bit different - but they are still very good


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

Gracias ! x x


----------



## Guest (May 29, 2011)

The Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses by Dorthy Richmond. There are other books in this series...I use the kindle versions...you can now download the books and use the pc version of the kindle...which allows you also print off the practice sheets...


----------



## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

folklore said:


> The Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses by Dorthy Richmond. There are other books in this series...I use the kindle versions...you can now download the books and use the pc version of the kindle...which allows you also print off the practice sheets...


I will download the sample of this and have a look at it.

Can you tell me whether you use the UK site (amazon.co.uk) or the US site (amazon.com) for downloading books when you are in Spain.

I am on holiday in the UK at the moment and have just bought a Kindle. I will be returning home to Spain tomorrow. I have heard there is a limit to the number of books you can download from the UK site whilst in Spain. Have you had a problem with this?


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I always use the UK site and have never had any download issues. So far.


----------



## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

DunWorkin said:


> I will download the sample of this and have a look at it.
> 
> Can you tell me whether you use the UK site (amazon.co.uk) or the US site (amazon.com) for downloading books when you are in Spain.
> 
> I am on holiday in the UK at the moment and have just bought a Kindle. I will be returning home to Spain tomorrow. I have heard there is a limit to the number of books you can download from the UK site whilst in Spain. Have you had a problem with this?


I have a UK purchased kindle and download stuff in Spain all the time. No problems so far...


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

folklore said:


> The Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses by Dorthy Richmond. There are other books in this series...I use the kindle versions...you can now download the books and use the pc version of the kindle...which allows you also print off the practice sheets...


Thankyou x I have been looking at amazon uk and there is a good choice, Ive been using Oxford "Take off in Spain " which comes with 7 discs and a book. x


----------



## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

emma wilson75 said:


> Thankyou x I have been looking at amazon uk and there is a good choice, Ive been using Oxford "Take off in Spain " which comes with 7 discs and a book. x


For adults I found Rosetta Stone Spanish for the PC a great help. It's pricey though.


----------



## Guest (May 30, 2011)

DunWorkin said:


> I will download the sample of this and have a look at it.
> 
> Can you tell me whether you use the UK site (amazon.co.uk) or the US site (amazon.com) for downloading books when you are in Spain.
> 
> I am on holiday in the UK at the moment and have just bought a Kindle. I will be returning home to Spain tomorrow. I have heard there is a limit to the number of books you can download from the UK site whilst in Spain. Have you had a problem with this?


I am using the amazon us. I have an older kindle which I bought and had shipped to me in Colombia. My wireless does not work there or in Spain. I've always just downloaded to my computer and then put on the kindle.


----------



## toffeeboy (Jan 14, 2011)

*Novice*



Seb* said:


> For adults I found Rosetta Stone Spanish for the PC a great help. It's pricey though.


I was thinking about this myself, I would really like to learn Spanish but am unsure of the quickest way to do so, would I be better getting a tutor whilst I'm in the UK one to one or are the PC based tools just as good?

Being middle aged with a fading memory doesn't help learn anything so it needs to work effectively


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

toffeeboy said:


> I was thinking about this myself, I would really like to learn Spanish but am unsure of the quickest way to do so, would I be better getting a tutor whilst I'm in the UK one to one or are the PC based tools just as good?
> 
> Being middle aged with a fading memory doesn't help learn anything so it needs to work effectively


Yes it aint easy ive just got the oxford take off in spanish, which comes wth two books and 7 discs, got in from WH Smiths £10 !
I cant enroll in a class yet as its half way through and it would be hard to catch up !! so im gonna wait till the next one starts, my kids start nxt week so i hope i pick up more then, ive got 2 years to lean it so fingers crossed !
Good luck x :clap2:


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

toffeeboy said:


> I was thinking about this myself, I would really like to learn Spanish but am unsure of the quickest way to do so, would I be better getting a tutor whilst I'm in the UK one to one or are the PC based tools just as good?
> 
> Being middle aged with a fading memory doesn't help learn anything so it needs to work effectively


I definitely fall into that category! 

The best way IMO is to sign up for an evening class or intensive course and learn with other people. I did a GCSE evening class before I moved here, took two years and it gave me a really good grounding. You can always top up with CDs and online programmes but nothing can beat having a real live teacher to help you along.


----------



## toffeeboy (Jan 14, 2011)

Alcalaina said:


> I definitely fall into that category!
> 
> The best way IMO is to sign up for an evening class or intensive course and learn with other people. I did a GCSE evening class before I moved here, took two years and it gave me a really good grounding. You can always top up with CDs and online programmes but nothing can beat having a real live teacher to help you along.


Thanks so if I can find a private tutor and do a couple of sessions a week I could get a grounding in about 6 months to pick up basics and build from that?


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

toffeeboy said:


> Thanks so if I can find a private tutor and do a couple of sessions a week I could get a grounding in about 6 months to pick up basics and build from that?


Yes, provided you do a bit of "homework" every day to reinforce what you learn in the sessions. It's the continuous repetition that makes it stick. 

It's hard work and can get boring, but worth the effort - it makes a huge difference when you live here.

A lot of people blame their age for not persevering, but really I think they just give up too quickly. There is an adult literacy centre in our village for people who never learned to read and write when they were younger (not unusual in Andalucia) and my friend's father has just read his first book - aged 72!


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Yes, provided you do a bit of "homework" every day to reinforce what you learn in the sessions. It's the continuous repetition that makes it stick.
> 
> It's hard work and can get boring, but worth the effort - it makes a huge difference when you live here.
> 
> A lot of people blame their age for not persevering, but really I think they just give up too quickly. There is an adult literacy centre in our village for people who never learned to read and write when they were younger (not unusual in Andalucia) and my friend's father has just read his first book - aged 72!


you're so right about perseverance - one of my older students is in his 70s - he does a little every day, always does his homework & comes for one group lesson a week - it's a slow process, but he _is _ progressing & can take what he is learning & apply the method/grammar/vocab to 'outside the class' situations

on the other hand I have had students in their 20s who don't do the homework, don't want to follow the course progression (would rather google translate set phrases, chat up lines & so on - some translations of which are hilarious, it has to be said), who simply never move on to constructing their own sentences at all


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

Alcalaina said:


> I definitely fall into that category!
> 
> The best way IMO is to sign up for an evening class or intensive course and learn with other people. I did a GCSE evening class before I moved here, took two years and it gave me a really good grounding. You can always top up with CDs and online programmes but nothing can beat having a real live teacher to help you along.


Yes i do about an hour a day,and i also write what i speak too, but i realy cant wait to get into a class and get a bit more involved with the lingo :clap2:


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

emma wilson75 said:


> Yes i do about an hour a day,and i also write what i speak too, but i realy cant wait to get into a class and get a bit more involved with the lingo :clap2:


I teach one-to-one & groups - some prefer the one-to-one becuase they feel more comfortable or are maybe a bit shy

without exception, the students in the groups become more confident speaking spanish, much more quickly

the one-to-one students might speak more 'correctly' - but they speak less confidently


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> I teach one-to-one & groups - some prefer the one-to-one becuase they feel more comfortable or are maybe a bit shy
> 
> without exception, the students in the groups become more confident speaking spanish, much more quickly
> 
> the one-to-one students might speak more 'correctly' - but they speak less confidently


The tutor ive signed up with who is going to also teach my two little ones, runs classes of max 5 students or does one to one like yourself. Ive opted for group classes as i feel i will get more out of it as im not affraid to have a go and make a fool of myself ha ha


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

emma wilson75 said:


> The tutor ive signed up with who is going to also teach my two little ones, runs classes of max 5 students or does one to one like yourself. Ive opted for group classes as i feel i will get more out of it as im not affraid to have a go and make a fool of myself ha ha


that's the attitude:clap2::clap2:


----------



## Guest (May 31, 2011)

I hired and then fired several teachers in Colombia. The problem I found was they would sit there and try to tell me how to speak spanish without any sort of course material...then I decided to take a 1.5 month course at university, the 'professor' then stood in front of a white board and would write out the spanish language, i.e. ser/estar etc...again no course work/book.

In Colombia many people get their visa's (student) and thus the school seems more of a via mill than any sort of serious house of learning...hence I've given up in Colombia on taking any courses and am relying on the practice makes perfect..amongst other books...once I finish the advanced gramar I may very well return to the via mill to hone my conversational skills and not be forced to sit in a room doing nothing but taking notes.

In Colombia anyway, they don't understand that there are proven methodseady of teaching English speakers Spanish and especially to westerners. So my advice is to work with what you are comfortable with at home so you are more prepared in the classroom.


----------



## bernice34 (Nov 3, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> that's the attitude:clap2::clap2:


Yep every week ( twice) I fall flat on my face but get up and try again !!!! Xabiachica will vouch for that!!!! She is a very patient teacher


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

bernice34 said:


> Yep every week ( twice) I fall flat on my face but get up and try again !!!! Xabiachica will vouch for that!!!! She is a very patient teacher


you do NOT fall flat on your face




maybe to your knees........................







see you in the morning


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I am teaching English to Spanish PhD students and I am learning more Spanish this way than ever before even though they are not allowed to speak Spanish


----------



## emma wilson75 (May 27, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> that's the attitude:clap2::clap2:



Gracias senorita, buenas noches


----------



## Kastym (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi all, 

can anyone recommend a Spanish teacher for kids in the Alhaurin dela Torre/Grande/Churriana/ Torremolenos area, preferably in a group setting. Our kids have just started school in El Romeral and need the extra boost a proper teacher will give them, not just what we know from cd's. Also, if there are adult classes during school times that would be great, we will need to make just as much effort as the kids if we want to live here and communicate effectively.

Thanks


----------

