Is it easy or hard to learn Spanish just from listening to people talk?

[Trellum]

I kind of learn English that way, but in an online setting. Basically I was 16 years old, spent a lot time in the Yahoo! chat rooms just listening to people talking and reading what they wrote.  That is how I learnt, it took me to actually start writing e-mails back and forth to native English speakers in order to improve my language. Then I moved onto voice chats...  It took me 6 months to speak it, but it took me a couple years to be fluent in it.   So basically yes, I'd say it's possible, specially if you are young enough. 

[flo]

It might work if you put some active effort into it. I grew up in an environment that was nearly 24/7 Cantonese (with splashes of English) for nearly five years and the only phrase I definitely know how to say is "I don't speak Cantonese." I can still understand pretty well, but it makes conversations with older relatives rather awkward. Nothing like getting stared down disapprovingly for an entire ten course wedding banquet! I think it would be most effective when combined with another structured program so that they can reinforce eachother (the program giving the theoretical knowledge to understand the practical knowledge that conversation gives).

Accents should be taken into consideration as well. I can understand native Spanish speakers from Latin American countries pretty well and pick up on some of the slang. Yet I can hardly understand Spaniards, unless they enunciate every single word. The lisp throws me off that much.

[rz3300]

Well it certainly helps in the process.  But it is just that, a process, and there is more to it than just listening to people talk.  You can pick some up and get the basics and learn a lot, but you still need to know the roots and the verbs and grammar and all of that.  That is why the software that is out there is so great though because it is very user friendly and easy to learn quickly.

[FenWoFon]

Yes it is definetly hard and I wouldn't recommend it to you because the way spanish speaking people talk is really fast to people that do not speak the language and it can be frustrating because you will not get anything at all. You can try and start watching videos/movies/games even in spanish to get a hint of it and you'll be able to understand a lot of it in no time, trust me the more your practice the better you will get in no time and after maybe 3 months you will be able to understand the real spanish speaking people you couldn't get nothing out of, cheers.