How quickly can you learn Spanish?

[AdamDavis14]

So I want to know how quickly someone can learn Spanish. I am a quick learner so I won't find it too daunting I don't think. But my son is taking Spanish at GCSE and I want to help him get a good grade, so I figured I would try and learn Spanish to help him. Is there anything I can do to help him or me? If I can speak it more fluently or as fluently as him then it would be good for conversations to help him and me improve. I know the basics so I am not totally starting fresh.

[AdamDavis14]

I've been doing some brainstorming and I think I might have a technique that will help. How about sticking words around your home? Like putting television in spanish on the TV. Also would reading spanish kids books help with understanding spanish? My english teacher always said to read more books to get use to writing better so I guess it would work, wouldn't it?

[tulosai]

I think it depends on what other languages you speak and how quickly you pick up on languages in general. To me it sounds kind of daunting to try to keep up with someone who's taking a structured class when you're not, but if you pt your mind to it you probably can do it.  Have you thought of Rosetta Stone? At the end of the day how fast you can learn also depends how much time you can put into this. 

[AdamDavis14]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what Rosetta Stone is. I'll google it, or is it something completely different?

[Alfonso]

That would all depend on how much time you spend immersing yourself in the Spanish language. It's not a very hard language to learn in my opinion and how long it will take will all depend on how much time and effort you put into learning it.

The best advice I can give is to converse with your son in Spanish as much as you both can, even if its difficult at first, that way, you'll both be practicing Spanish and enhancing your vocabulary and fluency. Conversation is the best way to learn any language.

[BWL]

I guess it depends on your goals and motivations. I always had the impression that Spanish spelling and pronunciation were easier and more regular than English and French. The important thing is to practise and listen to the language a lot, watch a lot of movies and listen to Spanish songs etc. The idea is to submerge yourself in a Spanish-language environment. I hope this helps! Good luck!

[AdamDavis14]

Thanks for the info guys. I am getting a few spanish books, downloading a few spanish songs and getting some spanish movies so I think I am going to submerge myself. Is it easier to speak the language first then apply it to writing or learn to write spanish then apply it to speaking. I imagine speaking would be mostly easier to transfer into writing as you know the vocab. As long as you can spell okay.

[bonniea]

Immersion is the fastest way to learn a language. The more you use it the faster you will learn it. Just memorizing vocabulary is boring and it does not give you the context in how sentences are formed and used.

[jodiann12]

I think it depends on what other languages you speak and how quickly you pick up on languages in general. To me it sounds kind of daunting to try to keep up with someone who's taking a structured class when you're not, but if you pt your mind to it you probably can do it.  Have you thought of Rosetta Stone? At the end of the day how fast you can learn also depends how much time you can put into this.

I agree with tulosai. It all depends on how many foreign languages you already speak, how much you practice the language, and how much time you're willing to devote to it. Rosetta Stone may work for some, and it may not for others. Probably going to class might be helpful, and then practicing that language in an environment where there are mainly native speakers.

[rgaz83]

Thanks for the info guys. I am getting a few spanish books, downloading a few spanish songs and getting some spanish movies so I think I am going to submerge myself. Is it easier to speak the language first then apply it to writing or learn to write spanish then apply it to speaking. I imagine speaking would be mostly easier to transfer into writing as you know the vocab. As long as you can spell okay.

Spanish spelling is extremely regular, with a handful of what seem like exceptions. I can't recall what they are, exactly, but the words just aren't spelled how I think they should be, based on how they sound. It probably has to do with the specific accent(s) used, too.

But I also agree that immersion is going to get you speaking faster than anything else. One thing I've read but haven't tried myself is to keep a word journal. Every time you come across a word you don't know but would like to, whether in English or Spanish if you're listening to something in Spanish, you write it down. At the end of the day, you get a dictionary and look up all the words you didn't know for the day. Eventually, you'll get to where you're looking up very few words but you'll have a large vocabulary without memorizing irrelevant vocabulary words and sentences like "where can I get a horse and carriage this evening?"

[cinderr]

Adam Davis, great idea! I think I'll get on that right now!

when my son was very young, I taught him to read using huge flashcards on the tv, etc. It worked like a charm--he was reading by three! Some people believe in this and some do not. I do and I think it will be beneficial to me to put up the flashcards! My roommates (husband and grandson) might accidentally learn some Spanish too!

Why didn't I think of this before?!

[Trellum]

It really depends on your mother language (it's easier to learn a romance language when your mother language is a romance language), so if your mother language isn't a romance one...it might take you a bit longer to learn spanish.  If you're trying to get to speak the language as fast as possible, then I'd recommend the Pimsleur course, this course has helped me a lot with my dutch

If you want to focus on the grammar, spelling and general language structure, then you  can try taking a spanish course with other students.  It'd really help you to be able to immerse yourself in the language and practice it with other students. You'd learn spanish faster that way, I think.

[bonniea]

Like anything it depends on how much you put into it. If you go the route of immersion you will learn a lot faster than taking one lesson a day. If you spend 3 hours a day studying and practicing you will learn much faster than if you spend an hour a day. We did not learn our mother tongue in a few weeks, and another language is the same way. It takes time. 

[yellowbird]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what Rosetta Stone is. I'll google it, or is it something completely different?

Rosetta Stone is a program that uses pictures that you match with vocabulary words and phrases so that the language clicks more quickly in your mind. Some people are visual learners, and this helps them very much when it comes to learning a language relatively quickly.

[rgaz83]

Rosetta Stone is a program that uses pictures that you match with vocabulary words and phrases so that the language clicks more quickly in your mind. Some people are visual learners, and this helps them very much when it comes to learning a language relatively quickly.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Rosetta Stone unless you have a lot of money to burn/spare. While it may be an okay program for some people, the truth is it's not really all that great of a system and there are very similar things around the internet for cheap/free. I'd try one of those before spending hundreds of dollars on Rosetta Stone.