CD's

Unless you are a real self-starter and have tapes or CD's, there really isn't much of a substitute for a sit-in class. I've learned several languages, taught one to myself, but for most people there's no substitute for classroom instruction or a private tutor. What it requires above all else is time and discipline, and it's easiest to discipline yourself for a teacher.

To become fluent you will probably have to use several different programs. If you want to start with something free try: http://www.freewebs.com/spanishforfun

Get involved with a local spanish speaking community, preferably working with the elderly whose command of English is minimal. BEtween the bilingual people you work with and the monolingual people you work for, you should pick up Spanish quickly.

I have always heard good things about the Rosetta Stone programs.

We have the Rosetta Stone. It's not a traditional method of learning but my daughter seems to be picking it up rather quickly in comparison to the traditional curriculum we've tried in the past. I've been casually studying Spanish for about 3 years through CD's and books. After using the Rosetta Stone for 3 months, I had learned more than in the 3 years of the other methods. The edition I have is a homeschool edition. It comes with workbooks and guides. I'm not sure if the home study course includes the extras. Follow this link to find out, and then buy it from Ebay or a used homeschool curriculum site. http://www.rosettastone.com/en/?a=b

To not and tell them to speak english

A friend can help. I had a greek friend and i learned a goof quantity of it. There's nothing better like one to teach then an electronic.

Get Mexi friends!!

Learn Spanish Fast: (Found Surfing - effectiveness unknown) http://www.unforgettablelanguages.com/spanmain.html I found this surfing but I do not know if it is effective: http://www.natively.com/?af=USCC_A1

The only way to master Spanish is to start with the grammar. Write the verb paradigms over and over again. I still have my old notebook, which I filled with my pen with hundreds of verbs. When you run out of paper, you get a new notebook and start over. You do that everyday for a year and you will master the verbs. Of course I did it because I like writing. There's an easier method and that's flashcards. Anyway your foundation of speaking is based on how well you know your grammar. Master verb conjugations, first of all. As a secondary objective, memorize as much vocabulary as you can. You can either start by buying preformatted flashcards for Spanish learners, or you can try my method and read the dictionary directly. Reading the dictionary is time consuming but it can be very rewarding in the end and you need tons of patience. But you need patience to learn any language anyway. Next to strengthen your oral proficiency, start speaking and listening. That's the only way you get better. They tell you to listen to the radio, watch tv and movies, practice with friends. TV is ok because you have the luxury of subtitles, which help tremendously. However I must say, telenovelas suck. They just do. I don't know how anyone can stand those cheesy things, the acting is terrible and the storylines aren't that far off either. I suppose it's an acquired taste. Radio? Sure that's more tolerable except the problem is they tend to speak really fast so it's hard to catch on if you're not used to it. I used to tape record the morning shows and listen to them at slow speed. It's a little better but it can get boring after a while. I never found Spanish cinema to be that exciting. Except for a few movies, my deepest regards to foreign cinema must go to either Italian or French. But whatever, treat it as an educational experience and get a movie that you can stand to watch five times in a row with at least some interest and turn on the Spanish subtitles, not English. If you turn on the English subtitles, you will learn nothing. I promise. Practicing Spanish with your friends can become pointless if they are fluent in English. I suggest making friends with people who don't know English, which puts you in the favorable position. I did at my second year of learning Spanish. Believe I've been there. I've been in the classroom, I've rented countless Spanish movies, recorded Spanish TV. I've bought rosetta stone, Pimsleur, self-help books. I've befriended Mexican friends and communicated with them. I've done every method you can think of except travel abroad. Even so my best advice is just the old fashioned basics of reading and writing. It's like the last training scene from Rocky IV. Drago had state of the art technology to help him prepare for the match while Rocky used whatever he had available. Who won? Read the newspaper, magazines, and look up words you don't know, record them, and make sure you never forget them. Ever. If you have an electronic dictionary, that's nice. Having to look up a word every ten seconds in a book dictionary gets really annoying and distracting from your reading. But depending on how sophisticated its technology is, I recommend you get both. There are just some things electronic dictionaries can't do that a book dictionary can. There are countless products out there to help you increase your vocab, aka the building blocks of your language. If you have the money, use them. You don't have to, but it would make life easier. Including podcasts. And last of all you need devotion and dedication if you already don't have it. Put a picture of Einstein, Noam Chomsky, Isaac Newton, or any other accomplished and awe-inspiring person near your work study place whom whenever you look upon, you get so excited you feel like you want to read your whole textbook in one sitting. All those fancy CD self help language proficiency five minutes a day program things are just luxuries. I never found them to work for me. But then I never really got into them so maybe my opinion isn't so qualified.

Hi, I did manage to learn a lot of Spanish without a private tutor or sit in class however i did have to discipline myself, I used grammar books, language exchange online and the best thing I have tried is Michel Thomas cd's. I began having basic Spanish conversations after using this, he is great. for lots of info try http://www.learn-spanish-with-ease.com

Having friends that are bilingual in spanish and english that way they can be a great help and you can be confident to ask them anything you want. Listen,ask and try to conversate.