My first foreign language in school was Latin - a great language to prepare you for any university. But then we moved, and the only language offered was Spanish. I found Spanish more fun, because people in West Texas actually spoke it, where as Latin was mostly just reading and learning complex grammar.
I talk to people all the time that took a language in high-school, but they still graduate without being able to speak the language. Often, a person can read and write the language, but cannot teach it. Our teacher emphasized conversation and actually speaking the language.
During high school, I had two labor-type jobs, so I got to work with several Spanish speakers. I can't repeat many of the "colorful metaphors" that I learned, but it was a good experience. It actually did help reinforce what I was learning in school.
Our high school Spanish Club sponsored an annual trip to Mexico city each summer. At the end of my junior year, my parents and I went, and it was another boost to learning Spanish. From a nearby Junior College, I even got three hours college credit for the trip.
Speaking of college credit, I took advanced placement tests for Spanish when I went to college. Due to my scores, I actually got fourteen hours of credit. Along with some other math and science tests, I was basically a sophomore in college my first year there.
During my undergraduate program, I took Spanish classes, as electives, just for fun. During one summer, they had a Spanish Conversation class, then later, I took two courses in Spanish literature. During the literature classes, the entire lecture, notes, and exams were in Spanish.
Then, back in the early 1980s, I tried some French, Portuguese, and Hebrew, using the Pimsleur system. After trying other courses that didn't work, I was very impressed with how easy Pimsleur was. I made two trips to Brazil, in which I was able to "convert" my Spanish into Portuguese by learning a few additional words.
Finally, in 1995 I got to live and work in a Spanish-speaking destination, San Juan, Puerto Rico. While I could have used English on the job, I tried when possible to use Spanish, and the co-workers were encouraging. I was there about nine months, and often found myself starting to "think" in Spanish instead of English. I would have learned even more if I had stayed in someone's home, instead of living by mself.
After burning a lot of money on dozens of differents types of language courses, I got a good feel for which ones worked, and which ones didn't. Eventually, I started creating my own courses for Hebrew and Spanish, and started building my own Spanish online learning center. We are currently working with several native Spanish speakers from different parts of the world. - 16492
I talk to people all the time that took a language in high-school, but they still graduate without being able to speak the language. Often, a person can read and write the language, but cannot teach it. Our teacher emphasized conversation and actually speaking the language.
During high school, I had two labor-type jobs, so I got to work with several Spanish speakers. I can't repeat many of the "colorful metaphors" that I learned, but it was a good experience. It actually did help reinforce what I was learning in school.
Our high school Spanish Club sponsored an annual trip to Mexico city each summer. At the end of my junior year, my parents and I went, and it was another boost to learning Spanish. From a nearby Junior College, I even got three hours college credit for the trip.
Speaking of college credit, I took advanced placement tests for Spanish when I went to college. Due to my scores, I actually got fourteen hours of credit. Along with some other math and science tests, I was basically a sophomore in college my first year there.
During my undergraduate program, I took Spanish classes, as electives, just for fun. During one summer, they had a Spanish Conversation class, then later, I took two courses in Spanish literature. During the literature classes, the entire lecture, notes, and exams were in Spanish.
Then, back in the early 1980s, I tried some French, Portuguese, and Hebrew, using the Pimsleur system. After trying other courses that didn't work, I was very impressed with how easy Pimsleur was. I made two trips to Brazil, in which I was able to "convert" my Spanish into Portuguese by learning a few additional words.
Finally, in 1995 I got to live and work in a Spanish-speaking destination, San Juan, Puerto Rico. While I could have used English on the job, I tried when possible to use Spanish, and the co-workers were encouraging. I was there about nine months, and often found myself starting to "think" in Spanish instead of English. I would have learned even more if I had stayed in someone's home, instead of living by mself.
After burning a lot of money on dozens of differents types of language courses, I got a good feel for which ones worked, and which ones didn't. Eventually, I started creating my own courses for Hebrew and Spanish, and started building my own Spanish online learning center. We are currently working with several native Spanish speakers from different parts of the world. - 16492
