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Learn Spanish: Is It Rocket Science? (A Review)

Tale of the tapes

At a yard sale one day I spotted them: 12 cassette tapes stuffed into a forlorn ziplock bag, bearing a label on which someone had written "$1."

Spanish language learning tapes! I recognized the title on the cassettes immediately -- this was one of the top audio Spanish courses a few years back (actually, the course is still around, but now it's on CDs--and selling for $300).

For a buck, what could I lose? I plunked down the dollar and drove home to give a listen.

I can't say the tapes were bad. Someone had certainly managed to cram a lot of words and sentences onto those 12 little cassettes. But after playing several of them, I realized that they couldn't teach me any more Spanish language than I already knew.

If I were a complete beginner, I could easily pick up some basic Spanish vocabulary and a few stock phrases from the tapes--but then, I could learn as much or more from a $6 Spanish phrase book. The main benefit of the tapes would be hearing the words and phrases pronounced.

To learn Spanish, skip the recycled stuff

I've been working to learn Spanish for years, starting with books and progressing to audio and video tapes, then computer software.

Technology has opened a world of possibilities for those wanting to learn Spanish. Despite the flash and the bells and whistles, though, when you get down to it, most high-tech approaches to learning a foreign language just recycle the same material you can find between the covers of hundreds of books.

I've looked at a lot of Spanish learning programs, some pretty decent, a few downright atrocious--many costing hundreds of dollars, up to a thousand bucks or more for the "advanced level" ones.

I just about concluded that the only way anyone could ever truly learn Spanish was by living in a Spanish speaking country for a few years.

But I've just found something new that has completely blown me away--as well as all my prejudices about what it is possible from a learn-Spanish-on-your-own program.

It's called Rocket Spanish, and they're not kidding when they say it can "rocket your language learning ability through the roof."

At last, one that delivers

Everything all those other courses and systems promise, Rocket Spanish delivers, in my opinion. And I'm a hard person to convince. Rocket Spanish impresses the h___ out of me. (Sorry for the strong language, but, well, I am impressed.)

OK, what is Rocket Spanish? It's a lot of things, really one heck of a huge suite of Spanish learning tools that you can download and start using immediately. You can also ask the Rocket Spanish company to send you physical CDs and printed books in a big nice-looking package, going the download route costs less, so that's what I recommend.

The core of Rocket Spanish is an interactive audio course designed to get you speaking conversational Spanish quickly. Accompanying the audio program are four e-books crammed with grammar lessons, useful words and phrases, and vocabulary and exercises.

If, so far, that just sounds like the "same old, same old," it's not. I find the interactive audio exercises to be really fun. It's almost like you're sitting around with new-found friends who bring you along into their world--into their way of speaking, thinking, and enjoying themselves--so gently yet quickly that you'll amaze yourself with how much Spanish you're learning.

Between listening to each audio segment you can study corresponding chapters in the conversation and beginners' books that come with the course.

Listen, read ... and play!

The audio and books are just the beginning, though. There's also something called MegaSpanish, which consists of the "MegaVocab" and "MegaAudio" software for playing games to accelerate your ability to learn Spanish.

Both MegaVocab and MegaAudio are challenging and engaging (and my 10-year-old daughter enjoys them as much as I do). The best part, for me, is that you can modify the vocabulary of the games to use the words that you need to learn.

As I noted above, what matters to me in a program to help me learn Spanish is the content, not flashy graphics or pretty picutres. If the content is weak or limited, or if it just boxes you in with a small set of canned words and phrases, then it doesn't do much good.

Rocket Spanish really shines content-wise. It's not only comprehensive, it's flexible enough to take you just about as far as you want to go with your mastery of Spanish. However, I do want to give a nod to the production values of the Rocket Spanish package. It is definitely high quality in every way. (You can view more screen shots like the one below on their web site.)

My inner skeptic speaks ...

There's one thing about Rocket Spanish that I question: The claim that it give you Spanish fluency in just three months. Now I'm sure that would be true for that minority of people who seem to be born with a natural gift for language (I knew a guy once who spoke half a dozen languages fluently, and who could pick up a new one well enough to converse with native speakers in about a month).

I think that if you diligently apply yourself to learn the entire Rocket Spanish course--and if you then go out and find people to practice conversing with--you could be speaking pretty fluent Spanish in much less than a year's time--maybe six months for the average learner, a little longer for some.

I am confident in saying that this course will take you farther toward fluency, faster, than anything else currently on the market.

Based on my own experience in trying to learn Spanish, you're right to be skeptical of any program that promises fluency in such a short time. While the "three months" claim of Rocket Spanish may be an exaggeration, it's probably not much of one.

Sample before you buy

Here's something really cool: You can sign up for a series of six free mini-lessons from Rocket Spanish to get a taste of the program. Then you can decide, without obligation or pressure, whether to get the whole Rocket Spanish program. I wish more language learning companies would let you sample their wares first.

Oh, I should say something about the author of Rocket Spanish, Mauricio Evlampieff. He's a young guy, a native Spanish speaker (from Chile) who's passionate about his culture, language and heritage and enjoys sharing his love of Spanish with others.

Maricio's enthusiasm really comes across in the program. He sounds like someone you'd enjoy chatting away an aftternoon with--using your newly learned Spanish, of course--over a cup or two of fine Guatemalan or Colombian coffee.

Mauricio's editor is Amy Waterman, who gained her fluency in Spanish while living and working in Ecuador. It was she who formulated the unique concepts behind the interactive audio component of Rocket Spanish.

As you can read elsewhere on the Learn Spanish blog, I went to Guatemala last year to learn Spanish in one of the Spanish schools there. My wife and daughter also studied Spanish with me. I only wish I had had this program before we went. It would have given us all a leg up, as it were, and permitted us to begin our immersion experience of Spanish at a much more advanced level.

Let the whole family learn Spanish

Which brings me to one of the nice things of this program. If you want to learn Spanish with your family, you can all use the same copy of Rocket Spanish (at the Spanish school we attended in Guatemala, we of course had to pay tuition for three people). You could listen to the audio lessons together, or take turns playing the games.

(Some of the best testimonials on the Rocket Spanish site are from youngsters, by the way.)

I could go on and on about this program, but I'll stop. If you're looking for something that can really help you to learn Spanish at home, you should check this one out. Sign up for the 6 free mini lessons to see how you like it.

Also, I note that they are currently offering the downloadable version of Rocket Spanish for half its usual price--act quickly if you want the best deal.

Learn Spanish, See the Sights

When we went to Guatemala last year to learn Spanish as a family, we made plenty of time for sightseeing, too. We spent our mornings studying Spanish at one of the many Spanish schools in the old colonial capital of Antigua. In the afternoons we wandered around town to see old church ruins, Antigua's central park (the main gathering place for everyone who lives or visits the city), and the marketplace. On weekends we undertook more adventurous activities, which in my case included going on a hike to the top of Pacaya Volcano, seen here peeking from the clouds in a picture I took near the beginning of the hike. When you learn Spanish abroad, it's the extras such as sightseeing that really make it a pleasure.

Learn Spanish Tips

Tips to Help You Learn Spanish

Study every day

Set aside time every day to study. Study in short chunks; you'll learn Spanish faster and with less stress if you study for 30 minutes every day rather than 3 hours once a week.

Review regularly

Go over each of your Spanish lessons several times. If you can arrange it, a good schedule might be once in the morning, once in the evening, and then once a few days later.

Establish a good foundation

Make sure you have a good grasp of Spanish fundamentals before moving on to more advanced material. To learn Spanish most quickly and efficiently, you need to become comfortable with its pronunciation, spelling, and other basics.

Set targets

Set targets ... and make them reasonable ones. Setting and achieving targets will keep you motivated to learn Spanish. You could, for instance, set a time limit to learn a certain lesson, or target a certain level of proficiency before moving on.

Focus on specific interests

Once you are comfortable with the basics of Spanish, learn to talk, write and read about things that interest you personally. This will make it easier for you to remember the words, phrases and grammatical constructions that you encounter.

Don't get discouraged

It will seem at times that you are making fairly rapid progress in learning Spanish, while at other times you seem to standing still or even going backwards. This is normal in language learning. So don't get down about it, but when it feels as if you are making little
progress, try going over earlier lessons. You may find that they're much easier now than when you first studied them, which will boost your confidence and motivate you to continue to learn Spanish.

Don't worry about mistakes

Making mistakes as you work to learn Spanish is not anything to worry about or beat youself up over. What matters is getting your message across, not whether you use all the right words, tenses, etc. If you can't recall the exact words, try using other ones; in Spanish, as in other languages, there's usually more than one way to explain or describe something.

Have fun

Find ways to make learning Spanish fun. Learn or make up songs, games, stories, jokes and anything else you can think of.

Take your language to the next level

Subscribe to a printed or audio version of a Spanish-language magazine. Try out one of the many audio or computer-based Spanish courses available (elsewhere, I have reviewed my top-recommended one).

Good luck! ¡Buena suerte!

Learn Spanish Abroad

There are a huge number of schools in Spanish speaking countries that cater to those who want to learn Spanish in a foreign setting.

The allure of these schools is obvious: You enjoy a vacation in a beautiful, perhaps exotic, place, while learning Spanish surrounded by native speakers. Most of the schools teach using the immersion method, in which the teaching is occurs entirely in Spanish, even if the student is a complete beginner. (I'm wondering why they don't just call it the "sink or swim" method, but maybe that would sound too scary!)

Many Spanish schools will also arrange home stays with local families, where you will have ample opportunity to practice your language skills. It's considered one of the best and fastest ways to learn to speak and understand Spanish or any other language.

How do you choose a school? First, of course, decide where you want to study. Most of the countries of Latin America (South America and Central America) have at least one recognized Spanish school and many have them in abundance. (Even Brazil, which is Portuguese speaking, has a few, but you won't get the full immersion effect there since the people in the streets, restaurants, stores and on the beaches won't be speaking Spanish.) Spain itself, as you would expect, has many excellent Spanish language schools.

For residents of the United States, Mexico is a natural draw for those wanting to learn Spanish. Not only is it our nearest Spanish speaking neighbor, it is also a relatively cheap place in which to vacation and offers a tremendous variety of experiences to enjoy, from laid-back beach towns to charming colonial cities to big urban areas. Other good choices for the budget conscious adventure seekers include Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

You might also consider going to Argentina or Chile to learn Spanish. Argentina, in particular, is a good bargain at the moment, price-wise. But if you're watching your money, the drawback to those two countries is the higher cost of a plane ticket to get there in the first place, if you're going from the U.S.

Wherever you decide to travel to in order to learn Spanish abroad, be sure to do lots of research on the Internet before heading off on your adventure. All Spanish schools have their own web sites these days with information on their teaching methods, their costs, and a registration form plus other contact information. Some sites have photos of their premises and the surrounding neighborhood, which can give you an idea if you think you would like the atmosphere -- which for me is an important consideration for any place where I'm thinking of studying Spanish or anything else as a vacation.

Of course, you can expect the web sites owned by the schools to be full of glowing testimonials from past students who went there to learn Spanish. What you should do, though--once you find two or three schools that interest you--is to plug the names of the schools into a search engine and see if you can find some independent reports by people who attended them. This way you'll learn both the good and the bad about the schools, and this can help you narrow down your search as well as to help you avoid a school that might have some kind of problem.

In a later post, I will describe my experiences in going to Guatemala with my wife and daughter to learn Spanish in Antigua, a beautiful old colonial city.

(Meanwhile, if you're interested in getting a huge jump start before going abroad to learn Spanish--of even if you just want to stay home and learn it--I highly recommend a new product called Rocket Spanish. It's a software-based Spanish learning system that is miles ahead of any similar product I've reviewed. You can check it out here.)

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Learn Spanish

Welcome to my blog for everyone who wants to learn Spanish. I'll share lots of information on the best ways to learn Spanish, whether from a school, on a vacation in a Spanish speaking country, or on your own using language learning software, audio and video. I'll also be drawing on my personal experience as a student of the language who has found a number of powerful ways to help others learn Spanish.