Archive for the ‘Learn Spanish’ Category

So Rocket Spanish is releasing a new update to their learn Spanish course. It’s called Rocket Record and is aimed at improving your pronunciation. If you have used Rosetta Stone before or a few other programs that examine your pronunciation, you will know what this is all about. But here a bit more on the Rocket Record in case you are interested.

The system allows you to record your voice and displays your as a series of bar graphs or a wave formation if you like. The wave formation represents how you pronounced the word, the highs and lows that you hit and things like that.

So how does this help you improve your spoken Spanish accent ? Well, there is a native Spanish speakers recording of the exact same sentence you have just recorded. The aim is to get your wave formation exactly the same as his/hers.

I have generally been a bit hesitant about the usefulness of these sorts of systems. I believe that people watch other people – how their lips are formed, where their tongue goes etc. to form a true understanding of pronunciation. This system gives you an abstract representation of how the mouth is making these sounds.

So even though you can get your wave formation to look exactly the same as the native Spanish speaker you are still not able to see their lips move. Maybe a video of the speaker saying the sentence or expression would be a better method.

With this said, this new system gets you speaking (if you haven’t been doing this already…tut,tut…you have to speak to learn a foreign language). And it was a bit of fun trying to get your wave looking exactly the same as the native speaker. I’m not sure how long that would last though.

Also the system starts tracking your speech immediately you press the record button so you have to be speaking right away if you want your wave formation to match the native speaker.

Nevertheless, I think Rocket Spanish are looking to emulate the premium courses like Rosetta and Transparent languages with this new system. These courses are very proud of their language analysis tools and I guess they make the course look more attractive and versatile. To this extent I think Rocket Spanish have succeeded.

It should also be noted that Rocket Record is only available if you get the premium version of the Rocket Spanish course, which is an upgrade on the standard course.

Go to the official Rocket Spanish site now !

Jetset Spanish is a new course from the creator of Rocket Spanish, Mauricio Evlampieff. It is very different from Rocket Spanish because it is purely video. And Mauricio even features in it along with a few of his buddies !

==>Get the Jetset Spanish course here<==

or

==>Try lesson 3 for free<==

The inspiration behind the new course was people asking Mauricio and the Rocket Team if they could add video lessons to the Rocket Spanish course.

Well, they decided to do this but make an entirely new course altogether. It would have been nice if they could have tacked the videos onto the Rocket course at no extra cost but I guess it doesn’t work like that.

No doubt it’s cost a bit of money to make the course so they have to charge for it. And I’m sure you’ll be able to buy both products as part of a package one day.

Anyhow, here is a Jetset Spanish Review from Learn Spanish Reviews

Jetset Spanish Review – What Do You Get ?

When you purchase the Jetset Spanish product, you are given access to the members page. This has two download links that you can use to get the course.

The links are for PC or Mac computer so that pretty much covers everyone with some form of computer. I downloaded the PC versions and it took about 1 hour 20 minutes to complete.

Yep, it’s a big download, approximately 622 mb.

You then install the software from the download link onto your PC/Mac.

Then start it up.

It gives you the option to select whichever lesson you want from 1-15.

I guess so that you can take up from where you left off or if you want a refresher of a previous lesson.

There is an American English speaking narrator or voice over that guides you through the lessons.

He will introduce the lesson and the purpose of the lesson. There are scenes within each lesson and after each scene the narrator discusses what happened. Each scene freezes and a conversation box appears on top of the video. This box has all the words and sentences that were just spoken in the scene.

You can click on a loudspeaker symbol next to each sentence to have it spoken out loud.

This can help you if want to practice saying the words or phrases. There is also an option to turn both Spanish and English subtitles to each scene on or off as the scene is playing.

Again, this may help you understand what is going on as it happens rather than waiting for the narrator to tell you what happened. Scenes will generally involve you and one or a few other people. From time to time, the other people will speak to you or ask you a question.

This is when you are supposed to speak out loud and practice saying words and phrases. You can repeat this over and over again as a try again button appears whenever you are asked to speak.

A nice touch with the Jetset Spanish lessons is that you can choose what happens in each lesson.

Basically, you are asked a question and based on your answer the lesson goes a certain way.

For instance, in lesson four you are asked what type of room you would like to stay in. Based on your answer the lesson will take a certain path.

Note however that the program can’t understand what you say rather you have to click on the answer option that is given in the lessons.

This is a downside of the course but then not many courses exist like this anyhow.

In some lessons you are asked a number of questions which determine the outcome of the lesson. This means you can keep the course fresh by trying out new parts of each lesson.

There are 15 video lessons :

• Lesson 1: On the Plane

• Lesson 2: Money Exchange

• Lesson 3: Getting Into Town

• Lesson 4: At the hostel

• Lesson 5: Fiesta!

• Lesson 6: A chance encounter

• Lesson 7: At the café

• Lesson 8: Meeting the family

• Lesson 9: Asking for directions

• Lesson 10: At the restaurant

• Lesson 11: Shopping

• Lesson 12: Going away

• Lesson 13: The Tourist Office

• Lesson 14: Feeling ill

• Lesson 15: Saying goodbye

and each lesson comprises a number of scenes.

Depending on the answers you select, a lesson could have more or less scenes.

Ultimately, you want to go over every possible answer so that you can see all the scenes and learn the new words and phrases associated with the scene.

Why Video Works

Here is a tour of the Jetset Spanish course

Basically, we learn by watching other people do things and then copying them. Video is the closest approximation to this learning technique if you don’t have a Spanish speaking person living with you.

For instance, something that is hard to learn by listening to mp3’s or even using some kind of analytical software is pronunciation.

People learn how to pronounce words by watching the lips and mouth movements of other people when they speak. This shows them where to place their tongue or the lips when saying a word.

They are watching and copying which is something that can’t be done with a software program that analyzes the pitch of your voice by comparison to a native speaker. This is too abstract for most people.

So this skill can only really be taught via real life interaction or by watching a video.

Video instruction also gives people confidence, especially if the scenarios in the videos are likely to be similar to the real world situations that the student may face.

So if the real world setting is a restaurant, the student will have a memory of all the sights and sounds that might be encountered from their time watching the video.

And confidence is the key to really mastering a new language and becoming totally fluent. Once you lose the embarrassment of talking to people in everyday situations, you language skills will come on at a pace.

Jetset Spanish Review Summary

Jetset Spanish is a well put together product. The video production values are good for a language video product and the way it stops between scenes to ask questions is a good teaching strategy.

I would say that the language covered is only really basic conversational level. As the name suggests, it will be useful for tourists who need to have simple conversations, like asking for information, directions, simple questions and things like that.

It would certainly be a fast way to learn Spanish to this level and you could even watch it on the plane as you flew to your exotic Spanish speaking location.

It would get you talking and that is a big step when it comes to learning a new language. When you speak to people in a new language it is good to have some idea of where you want the conversation to go so that you don’t get completely lost.

Also have a few stock phrases that you can return to if you get stuck or don’t understand. For instance, “no entendiendo” means I don’t understand. This could be a stock phrase whenever you get a bit lost with a conversation. “Como se dice” means how do you say and can be used if you need to learn some new vocabulary. You can even start a conversation and if you get stuck for a word, utter this phrase and the person will help you out. Speak more slowly is another phrase that can be helpful. Try “Hablas Mas Despacio” if you think someone is speaking to fast.

The good thing about any course like this is that it encourages you to speak to people. As already said, this is half the battle when learning a new language. Especially as an adult, we feel a bit sensitive about appearing stupid or saying something stupid. Get over this, kids don’t have this fear and they can pick up languages quickly. They build out their vocabulary with time and this is something that you will have to accept.

You won’t be a totally fluent Spanish speaker without time to pick up phrases, colloquialisms and vocabulary. You just have to accept this I’m afraid.

As part of the purchase, you get the downloadable version but you will also get a physical copy on CDs delivered to your home address.

So by accessing the members area of Jetset Spanish, you could be learning from Mauricio and his buddies in under 2 hours from purchase. And you will also have a hard copy version should your computer corrupt the download or have any problems.

Check out the Jetset Spanish course here >>>

Check Out Jetset Spanish For Free

At this time, you can download lesson 3 for free (or for an email address anyhow). This represents a great way to check out the course for yourself and see if you like it.

Get started with the free lesson here >>>

Another component of the Rocket Spanish download is the mega games. They can be downloaded from the learning lounge as an exe file. The exe file installs the three games on your PC or Mac. Simply clicking the icon brings up the games and allows you to play.

Games are good for learning things that might be considered slightly boring or tedious. Generally learning grammar conjugations is a pretty tedious affair so there is a game called megaverb that can help.

It consists of answering 25 questions on verb conjugation. You can choose to answer questions on present, past, future or all three tenses. The question gives you the infinitive version of the verb, the meaning in English and the person that you must conjugate (first person singular, third person plural etc.)

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now >>>

You type in the answer and the games tells you if it is correct or otherwise. You have a few attempts to get it right.

This will teach you verb conjugation and some writing skills to a limited extent. The key to learning verb conjugation is to see recognize regular and irregular verbs. Most verbs will fit into a group of regular verbs which are identified by the way they end. Memorizing the way the ending works for the general group can allow you to conjugate hundreds of verbs successfully.

Irregular verbs just have to be memorized as a one off because they are generally pretty unique in their endings.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now >>>

Megavocab is the game to improve your vocabulary skills. It is similar to the way Rosetta Stone works. It shows you a picture and 4 words in Spanish (can show the English word as an option too). You have to guess which word corresponds to the image.

This method of learning vocabulary is a good approach. It is fairly painless way to learn (dare I say fun) but the words are only basic level words (conversational).

Again, Megavocab will ask you 25 questions and mark your answers. There are plenty of categories of words to choose from which will keep you going.

Some of the pictures don’t really communicate what the word should be at times which can be a bit frustrating. In this instance it makes sense to turn the show english word option on to clear up any confusion.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now >>>

Megaaudio works on the same principle as Megavocab, except that the word is spoken. You have to match the word to one of 4 or 6 pictures in the question. 20 to 25 questions are asked and you are given a mark. Again there are plenty of categories to practice. Most are just single words but in the later sections there are short sentences.

This game will help your listening comprehension and even your accent if you repeat the words aloud after you hear them.

I find the games are a good warm up exercise if you are planning to do a bit of Spanish. They can get you into the mood so to speak and are easy to use.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now >>>

These two courses are quite hard to compare as they basically have completely different aims. Rocket Spanish is a complete course. There are components that teach a student reading, writing, listening  and speaking skills. The Michel Thomas course is completely focused on the speaking and to some extent listening/comprehension.

To this extent, I think the Michel Thomas course is ideal for someone that wants to learn Spanish quickly (say they are on a vacation in Spain or on a Business trip in Mexico). Copy the CD’s to an ipod or mp3 player and off you go.

The format of the Michel Thomas Spanish course is Michel Thomas conducting a series of lessons (10 actually) with two students. Michel Thomas will discuss the topic of each lesson. He will ask questions and one or both of the students will answer the question. You are encouraged to pause the lesson just before the students answer and speak your own answer out loud. Then un-pause the lesson and see if you get the answer correct.

I like the way Michel teaches; he seems to give you confidence and simplifies the language. For example, he tells you that only a small portion of words are actually used on a day to day basis. So if you understand these words and some of the basics of how the language works, you can pretty much communicate with Spanish speaking people.

After you have done all the lessons you will have the confidence to speak to people. You won’t have a huge vocabulary but you should be able to make yourself understood.

Rocket Spanish has a bigger aim. It teaches you reading, writing, speaking and comprehension. It is a more traditional course and uses audio, quizzes, test, games and visual cues to impart Spanish knowledge.

In brief, Rocket Spanish has an audio course, a grammar and vocabulary written/audio course, educational games that teach vocabulary, verb conjugation and listening comprehension. It also has a plenty of tests at the end of each lesson that helps to reinforce your learning.

Michel Spanish Review

Plus points -

Fast way to learn Spanish/easy to use

Fairly cheap

Negative points -

Limited to speaking skills and a fairly small set of vocabulary

Michel Thomas does not have the best Spanish accent so not good for pronunciation.

Go get the Michel Thomas Spanish course

Rocket Spanish Review

Plus points -

Get a lot of content for the price – teaches reading, writing, listening, speaking

Uses a variety of teaching methods

Complete course

Negative points -

Not a quick learn product. Sure you can go through the audio course really quickly but if you want to use all the grammar lessons it will probably take a few months to go through.

Go to the Rocket Spanish website for more details.

With plenty of learn Spanish language courses on the market it is often hard to work out what to go for and what really suits your learning style. This article will compare Rocket Spanish to Rosetta Stone Spanish. Hopefully, you will then be able to make a better decision about whether one of these courses is for you.

The first thing to say is that Rosetta stone is predominantly a software program. It is one of the better learn Spanish software programs in fact but if you don’t have time to sit at a computer or prefer to learn  in another way then it might not be for you. They do have an audio companion guide now – (CD’s you can load on your ipod and play whenever you feel like it).

Rocket Spanish also requires you to spend a fair amount of time at a computer. For instance the three games (which are similar in style to Rosetta Stone) have to be played from a PC or Mac computer.

If you want to use the feedback features of Rocket Spanish then you also need to be logged onto their website.

Rosetta Stone uses their unique ‘Dynamic Immersion’ technique to teach you Spanish. Basically this involves no conscious thinking on your part. You are immersed in the Spanish speaking world and pick up words through practice and repetition.

It does this by saying a word or sentence (or showing a word or sentence) and showing you 4 pictures. One corresponds to the word or sentence. You have to guess which one. You go through a series of questions – 20-25 per lesson/module. If you get a high mark on the lesson you can go to the next lesson.

This is the same method that you used to learn your native tongue – seeing a picture and relating a word or sentence to it. You don’t have to consciously learn what the word means. It simply sticks with enough repetition of the picture/word combination. This can even be done with complicated sentences. And is how we learn a language as a child.

Rosetta Stone also has a program that can analyze your pronunciation and a headset comes supplied nowadays.

Rocket Spanish is more traditional in that it is predominantly an audio course with additional reading material that teaches the grammar of the language and introduces vocabulary. There is a Rosetta Stone style series on games that use the same picture/word association teaching that is used with Rosetta Stone but it is not as comprehensive.

It also has plenty of multiple choice testing that is good to give a student feedback on how he/she is doing.

Rocket Spanish is more responsive to students as it has a forum and the program seems to have changed in style over the past few years, indicating that they are listening to their students about how to improve the program.

Rocket Spanish can be downloaded from the internet for $99. Rosetta Stone Spanish level 1 can be purchased for around $200 (depending on where you buy it online). However, you need to get the other 2 levels to complete the set so it is considerably more expensive than Rocket Spanish.

Rosetta Stone Review

Plus points –

Easy teaching style, no need to memorize or write things down – learn language like a baby does.

Can improve pronunciation

Negative points -

Expensive, if you decide to get all the levels

Require plenty of repetition and practice if you want to remember what you learn. Better still, use what you learn immediately by talking to a Spanish speaking person and it should stick.

Check out Rosetta Stone Spanish here

Rocket Spanish Review

Plus points –

Get a little bit of everything – comprehensive audio course, three Rosetta Stone style games and a decent grammar/vocabulary written guide with audio components.

Good price point – cheaper than most learn Spanish courses

Responsive to students needs and questions – fairly active forum where you can ask questions. Send out follow up lessons via email address.

Negative points -

No pronunciation teaching, you have to repeat the words after they are spoken in the audio so no real feedback.

Check out Rocket Spanish here

This section will describe how the grammar or written sub-lesson works. So the first written sub-lesson of “Socializing” is called “Introduction to Irregular Verbs: TENER and VENIR”. Sounds a bit dry, I know.

Basically, each written lesson ties in with an audio sub lesson. So in this case, it ties in with the “Birthday” audio lesson.  The verbs Tener and Venir were used in this audio conversation. The grammar points out what the verbs mean and how they are conjugated. There is individual audio files of Mauricio conjugating these verbs in the first person singular through to the third person plural (standard verb conjugation).

The lesson points out that these verbs are examples of irregular -ER and -IR ending verbs. There are hundreds of -ER and -IR ending verbs that have a standard ending for all the verbs. This makes it easier to remember if you are learning verbs for the first time.
However in this case, the verb ending deviate from the standard endings. These are two verbs that you just have to remember are different.

After the initial introductions have been made, the lesson goes on to use the various conjugations of these verbs in sentences. There is a written and audio component (and even a picture in some cases) of each sentence. Some questions are asked at the end of the lesson too.

There are three tabs that can be clicked on that take you away from the written text. These are entitled Culture, Quiz and Notes.

Culture introduces some element of Spanish or South American culture.

The quiz is a multiple choice quiz on the lesson.

Notes is a section for you to add your own notes on the lesson.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now!

This section will describe how an audio sub-lesson works. So the first sub-lesson of “Socializing” is called “Birthday Party”. The audio lasts for around 27 minutes give or take a few seconds.

The format of the audio involves the English speaking narrator (Amy) telling Mauricio about a birthday party she is planning. He asks her about who it’s for, who will be coming, when it is happening . She ends up by asking him if he would like to come to the party too. He says sure.

This might seem like a pretty short conversation to put into 27 minutes but the conversation is repeated a few times and Amy often explains what everything means. She describes the new verbs, how they are used in the sentence and the infinitive of the verb.

The conversation is slowed down to one sentence at a time and the student listening to the audio, is encouraged to say the words or sentences after each person on the audio has spoken it.

The audio lesson ends with the narrator asking the listener some questions about the lesson and their birthdays. There is a pause, giving the student enough time to speak the answer out loud. Then Mauricio will give the likely answer to the question. This allows the student to interact with the audio and also get answers to the questions that are asked.

By listening to Mauricio speak, you can hear an authentic accent too which will help with your own pronunciation.

This teaching method is stressed in the very first audio lesson of the course. Amy stresses that you have to speak the words and sentences out loud, when you are given the opportunity to do so. It might seem odd at first but this is the best way to engage in the lessons and get used to speaking the words.

Pronunciation is one of the hardest parts of learning a language, only by practicing it can it be perfected. Watching people lips and mouth as they say a word can also help with your pronunciation but you can’t do this with this course.

There are 4 extra tabs that can be clicked on during the audio. These are conversation in Spanish, Conversation in English, Quiz and Notes.

The conversation tabs show you how the audio is written in Spanish and English which may help you follow along with the conversation if needs be.

The quiz tab is a multiple choice quiz on the lesson.

Notes is a section for you to add your own notes on the lesson.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now!

One Rocket Spanish lesson is basically made up of audio and reading sub-lessons.

For instance, in the first lesson of stage 2, entitled Socializing there are :

Audio lessons on :

Birthday party
Dates
Games and Presents
Prizes
Let’s Party

Each audio lesson last for about 20-30 minutes. You will hear and see new words in each lesson.

Learn more about how an audio lesson works….

Reading lessons on :

Introduction to Irregular Verbs: TENER and VENIR
Stem Changing Verbs in the Present
Irregular Verbs in the “Yo” Form
To Say and To Give: Using DECIR and DAR
When Something is Happening

As this is in stage 2 the reading lessons are quite complex and deal with grammar and verb conjugation. They also introduce new vocabulary that you will use or hear in the audio lessons.

Learn more about how an grammar lesson works….

Summary

So this particular lesson consists of 10 sub-lessons. (4 audio and 6 written). This is fairly typical of all the lessons on the course. Depending on your skill level one lesson could take anything from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now!

The Rocket Spanish forum is useful for two reasons. The first is that you may have questions about something  in a lesson. This can be asked in the forum and you will find that a moderator will probably answer it. I don’t know the skill levels of the moderators. One is called nohablo so maybe he/she doesn’t speak Spanish. But I have spotted Mauricio Evamplieff on the forum and he definitely can answer any Spanish related question.

The forum can also be used when you have finished the course. You can ask questions that are advanced and not covered on the course. To be honest, the grammar sections in the course are pretty good but you are bound to come across some things that make you go hmm. These question can be answered by the moderators or other students.

The final benefit of using the forum is that you will meet fellow students. This can help you in your learning as you may be able to relate to their problems and vice versa.

Contributing on the forum, either helping others or receiving help, will help you to keep going with your learning. The more you communicate with other people striving towards the same goals as you, the more people you will be accountable to. This may seem like a negative or intimidating prospect, but in fact it is a great motivator and will help you get more value out of the Rocket Spanish course.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Website now!

Michel Thomas Spanish is based on the famous language teaching techniques designed and perfected  by the one and only Michel Thomas in his New York Language School. This course is one of the simpler courses around but this doesn’t mean that the content is not extremely valuable. This is purely an audio course and has slightly more limited aims than many other courses. It’s aim is to teach a student how to speak Spanish as quickly as possible using Michel’s teaching technique….

Michel Thomas Spanish is a fast track way to learn Spanish. In fact, I would say this is the best course if you are planning a business trip or vacation in a Spanish speaking country and want to get the basics of the language quickly. Michel Thomas has a teaching style that simplifies the language and gives you confidence to speak to Spanish speaking people. Granted, the things you will say are pretty basic, like simple questions and requests but it will probably be sufficient if you are spending a couple of weeks on vacation or such like.

The source consists of ten CD’s that last about 20 – 30 minutes each. The format of the lessons is Michel Thomas and two students. Michel is taking a lesson and sets up the topic, explains some of the concepts and asks questions. The students answer the questions and ask questions if they don’t understand something. You are encouraged to stop the CD whenever a question is asked and speak the answer out loud. Then start the CD and listen to the answer.

One student is better than the other. I’m not sure if this is staged so that people at all levels of understanding feel involved in the teaching…or maybe it is genuine.

Michel is a good teacher. He explains that it is his responsibility to teach rather than the students responsibility to learn. To this extent he suggests that you don’t write anything down, don’t try to memorize things and don’t try to consciously learn. Sounds weird, but to a certain degree it works.

He also simplifies the language for you. For instance, he explains how many of the common words in Spanish are the same in English (or similar anyway) so that you already know hundreds of Spanish words. He also explains that on a day to day basis most people only use a few unique words.

His lessons concentrate on these words and on the type of sentences you would use in everyday speech or simple questions that you may ask a person. As I said, his teaching and his explanation of the language instills a fair amount of confidence in you that you can speak the language.

The lessons cover quite a bit of vocabulary and go over present, past and future tenses. You probably have to listen to the last lessons a few times to get the most benefit out of them. I recommend this course if you need a quick solution to speaking Spanish. Take it on the plane as you leave for Mexico and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick things up.

Get Michel Thomas Spanish Course Now !