www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Great advice Shadowman, I have plenty of latino friends to practice on. Call it a benefit of living in a border town. Since I am only home about 5 days a month, I guess I will have to speak spanish when talking with my friends on the phone.

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Living for today because the past is gone and the future is uncertain

Don't forget, there are dozens of spanish language schools around San Jose.

I've taken 3 weeks of classes at CRLA in the past 2 years and consider it a great way to learn spanish. Fees are reasonable and are cheaper for returning students. The staff, method and facility are great. Many CRTers have attended there. In fact, during my first week there I sometimes carpooled to school in a taxi with two other mongers from Hotel Castillo!

It can also provide you with a good cover story if you need one.

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Women are like beers. I've never had one that I didn't like. Just some that I like more than others! --Western

Just my two cents...

It depends how much you want to learn. As a Spanish teacher, I have found that none of the programs help you to learn comprehensively, but will help.

So a program that I lay out for those I tutor....

Buy a basic Spanish grammar book. Any used book store or half-priced book store will do.

Buy a set of cassette tapes CD's for listening practice. Pimlesuer is good.

The 10 minutes a day Spanish is a good book. The new version comes with a CD. There is phonetic pronunciation for learning the words, and stickers to put on household objects.

Finally, find a native Spanish speaker who wants an intercambio, and exchange. That will be the most useful part *and maybe more fun!(

http://www.rocketlanguages.com/spanish

very affordable, easy system, does the trick!

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Just my 2C...

IMHO: Diccionario con Pelo is by far the best learning method/system available.

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Bring on the dancin' girls and put the champagne on ice. -Bon Scott

Costa Rica: We make easy, hard........

Hoe Dog koo koo ka choo

studying very hard now. I have found that the 4 books I have are good reference tools, nothing else. The Pimsluer cd system is very helpful right now with both learning words and phrases as well as pronunciation. But the most helpful is the computer dvd-rom program by Fluenz... it is incredible.
I would like to thank everybody for their feedback, very nice. I am now on track to be able to speak with the ticas on my scheduled visit the first 2 weeks of January.

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Living for today because the past is gone and the future is uncertain

Would be interested in finding out how different your experience is being able to talk to the chicas....


Continue your studies, you won't be sorry

Cujo

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"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

501 Spanish Verbs is a VERY good learning tool. Learning how ar, er and ir verbs are conjugated will help you more than anything. That and the phrase: mas despacio, por favor.
Keep studying amigo, you will be surprised how difficult it can be to comprehend what people say.
Buen suerte.

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Bring on the dancin' girls and put the champagne on ice. -Bon Scott

Costa Rica: We make easy, hard........

Hoe Dog koo koo ka choo

I am an advocate of Rosetta Stone. Bt, whatever program you use, remember to deliberately and orally repeat aloud every single word you hear in your study materials. I say this because it is possible to learn enough to understand everything you hear, but if you don't get your tongue and mouth moving in Spanish your ability to speak may be hindered. Also, if you have cable tv with some Spanish channels, tune in regularly to the news or to a Hispanic talk show. It will tune your ear to the spoken language and make learning easier.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

Thanks El Viejo, that is what I like the most about the Fluenz program. I have to use a mic and repeat to my computer the words and phrases to progress to the next level. Not very easy, and frustrating at times, but very useful.

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Living for today because the past is gone and the future is uncertain