www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Again your argument makes no sense. Rosetta Stone has 4/5 different levels, you obviously havent gone through all of them if you think you dont learn verbs.

Your advice simply sucks.

From what I have seen Rosetta Stone has at least three levels. Each one comes on an individual CD. Level Two has 19 "unit's", as they call them, with each unit having 10-11 lessons comprised of ten questions, with four different pictures on each question. They are up to Version three now.

I am currently at Level Two Unit 13, lesson 2. Some of the units do contain lessons in "verbos". The verb conjugation is written from the story dialog of the picture, but not really explained. They seem to really like beber (to drink)

Each lesson take me about 1/2 hour to complete. It could be done in less, but I stop and look up in a Spanish dictionary the words that I don't know, even if I can guess the answer.

So far it seems that there is very little time spent on conversational Spanish. I find that my reading comprehension has gone up, but my conversational level has increased less. I would assume though that this may be normal.

Buenos suerte to all, like me, who are stumbling through learning a new language, when "I cain"t even hardly speak no English".

_________________
It's not the size of the wand that put the rabbit in the hat, it's the magic in it!!!

I never made it through. I quit using and went to Pimsleur. The fact that they didnt start off teaching you the most basic verbs is dumb.Im sure eventually they get to it but there is no structure.Lessons should build on each other.from basic to advanced.

I previewed Rosetta Stone at the Newark Airport kiosk during a layover.

I was well-packaged. I'm familiar with their methods, I use similar software as an auxillary. In other words, as another method to teach/learn Spanish.

The problem with their approach (and videos as well) is that it cannot recreate the social aspect in learning a second language. The interaction with an actual human does more for most folks than audio/vidio alone.

So if you can find a system, then find a tica....I talk to the girls at the Sportsman during the day on slow days. Be ethical and tell them if your shopping or not, buy them something to drink or eat....

btw...a 2 beer buzz helps fluency....relaxes!!!

I have to agree that social interaction really helped me. I took 2 years high school spanish and 2 years in college, but never really put it all together until I started traveling in Mexico and CR. My basic strategy was to go touring in the morning. Take a siesta in the afternoon and study up on any spanish I had trouble with. Then hit the clubs in the evening to practice with the chicas. (This was mainly in Mexico)

I still just study out of my college text. It has the common vocabulary, and conjugation of common verbs in every tense. If I run across weird stuff I use http://www.wordreference.com/ It is excellent for odd vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.
A good site with tico-isms is http://www.lacarretica.com/diccionario/index.asp. CR has a lot of their own vocabulary.
And of course few sources teach you the kind of vocabulary you will find here: http://www.avizora.com/glosarios/glosar ... ossexuales

My advice in the end. Buy a good spanish book and study, study, study... (This is not as bad as it sounds with a good tica to help, but caution, muchas de las damas al Hotel del Rey, many of the ladies at HDR dropped out of school early and their not much on grammer.)

I find it very hard to believe that anyone can become fluent after even 100 or so computer lessons. I've been effectively studying the language for 20 years off and on, and the chicas can still leave me in the dust if they want to.

_________________
Tonka. (Still Alive and kicking.)

The site doesn't seem to work anymore. No audio seem to stream through.

Anybody else experiencing the same problem?

I was making good progress in learning Spanish as well using this site!

Also try

http://www.verbix.com for help with Spanish verb conjugations. Good site.

The secret to learning Spanish is this:

Think
In
Spanish.


I learned this from Muffdiver, a native Spanish speaker who himself has taught Spanish. He's right. Part of the trick is to think in Spanish, rather than to think in English and then translate. This is easier than it seems at first. Don't look at a sign over a storefront and think "sign...means...'rotulo' in Spanish..." Rather, simply call the sign "rotulo.

We have several names for a signle thing in English, if you think about it. You don't blink when someone calls your refrigerator a fridge, or when someone refers to your microwave oven as your "wave," or your "nuke." So, simply adopt some Spanish vocabulary into your English and start there.

To J-Mack. I don't know about that wacky Canadian government, but I assure you that Rosetta Stone is not the only program licensed by the U.S. government. Berlitz comes to mind, as they've been in the biz longer than just about anyone else.

I took the Foreign Service Institute's O.P.I. (Oral Proficiency Interview) and scored at the highest level of "Advanced" category, or (depending upon which of the three reviewers was rating me) the lowest level of Superior. I have been trying to learn Spanish for 31 years. My opinion, based upon my experience is that there is no substitute for conversation as part of normal social interaction. I learned far more from hanging out with my Spanish-speaking friends than I ever did in a classroom or from a software package. Of course, YMMV.

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

Good stuff El C

Cujo

_________________
"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"...

El Ciego said

Excellent advice my friend.

Here is a little help to learn Spanish.

A gringa friend of mine wanted to learn Spanish for her flight attendant job.

She had a great idea!

Verbs are one thing but also there are also Nouns

She thought to put "Post It Notes" on everything in your house with the Spanish name for that noun written in big letters for example: wall, refrigerator, toaster, microwave, mirror, floor, ceiling, ashtray, etc

There are a thousand words " Nouns" that you can learn without having to study by just seeing them everyday.

Mag

_________________
Rio4Me4Ever is on a constant quest for premium trim.