Monday 12 January 2009

Spanish Courses

Well as I was at home today - see previous entry - I decided to scout around on the Internet for any new Spanish courses. There's a lot out there but boy aren't they expensive!

Since I've been teaching my friend Spanish I've discovered I know a lot more than I think I do - and my pronunciation's not bad either :-) However what I do lack is the practice of speaking it aloud. So I was looking for something online that I could do while sitting at my laptop. I did try out a language course that is based in Madrid but the site wasn't very user friendly so I can't see me doing much more of that. Then I looked at several 'immersion' type courses but some were astronomically priced.

Then came the decision about how I grade myself. You see a beginners course is too easy, so would an intermediate course be better? Again I was not sure as I expect depending on what course you did in the beginning they probably taught you differently to the ones that are advertising the intermediate courses. Oh dear....

I then found a Spanish podcast - now that was fun. It entailed listening to Spanish being spoken slowly; quicker; then at normal speed and you had to answer questions, join in conversations and play games. Added to that - it was free - but you had to keep listening to their advertising at specific intervals.

So I'm still non the wiser and I'm still looking. So what do I want? Well I guess I want a programme/course that I can do online or on my computer; I want it to hold my interest and I need it to make me talk - not just listen. I need to practise the spoken word more than anything - and to get used to listening at normal speed.

Last summer I promised Pilar that by the time I see her this summer I would be better at holding normal conversations with her and that is what I intend to do.

Any ideas would be appreciated????

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