These audio Spanish lessons are among the ones I tried when I was a starving student desperate to learn enough Spanish so that I could go to Spain and become an ESOL teacher all the while enjoying the Spanish people, their culture, and my surroundings.

I was the typical gringo personified, and while I had a natural affinity for languages of any kind, my dyslexia made it difficult to learn in a traditional “book based” way, and to be honest, my short attention span didn’t help when the content became stuffy, and out of touch as is so often the case in language classes these days.

I decided to branch out on my own, and try a different approach, and in doing so, I used three top products.

Pimsleur is where my journey began.

I found the content in this program to be high quality, however, it was almost too much like many of the traditional methods of language learning. That said, if you can get through it and be diligent, this product is excellent at making it possible for language newbies to get the appropriate accent down correctly. This is possible because of the way that the conversations are broken down sentence by sentence, word by word, and syllable by syllable.

I couldn’t stomach this one as a starting point, but to be completely honest, I STILL use it today to perfect my accent.

Rosetta Stone was the next stop on my language learning journey.

This product is used by several government agencies, is built around valid research when it comes to language acquisition, and is overall attention grabbing, and comprehensive.

What I didn’t like for me personally though other than the fact that it was out of my price range to keep using, was, (remember, I learn a little bit differently than most people) for me, in spite of itself it seemed confusing, and could be easily overwhelming… there is so much to do, but no real direction as to how to do it. And because grammar is not really covered very much, that can be frustrating to someone used to a traditional approach and hoping for fast results.

The osmotic picking up of grammar comes, but it comes with time, and if you don’t have much time, are easily frustrated, or on a tight budget, Rosetta Stone may not be your best bet.

Rocket Spanish is a relatively lesser known product that I stumbled upon shortly after I ended my subscription with Rosetta Stone.

It has many pluses, but primarily, it seems to have the best features of all the language learning formats mentioned here.

It’s more intuitive than Rosetta Stone, but set up in a similar way
It has a supplementary grammar program which is explained in detail with application principles that anyone could understand unlike Pimsleur, but yet it has a strong audio component that allows a new learner to hear the new language in use.

Other than that, it is the most new and fresh of the programs when it comes to content. Sure it teaches enough for formality’s sake, but it also makes clear the many ways in which and reasons why SPOKEN Spanish is often a bit different from “book Spanish” and this is VERY useful.

Rocket Spanish, because of that fact gave me more confidence than any other method in my new language skills, because I knew the difference, and I wasn’t going to walk into the room, and sound disrespectful to my elders, or be made fun of by my peers.

Plus, for the content and support provided, the price tag attached is very appealing to those who may not have much disposable income.

Now I am a certified ESOL teacher, have been to Spain and other parts of the Spanish speaking world, and have a better more in depth understanding of what my Spanish speaking students go through, and what any learner of another language deals with.

Someday, you’ll be at this point too, if you stick with your language learning. Once I got to Europe, before I started teaching I used LanguageCourse.net to find a class to participate in so I could see things from the traditional classroom perspective.

They were excellent at polishing off some things for me, and I was able to explore as well. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is traveling.

Regardless of the method I used, something I took away from all of my experiences trying to learn Spanish is the concept of

Si, Se Puede

.
It means “Yes, It Can Happen” Or “Yes, You Can” In Spanish, As In YES You CAN Learn Spanish.

I Don’t Care:

• How Many Times You’ve Tried.
• How Many Times You’ve Failed.
• What Your High School Spanish Teacher Might Have Said To Make You Doubt Your Abilities.

I KNOW It’s Possible For ANYONE To Learn Spanish And Learn It Well, As Long As They Have The Right Tools.

With The Right Resources, The Only Thing Standing In Your Way Of Learning Spanish Is YOU!

But, Of Course, That Begs The Question… How Do You Know What The Right Tools Are?

You’ll Be Able To Find That Information, On This Website.

Remember, The Only Thing Stopping You Is Yourself.

Si, Se Puede!