Learn Spanish - Rocket Spanish Minicourse

Learn Spanish - a Minicourse

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estas?

And yes - right again! The above expression means "Hello! How are you!"

I've just embarked upon the Rocket Spanish 6-day minicourse and I'd like to give you my initial opinions. Obviously, I've only just started so I can't tell you so much, but nevertheless there's enough already to get a good "feel" as to the quality and how it's likely to progress.

The course is created and presented by Mauricio Evlampieff who comes from Chile and is therefore a native Spanish speaker. Now, this course is both written and audio, with apparently much emphasis on speaking. So the audio component is very important.

The first part of the course comprises about a quarter of an hour or so of very thorough drilling in basic greetings. We're introduced to a very small amount of vocabulary - but presented very clearly with much repetition and places where you can repeat it yourself and then hear the correct pronunciation immediately afterwards.

Throughout the audio Mauricio is heard in conversation with the program's editor, Amy Waterman, a young North American lady by the sound of it, but who seems to achieve the necessary clarity of diction so the listener can easily follow the conversation.

I think that this pairing is realistic. I imagine that most users of this course will be North American, so Amy will give them a point of reference. As for myself, of course, I'm European, so the American accent is very evident. No problem!

The audio recordings are available to listen to online, or you can download them to your computer, possibly even later onto an iPod or similar device to listen to in the car. If find that courses such as this make ideal driving companions!

A comment I must make is that the audio is first rate. So full marks for what sounds like professional studio quality audio. This is really very good, since in such a course, clarity of the audio is of paramount importance.

I can't wait to find out what's in part 2 of the course. Why not join me? The minicourse is free, so you've nothing to loose. Here's the link again: Rocket Spanish

Now go learn Spanish !

Learn Spanish all the way

¡Hola amigos! - Yes, that's Spanish, and means "hello friends!"

(note the fascinating inverted exclamation mark in front of Hola. That's how it's done in Spanish. It's also the same with question marks - an upside down one at the beginning of the sentence and one the right way up at the end). Certainly leaves no doubt!

This blog charts my personal journey to learn Spanish. I've learnt other languages in the past but never Spanish. And I've not done a lot of language learning since leaving school. So this Spanish learning project is quite a challenge. I wanted to chart my progress on the web. Not only to try to gain some more discipline while I learn the language, but perhaps it will also encourage others who want to learn Spanish as they watch my progress.

Why do I want to learn Spanish? Well, quite simply, I want to go and live, at least for some of the year in Latin America. I'm also single and unattached. And what better way to get to know a country than to date a person from that country, right?

One slight difficulty. Although Latina chicks seem to be totally gorgeous, most tend to speak little or no English. So if you want to say even "hello", let alone ask for a date, you'd better get started and learn some Spanish.

So let's get on with it! Oh, yes - in case you're wondering, the method I'm using is called Rocket Spanish. I looked at virtually all the courses I could find and that one seemed the best for me - starting with no Spanish and taking me forward to being competent in the shortest time.

Perhaps others would like to try it and we can compare notes and encourage one another! At least take a look and let me know your opinions.

Here it is again: Rocket Spanish

Thanks for reading so far.

Go learn Spanish !