Can You Learn Spanish With Learn Spanish MP3 ?

by Adrian Fletcher

There are quite a few self study language programs on offer at the moment. Some seem to be reasonable in price whilst others tend to look expensive. However they should really be judged on how easy they made it to learn to speak Spanish. Can you learn to speak Spanish using an MP3 or CD audio course ? This article will detail the benefits of using an audio language course to learn Spanish and some things that are not so good.

A definite advantage of an audio course is that it is a good simulation of the method we used to learn our native language. As a baby you learn your native language by listening and eventually repeating what you hear. This is the same method that is used with a Spanish CD or MP3. The words and phrases are listened to and repeated. There is a dialog that you take part in much like the dialog a baby has with it’s mother.

This is at odds with more common language learning methods that teach reading, writing and grammar at the same time as listening and speaking skills. This can often overwhelm the average student and they will get bored with learning the new language because they feel they are not making any progress.

Secondly, learning from an audio CD can help your pronunciation. In many ways pronunciation is more important than grammar when you first start learning a language. If you want to speak to people to practice what you have learned (and you should), they will forgive your grammatical mistakes and get the meaning of your words. However if your pronunciation is bad they will simply not understand you no matter how sympathetic they are to you. This can really dent your confidence when first starting out. Believe me, talking to Spanish speaking people is the key to improving your skills so you don’t want to shy away from this because of poor pronunciation or a bruised ego.

Lastly, a great benefit of a learn Spanish CD or MP3 is that it is easy to use. The classic example of this is listening to the course as you drive to work each morning. You could also listen to it in the gym or when cooking a meal.

Whilst this is an advantage, it is not strictly true. I found that I could devote all my attention to driving a car and learn a new language. Something had to slip and as driving the car without crashing was pretty important, it was the Spanish language lessons. This is confirmed by Michel Thomas who has a number of audio language courses. He recommends that you stop everything and give all your powers to the course.

If you have listened to the audios half a dozen times then it gets easier to multi task but initially I would say it is a no no.

So can you learn Spanish from a CD or MP3 ? I think they can give you a grasp of the language but you have to learn a lot more before you will be considered fluent. Being fluent requires a fair degree of confidence too. And you can only have this confidence if you use the language regularly and have made a few mistakes along the way. Even so an audio course is a good starting point and is convenient for many people that have busy lives.

About the Author:

If you are looking for a good Spanish course then visit http://rocketspanishreviewed.com . The site has reviews on 3 popular Spanish courses, including a comprehensive Rocket Spanish 1 review.