I started by hiring Spanish speaking babysitters, having her watch TV only in Spanish, and taking her to Spanish classes. Eventually I took her to Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, and Ecuador to study/speak/practice Spanish, months at a time. This travel can be done inexpensively for $12 a day for room, food, and Spanish lessons; depending on the school. I am proud to say, she is now bilingual and would like to study French.
These are generic suggestions that can be applied to any language for a learner at any age. There are local references here but you will be able to find local schools which specialize in a variety of languages.
1. Hire a Spanish speaking nanny. Even if you don’t have young children.
2. Hire a tutor from SJSU or another local University at $10.00/$15.00 an hour for private lessons. Talk! Find someone who will encourage you to talk even though it's uncomfortable at first.
3. In Campbell, CA take your child to Susy Dorn’s musical Spanish classes. http://www.letssinginspanish.com
4. Watch movies that you have already seen in English and watch them in Spanish by changing the language in setup.
5. Watch Spanish TV Novellas and Que Dice Gente (family fued).
6. Watch these shows in Spanish and turn on the Closed Captioning so you can watch, hear and read in Spanish all at the same time.
7. Watch cartoons on KQED in SAP, second audio channel. NBC is now offering many popular programs in SAP like Greys Anatomy.
8. Use Muzzy video tapes.
9. Identify a room, situation, time that you will always use the language. For example when you are in the car, after dinner, in the kitchen. Stick to it.
10. Listen to AM talk radio in Spanish.
11. Join the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
12. Purchase your services (cleaning, gardening, personal trainer, haircuts, anything) in Spanish. Use the aisle with the cashier at the grocery store who speaks Spanish; go to Spanish restaurants.
13. 123TeachMe has online Spanish learning: grammar, vocabulary, verb conjugations, http://www.123teachme.com/
14. Get accents to use on your computer when typing Spanish. http://www.studyspanish.com/accents/typing.htm
16. Get the monthly Spanish magazine Speak and Learn Spanish also get the CD to listen & read.
17. Buy Spanish language learning CDs and put them on your iPod. Library has free CDs and videos.
18. Tape your own voice speaking Spanish and listen to your voice over and over. Repeat conjugations.
19. Use paragraph translation tools such as Babelfish and Google sparingly. http://babelfish.altavista.com/
20. Purchase Babylon http://www.Babylon.com or Wordmagic http://www.wordmagicsoft.com/ for installed translations; online access not necessary. Use sparingly.
21. Go to Berlitz. Put their transcript CDs on your iPod. Expensive; recommended only if you are not on a budget.
22. Join Spanish online web based meetup groups for free.
23. Volunteer at schools that speak Spanish. Silicon Valley Schools: River Glen, Escuela Popular, Gardner, Sherman Oaks.
24. Purchase and use Rosetta Stone for Spanish.
25. Go to Mexico etc. for school during the summer. For a list of schools use http://www.123teachme.com/ Do not go in a group, do not go where there are lots of tourists, and stay w/ a family that does not speak English. Do not speak or think in English while traveling.
26. Watch Destinos novella on your computer. A Spanish novella designed to teach Spanish. Slow speaking.
27. Purchase Franklin pocket translator/computer that gives definitions, congregates verbs, and has games. There is also another version that will speak the correct pronunciation.
28. Use Language Exchange for $30.00 http://www.sanfranciscolanguageexchange.com/
30. Personalize your Google web with:
Spanish word of the second
Spanish word of the day and lessons
Notes in Spanish and listen to PodCasts
Spanish words
31. check out this video
32. Check out this article:
33. Never give up!
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