languages - spanish

study tools

In London I have been intensively studying Spanish at the Instituto Cervantes. I highly recommend them if you are serious about learning Spanish, although there is a bias toward Spain Spanish as opposed to Latin American Spanish. In addition to classes, I've always tried to collect various other methods to help me study a language. Somehow this seems a lot easier for Spanish than for Japanese, as I had to enter quite a lot of information for Japanese. Below is a list of some of my favourites. In general these tools are FREE or have trial versions. If you wish to provide a link to something you recommend please email Maria.

dictionaries

LingvoSoft Dictionary
Synopsis: English/Spanish dictionaries for Windows, PocketPC and PalmOS.
Recommendation: These are reasonably good dictionaries for your Palm or Pocket PC devices, which makes them perfect for travelling. I have found that even the full version doesn't have all the food or some words, but it's much easier to type in a word and look it up than carry around a big dictionary.
Cost: LingvoSoft provides free trial versions that have a limited amount of basic vocabulary. They also do talking versions. The full price is £29.95. Some products on this site give you the opportunity to bid lower than the full price.
http://www.lingvosoft.co.uk/LingvoSoft-English-Spanish-Talking-Dictionary-for-Pocket-PC/
http://www.lingvosoft.co.uk/LingvoSoft-Dictionary2006English-Spanish-for-Windows/

Wordreference.com
Synopsis: An online English/Spanish dictionary.
Recommendation: Wordreference.com is so far my online preference for looking up words and getting subtleties of meaning.
Cost: Free
http://www.wordreference.com/

learning vocabulary

LingvoSoft PhraseBook
Synopsis: PhraseBook is what it says on the tin. It comes in both a normal version and a talking version. Available for Windows, PalmOS and PocketPC.
Recommendation: The PhraseBook seems like a good basic set of phrases for a variety of situations. As is the way with all phrase books, it's no substitute for learning the language, but good for learning set phrases. Good for travelling on a PDA.
Cost: Free trial versions with a limited set of phrases are available. Prices range from £19.95 for the normal version to £29.95 for the talking version. You might be able to get a discount on this product.
http://www.lingvosoft.co.uk/LingvoSoft-PhraseBook-2006-English-Spanish-for-Pocket-PC/
http://www.lingvosoft.co.uk/PhraseBook-English-Spanish-English-for-Pocket-PC/

LingvoSoft FlashCards
Synopsis: FlashCards are, well, flash cards in several different learning formats. Again these are available for Windows, PalmOS and PocketPC.
Recommendation: FlashCards are reasonably good, sometimes the translation has the feeling of being taken literally from a dictionary without context, but it's a good way to learn. The PhraseBook is also a useful list of common phrases broken into categories. Good for practicing when you're bored on your PDA.
Cost: Free trial versions with a limited set of cards are available. Costs about £24.95 for the full version. Again, you might find you can get a discount on this.
http://www.lingvosoft.co.uk/FlashCards-English-Spanish-for-Pocket-PC/

BBC Spanish learning online
Synopsis: A set of online learning resources including vocabulary, reading and speaking practice.
Recommendation: This is quite good, especially if you are just starting out and looking for travel Spanish practice, but they also have some more advanced beginner level training. There is a Spanish test which recommend the appropriate courses for your level.
Cost: Free
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

improving reading comprehension

Actually, in this case I recommend using an old fashioned reading technique. Books! I've discovered some great parallel textbooks that have taught me some new words and given me some insight into Spanish and Latin American cultures. If you're not already familiar with them, parallel textbooks have the page on one side in Spanish and the page on the other side in English. Below are my favourites.

Stories from Mexico
Stories from Latin America
Stories from Spain
Synopsis: All of these are Side by Side books with short historical legends.
Recommendation: For the beginner who has at least 30-60 hours of classes. Easy to follow and feel that you are making progress with practically applying the reading comprehension of what you've learned.
Cost: About £6.99 each
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Mexico-Historias-Language-Spanish/dp/0844208116/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/203-1794879-6931167
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Latin-America-Language-Spanish/dp/0844208124/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/203-1794879-6931167
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Spain-Side-Bilingual-Books/dp/0844204994/ref=pd_sim_b_2/203-1794879-6931167

Short Stories in Spanish
Synopsis: A collection of medium length short stories in Spanish that are presented in a parallel text format.
Recommendation: The beginner will find this impossible. You need to be at least at level 2 with a solid 60-90 hours of courses behind you. But, you'll learn a lot!
Cost: About £8.99
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140265415,00.html