If you are a tourist in Mexico or another Spanish-speaking country, the more Spanish you have picked up, the easier it will be to get around, to appreciate what you are seeing, and to get to know the people.

If you are living in Mexico, as we do much of the time, then it becomes even more important to learn Spanish. Not only to haggle for tomatoes in the mercado, but to immerse yourself more fully in the life around you… from catching the repartee while eating dinner in someone’s home to going to the doctor to opening a bank account. Many details that make up life happen in Spanish. Some of our misunderstandings make hilarious stories later, but they aren’t so funny at the time!

If you are in your home country and planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking one — or just dreaming of a such a trip — it’s valuable to learn some Spanish or to brush up what you already know. It really will help you when you get there, and also it will keep your motivation to make the trip happen!

One American friend of mine in Mexico who speaks almost no Spanish had taken a night class in the US before traveling to Mexico. She felt that the class had been worthless. From my perspective, she just hadn’t gotten comfortable enough about speaking to be able to draw upon what she learned. It all fits together eventually.

But this is also an example of why my top recommendations are the programs designed for actually learning the Spanish you’ll use when traveling and speaking!

If you own a business (or work for one, or want to) that could work with other businesses in Spanish-speaking countries, then the more Spanish you know, the better.

If you would like to make friends with Mexicans or other Spanish-speakers in your community in the US or Canada, that’s another time when it’s important to learn at least a little Spanish. You might have a job where some Spanish is useful, or do volunteer work. After I helped some Mexicans in the community library I worked at in Colorado, my co-workers and I joked that we should put a sign out front, “Se habla español, mas o menos.”

Mas o menos, more or less. Less becomes more before you know it! (One of my favorite resources is Rocket Spanish, listed in the top of the right sidebar.)

Why Learn Spanish? is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Throughout Mexico — actually, just about everywhere in the vast Spanish-speaking world — language schools offer short courses of a week to several weeks or even months. They are intensive and usually have small numbers of students in the classes, and often offer options such as a homestay with a family near the school, weekend cultural excursions, and the like. This is often also called Spanish immersion study.

The schools vary in how many hours a week you are in class, or one school may offer different options. Typically you can start on any Monday other than major holidays. Often classes are in the morning and you study or relax in the afternoons. Costs vary too.

Not only do you learn a good bit of Spanish, but you also get to know some Mexicans. Their culture may come alive, as you experience being more inside of it than you may have been as a tourist.

Spanish language schools exist in most if not all Mexican cities. Cuernavaca and Guanajuato are two cities I’ve heard recommended for their language schools. They are both charming cities as well! You could also study near the beach in Cancun, in sophisticated Guadalajara, or anywhere else you desire. Search google, yahoo, or your favorite search engine for the name of the city and the phrase “Spanish language school.” You may prefer to choose a city that is less touristy so that there will be less English spoken around you and the Mexicans in the shops will be more likely to speak Spanish with you.

You aren’t limited to Mexico, of course. There’s Spain and all of Central and South America. Guatemala has long had some schools around Antigua. Keep in mind that you will be hearing different accents in different countries, just as if you learned English in Dallas, London, and Sydney!

Naturally some schools are better than others. You can tell something from their websites, if they have them, or by asking for references from students who have been there. Ask how many students are in a class, and what the age range typically is. If it matters to you, ask about the privacy and bathroom situations in the host families.

I looked around on the internet a while to see if I could find a forum where people compared notes on different Spanish language schools. I didn’t find one but Idid find a couple of good pages with more information: choosing a Spanish immersion school from about.com, and a page on Spanish language school FAQs from the ecotourism site planeta.com.

Kelly and I haven’t tried a Spanish language school ourselves, but we speak a lot of Spanish with Mexicans in our daily lives.

Spanish Language Schools in Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

It’s easier to memorize when you are younger, but you can certainly still learn Spanish later. There may at times be a one-step forward/ two-steps back quality to your learning but ultimately those steps will take you in the direction you want to go.

If you have to work harder to learn Spanish, you can also work smarter. Research into how we learn shows that if you study something and then go back over it, you will retain far more than if you just review it once.

How often is ideal to review something?

• About an hour later
• A day later
• And a week later

Applying this to learning Spanish could mean keeping track (more or less, depending on your style) of what you are studying and then beginning each study session with a review of what you had done the day before. Once a week and once a month you could review too.

Here’s a tip that comes from dog training: Dogs typically learn best if the training sessions are kept short and enjoyable, with treats. For us, that means don’t study to the point of exhaustion and make it fun for yourself, maybe even giving yourself a reward for doing a Spanish lesson!

I’ve been told by retired friends who have gone to Spanish language schools in Mexico that they find they do best if they take a smaller course load than they might have when they were younger.

There are various nutritional supplements that can help you learn and remember. Gingko is perhaps the best known. I take it regularly! I do find that the process of learning Spanish involves more forgetting than it used to, but I also think that the intellectual challenge of studying Spanish keeps those brain cells livelier!

How to Learn Spanish When You Are Older is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

To find out more, click on the image to go to the interesting Rocket Spanish website:

I was able to follow the welcoming talk in Spanish, which you can play on the homepage. That pleased me!

The 31 Interactive Audio Lessons come as mp3 files so it doesn’t matter what kind of computer you have, and you can play them on any mp3 player, not just on your computer.

Each of the lessons has supplemental materials so you’ll naturally pick up grammar, learn more Spanish vocabulary, and gain confidence.

I can’t think of a better way to learn Spanish while still living your regular life. Do take a look and see for yourself…

Want to learn Spanish? is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

I ordered this CD set for the library where I was director not long ago, and it was very popular for learning Spanish. I listened to part of it, and if I ever go to China, I may get the basic Pimsleur tapes first! My Spanish is somewhat beyond the basic level, but even so I picked up quite a few tips by going through the first lessons in my car.

Pimsleur Spanish is very interactive with phrases being on the CD, then you say them, and so on. It refers back to vocabulary you’ve learned, to reinforce it. The way the lessons are structured is based on research by Dr. Paul Pimsleur into how we remember. It is totally an audio program, with the idea that since that is how children learn a language, it’s a good way for adults learning an additional language. Being a very visual person myself, I really like to see things as well.

The Pimsleur approach teaches a rather formal version of Spanish, but you can remedy that in part with a book I love, Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish. Pimsleur’s strengths are in getting you talking, and you will want to add more vocabulary tailored to your own interests.

The links on this page takes you to Pimsleur’s Spanish I CD set. There are also sets for Spanish II and III, and you can see them on the Amazon page this link takes you to. These items are certainly a bit of an investment, so if you go to Amazon, also look at the used prices. If you buy these, you could sell them later yourself. (You can try your local library before Amazon too.)

There are other programs that compete with Pimsleur, and I think that Rocket Spanish is particularly good.

Pimsleur Spanish I: A Review is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

I love Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish, by Joseph J. Keenan.

It makes terrific browsing, as well as providing a lot of information for intermediate and advanced students of Spanish.

Keenan has lived and worked in Mexico for years, and his hard-earned knowledge of the language is shared in a delightful and informative manner.

For example, there’s a common verb in Mexican Spanish, chingar, and to use it incorrectly is to invite serious trouble. It’s a major “four-letter word” with infinite variations. I don’t use the word myself (not trusting my fluency to use it appropriately) but after reading his section, I’ve certainly heard it in many, many conversations where I otherwise might have missed it completely. It adds certain overtones to people’s comments, worth catching.

Most of his tips are not about vulgar language, though. Whenever I pick up the book to check something, I find myself reading for five minutes. We used to keep it in the bathroom. More than once, a guest went into the bathroom and gales of laughter issued forth!

Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish is not essential to learning Spanish, but it will add a certain flair to your Spanish! Click on the image to see it at Amazon.

Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses, by Dorothy Devney Richmond, has helped me brush up on the weakest part of my Spanish.

Verbs.

Like many foreigners, I’ve stumbled around when I get out of the present tense. The future isn’t so bad because I can say “Voy a [infinitive], that is, ” I am going to…”

But the past? Aarg! A few parts of a few verbs stuck from my Spanish classes years ago, but generally NOT.

I’ve been doing lessons in Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses, and my verbs are getting better. Quite a lot better. I like it that the answers are in the back of the book. I don’t like how many mistakes creep in, but hey, this isn’t school any more!

Click on the image to go to Amazon, if your Spanish verb tenses are imperfect!

Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Practice Makes Perfect:Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions, by Dorothy Richmond, is on my desk where I can pick it up for a few minutes now and then.

I also have the same author’s book on Spanish verbs and study it quite often, though I couldn’t say I manage to do it every day.

I got this book because I noticed that I bog down on sentences like “They gave him the book and he gave her a box of candy and him a pen.” Luckily, I’ve never had to say exactly that, but you get the idea.

And I’m still not always sure when to use para and when to use por. Thought I had it, till I got to Mexico and started hearing how the Mexicans use them.

Click on the image to go to Amazon, if you’d like an enjoyable way to get those Spanish pronouns and prepositions lined up right!

Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

The most useful of the FSI programs, the Basic Course, was first created in 1957, and since it was produced by the government, it was not subject to copyright. As a result, many of the Spanish language courses that have been sold since then have simply reproduced that Course. Barron’s, studyspanish.com, and other companies continue to use the 1957 program, in many cases without telling you.

Platiquemos Español is a 2002 revision of that outdated 1957 program, created by the late Don Casteel, a retired Foreign Service officer who had gone through the FSI program in Spanish and in several other languages. Many years of his Foreign Service career were spent in Latin America.

Several years ago, when we were first living in Mexico, I did some work with this program myself. I had one semester of college Spanish (ahem, some decades ago!), and I have been in Spain, Mexico, and Guatemala various times since then. More recently, I have found other programs I like better — most notably Rocket Spanish and Fluenz Spanish — but you can check out Platiquemos Spanish for yourself.

Platiquemos Español is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Comments from the old blog:

• At January 06, 2009 11:22 AM,  John said…

  Hi Rosana, you should also tell people that travel and want to live, retire,or go on holidays, to Spain. They should also use your ebook.Five Keys To Learning Spanish Rapidly. I hope this is of help to you. I have given your details also
  to my members of Crazy John Freebies Worldwide Club.

• At January 06, 2009 12:28 PM,  Rosana Hart said…

  Good point, John ! I lived in southern Spain for about a year when I was 25 and loved it. Haven’t been back, though.

My New Free Ebook on Learning Spanish is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico