Before Rocket Spanish -- (Where Was Rocket Spanish When I Needed It?!)

The Author describes what he went through learning Spanish before there was Rocket Spanish

Although my father was Costa Rican and I was born there, my mother was from the U.S.  My parents  brought me to the USA when I was about a year old.  My father and mother separated and I grew up with my mother's family in Virginia, USA. So naturally, I am a product of the U.S. educational system. Three university degrees and I only spoke one language.

Almost any high school graduate in Europe would speak at least two languages, probably four. (Norwegians routinely learn five languages as part of the core curriculum!)  But it's easier for them. When you travel a couple of hundred miles or so there, the people around you will likely be speaking another language. In the U.S. and Canada you can go 3,000+ miles and never need more than English (unless you go to Miami!)

So I was educationally handicapped and internationally unprepared, but still, as happy as a clam in my ignorance.

Then when I was 31 the company I worked for sent me on a sales mission to South America, and I passed by Costa Rica and Argentina to meet some of my relatives on my father's side. WOW! Talk about culture shock! Suddenly everyone around me was speaking in Spanish and I needed desperately to catch up, NOW!

A little research taught me that the absolute Best way to learn Spanish was to attend the Missionary School in San José, Costa Rica. Costs about $700 for a 4 month trimester and it's full time. They can take someone who doesn't speak a word of Spanish (like me!) and in a year have him able to read, write and preach the Gospel in Spanish, and be eloquent and convincing! Wow! The school is only for aspiring missionaries, but if they have any classes not full, they will take anyone for the tuition plus $100. I know people who have gone through one trimester there and they could speak Spanish very well afterward!

[I should make it clear that it's language training, not religious training there. I asked the Director of the School once, "I expect you have a lot of fun and challenges there translating the Bible!"  He told me emphatically, "NO! That would be disastrous!" Heaven forbid! We have students who are Catholic, Church of the Brethern, LDS, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh day Adventists... all types. We don't discriminate. But we do not allow religious teachings, discussions or arguments in class. No theological discussions.  We teach LANGUAGE only. Once they learn Spanish they can translate all they want, on their own time!  Our job is just to give them a thorough training in and hopefully a command and domination of the Spanish language.]  

But I didn't have four months to spare. And Rocket Spanish was not yet available at that time. So I had to piece together my own system of learning. The process itself was educational.

I tried taking classroom courses. They helped, but I was traveling a lot and never could seem to get continuity or completeness in what I was learning.

I tried books. Learned a lot from books (I'm a visual learner) but that meant that I could read Spanish, even write a bit, but I couldn't talk so anyone could understand me. And when I heard people talking in earnest, they went so fast I couldn't understand. "Disculpeme por favor Señor, pero usted está hablando veinte porcentaje más rápido que yo puedo oír!" ('Scuse me Sir, but you're talking 20% faster than I can hear!)

Frequently spending time in Spanish-speaking areas, I tried learning from people around me. Found out later that I had picked up some bad habits and accents! Also it seemed that people were too polite to correct me and let me continue with bad grammar, etc. Oh where was Rocket Spanish when I needed it!?

Without the guidance that Rocket Spanish could have provided, it took me 12 years of off-and-on learning before I finally passed a Spanish competence exam!

So what did I learn from that process?

1. It's like learning to swim; you've got to immerse yourself in the water until it buoys you up! Take the time to get intense about it for a while, then visit where Spanish is spoken and you use it all the time. Note your weaknesses and study again.

2. Traditional methods work, but they are very slow, and boring. You need innovative Adult-education methods like those used by Rocket Spanish.

3. You need to learn another language the same way you learned English - spoken first, then written. Work on understanding and making yourself understood first. Sort out the deeper niceties of grammar later.

4. Don't let yourself just think in English and translate. You have to get into Spanish to the point where you begin to think in the language. Good programs like Rocket Spanish will help you do that.

5. Practice. Don't be afraid to make mistakes!

6. Review and work at it. Stay with it, and progress, clarity and fluency will come.

7. Use it. Involve yourself in activities in which you MUST use Spanish to do something, on a regular basis. Teach something you know, get into debates, watch the news, and do it in Spanish!

Today, the ideal way to learn is to get a good adult-education program that has audio-visual and interactive game aspects. The best out there is Rocket Spanish, especially for the price. You can pay 2 or 3 times as much but you won't get more than 5-10% more depth, if that.

The advantage is that with Rocket Spanish you can control the hours and the intensity. You can fit it around your work schedule, go fast or slow, review or skip ahead. With Rocket Spanish you choose the pace and the next lesson, according to your needs. Also, Rocket Spanish will make it fun, interesting and exciting. Makes it much easier to stick with your learning program.

With Rocket Spanish you can achieve full conversational competency in Spanish in just months, not years like it took me! ;-)

Interested in learning Spanish? You have come to the right place!  We can help you maximize your learning and your chances of success! In addition to the articles here you might want to check out Synergy Spanish, a low cost quick start program at Synergy Spanish .  Also you should look over the learning aids and the other Spanish learning programs available at the Chavez Language Center .

An earlier version of this information, in an article named,"Where was Rocket Spanish When I Needed It?!" is a published article written by Jorge Chavez. To open a new page to view the article at ezinearticles.com, Click Here