Even before I left on my round-the-world trip, everyone was telling me that I had to hurry up and learn Spanish. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get started before, so I had to learn Spanish in express mode, just one week before arriving in Chile. Speaking a bit of Spanish is a real advantage here, since it was clear that few people spoke English here, even at the tourist office I found thatin one month, one could acquire enough vocabulary and grammar to travel safely in South America and deal with all situations related to travel. In addition, the French have the advantage of having a grammar and words quite close to Spanish Depending on your time and budget, you can choose the method that suits you best, or even combine the two methods Method 1: Learn Spanish without a teacher Method 2: Learn Spanish with a teacher Method 1: Learn Spanish without a teacher I don’t know about you, but for me, French-Spanish conversation books aren’t at all enough. If you are able to memorize sentences but don’t understand the structure and grammar, you quickly get stuck. If you can’t understand the structure and grammar of a sentence, you’ll soon get stuck. If the answer is different from the one in my conversation guide, I’ll get lost. For me, grammar is the base. Vocabulary and sample sentences will follow. So I propose the following program for one month One week before the trip: Start with the Michel Thomas Method Spanish Beginner (at least the first 2 CDs, out of the 7) 2-3 days before the trip: Complete your vocabulary and improve your oral comprehension with the MosaLingua application During the trip: Improving listening comprehension with podcasts – Free of charge 1. Michel Thomas Method: acquiring the basics of grammar and structure The pitch A new original and dynamic presentation for this innovative and high-performance 100% audio method that has already proven itself to millions of people around the world   Progressive, pedagogical and efficient – Builds user confidence through the similarities of the foreign language to French – Allows the user, after only a few hours of active listening, to acquire the knowledge and confidence necessary to understand and master Spanish in all its complexities Unpublished – The user actively participates in a private lesson in which the trainer addresses him/her and two other students. Michel Thomas has dedicated his life to learning and teaching foreign languages. He is the one who taught French to Grace Kelly. His method is based on building the student’s confidence very quickly, by first teaching words that resemble the student’s mother tongue, followed by very easy explanations of grammar. The real Michel Thomas method is recorded at the base in English (by Michel Thomas himself). Fortunately, a French version has been created by Harrap’s. Thus, the method I am talking about is entirely in French, with comparisons between Spanish and French This method consists of simply listening to a few CDs, the author specifies that no book or note-taking is required, nor is it necessary to try to memorize. The best way to learn is by repeating the translation of the sentences several times and by being relaxed The plusses With the first 3 CDs (out of the 7 at the beginner level), you can already formulate a lot of sentences and reach level A1 Since it’s an audio method, it’s great for making the most of your travel time. Fictional students really suck, but it gives me more time to think about the answers and memorize better. As we are about to forget a word or verb, we are magically asked to translate a sentence containing that word/verb. The conjugation is explained in a super innovative way, instead of presenting us with 1000 cases of exceptions, we are presented with 3 groups max, the regular verbs, the “gogo” verbs and the others. We learn to conjugate for the subjects we really need, i.e. for: yo, usted (el/ella), nosotros, ustedes… the method doesn’t care about tú and vosotros , which aren’t really used in South America (people are very eager). The – You still have to be super concentrated when you listen to these CDs, otherwise you won’t retain much. It is advisable to listen and listen again to the CDs several times, until it goes in We only translate sentences into Spanish -> we will speak well with this method, but the oral comprehension isn’t emphasized Here we learn structure and grammar, not the most commonly used words for travel. No one will teach you how to count, or how to ask the time in this method. For listening to all three methods: Beginner, Advanced and Vocabulary, I recommend that you buy only the Beginner method Indeed, the Perfection method consists in learning: the imperative, the simple past tense, the subjunctive, the imperfect subjunctive. Basically, only things that aren’t indispensable in the context of a few months’ trip to South America. The Vocabulary method consists in teaching us to guess Spanish words that resemble French. In addition, you need to have listened to all of the “Beginner” CDs or even part of the “Advanced” method in order to be able to translate the sentences proposed by the Vocabulary CDs. Much too much work for not much. Link The Harrap’s Michel Thomas Spanish Beginner Method is available on Amazon, and costs between 62€ and 75€ for 7 CDs 2. MosaLingua application: acquire vocabulary and improve listening comprehension The pitch Finally an application to learn Spanish efficiently! Memorize Spanish vocabulary easily and quickly with a scientifically recognized method Improve your pronunciation, learn Spanish conjugation and grammar through the lessons and the SRS system (the SRS system is a scientific method that determines when to remember a word before you erase it from your memory). Thus, you only need to learn 5 to 10 minutes/day) You’ll also be able to improve your speaking skills with the built-in dialogues and make progress in Spanish! The plusses Unlike the Michel Thomas method, this app does not cause any structure or grammar. It is an excellent method to acquire vocabulary (you learn new cards every day); and to improve your oral comprehension I wanted to insist on the oral comprehension part because that’s what I was missing with the Michel Thomas method. With Michel Thomas, the only Spanish speaker is the teacher. You get used to his accent, which is very understandable. With MosaLingua, the cards (a card = a sentence or a word) are read by several voices (female and male). Before giving the meaning in French, the card is first read to us in Spanish. Thus, if it is a word or a sentence that we already know, it is an excellent listening comprehension exercise One must go through 4 steps before completing a lesson (consisting of 5 cards minimum). This allows us to work on the 4 parts: pronunciation, listening comprehension, writing and reading There are also entire conversations with transcripts, corresponding to everyday situations: hotel reservations, restaurant orders, requests for information at the tourist office… which serve as conversation guides for travelers like me I particularly like the “hands-free” feature, where we are taught 50 cards in one hour. This is especially useful when you want to learn Spanish during transportation There are many other features that I won’t talk about here, I invite you to visit the official website of the app The – As I said, there is no grammar or structure, you have to pay extra to access this part Words learned via the “hands-free” function aren’t counted as learned. You have to repeat the 4 learning steps or go directly to “Auto evaluate memory” to have these cards counted by the system Link You can learn with MosaLingua on your computer, iPhone or Android. The application costs 4,99$, the Web version 60€/year Mosalingua contacted us to propose you a promo code (it’s an exclusive offer for you, we don’t get any bonus). By clicking here and using the code MOSATOUR-20 you will get an annual subscription for the Web version: 47,93 € instead of 59,90 €. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of it! 3. Podcasts: improving listening comprehension There are 2 podcasts that I like very much Learn Spanish with Espagnolpod Coffee Break Spanish Learn Spanish with Espagnolpod: is a podcast for French speakers. Every day, Louis reads us a super complicated sentence. He will explain the meaning of each word, followed by a specific example. At the end of the 3-minute lesson, he will reread the beginning sentence. Miracle: we understand the whole sentence now, even if it has never been translated into French. Louis also gives Spanish lessons via Skype. Don’t hesitate to contact him here Coffee Break Spanish: is a Scottish podcast. The lessons are therefore given in English (with a nice accent as a bonus). Mark gives Kara, a Scottish student, lessons in Spanish. The rhythm is slower than with the Michel Thomas method, for example you can easily spend 20 minutes learning the conjugation of the verb “trabajar” in the present tense. Every 5 lessons, there is a recap lesson, where Mark interviews someone in Spanish, using the words learned in the previous lessons, and then Mark and Kara analyze the conversation, highlighting a few new words. This is terribly effective for listening comprehension. It’s very fun too, we even get a few songs However, if you don’t speak English well, move on, it’s hard to learn a foreign language from another foreign language Coffe Break Spanish also sells course materials on Amazon Kindle or via its web platform but I find it isn’t necessary to buy any Results after one month I’ve talked about it at length here. The balance is very positive, I understand a lot of things and can speak well. After a month i learned 300 cards via MosaLingua i listened to all the CDs of Michel Thomas’ Beginner’s method (7 in all, about 7h30 of listening) i listened all season 1 of Coffee Break Spanish & 20 SpanishPod lessons All this on my commute time, or a few minutes before going to bed. And I find that it’s enough to get by on a daily basis (I slowed down the pace of learning afterwards, by the way) Below you will find the conversation I had with an Argentinean girlfriend. Even if there are some mistakes, you can see my level after a month of total immersion in South America and after using the different learning methods mentioned above   Method 2: Learn Spanish with a teacher We are in February 2017, 2 months after my arrival in South America. My learning pace has slowed down significantly, as I now understand most of what I am told However, I still finished Michel Thomas’ 3 methods (beginner, advanced and vocabulary). I want to go further. Speaking Spanish fluently has always been my goal. That’s why I decided to spend a week in Sucre (Bolivia) to learn Spanish with a teacher Which country to choose? The recommended countries to learn Spanish in South America are: Guatemala, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia; where you can find a nice accent and a naturally slow speech speed Among these countries, we only travel to Peru and Bolivia and the rates in Bolivia are the cheapest in South America, especially in Sucre, a student city, where private classes start at $6/hour and group classes start at $4/hour Argentina and Chile are obviously not recommended. In these countries, pronunciation isn’t a model to follow. There are some Chilean Spanish enthusiasts who say that if you are able to understand Chilean Spanish, you will be able to understand any Spanish Which school to learn Spanish in South America? There is no shortage of schools in Sucre, just search for hostels that offer both accommodation and Spanish courses. However, three schools stand out Me Gusta Spanish School ($6.5/hour, private lesson) Open Spanish School (6$/hour, private lesson) The Bolivian Spanish School ($6.5/hour, private lessons) … Continue reading Learn Spanish in one month to travel in South America: Tips, Tricks, Addresses