Welcome and Introductions

[PB684]

Hello everyone! My name is Paula and I have been a part of the B&N First Looks for quite some time. This sounds like it will be something very different and I am looking forward to starting. I took Spanish many years ago in High School and would really like to brush up, especially since my son spent a semester in Argentina and came back speaking fluently! I hope to see some old friends here on this board. Hasta luego

[StaceyAinWa]

Hi, I'm Stacey.  I've attempted to self teach Spanish off and on and took a community course at the local community college.  My husband and his family all speak Spanish as a first language.  I can understand a lot more than I can speak.  I would like to be able to hold a conversation and feel like I have a clue what I am saying.

[EMT-Dale]

Hello everyone!  I'm looking forward to this little class.  I'm an Emt at a casino and this will help, (I'm hoping) to learn enough to converse with my hispanic patients.  Hasta luego!

[Shankapotamus]

HI!

I'm Cole and I'm really looking forward to this. I took Spanish back in college, but that was quite a few years ago. I've been wanting to learn some more so was excited to see the post on this class. Its nice to meet everyone!

Cole

[Shopalot]

Hi I am Deb and I would like to learn spanish to better communicate with my customers at work

[gio424]

Hello, my name is gio424. I am looking forward to a refresher, it's been a long time since high school.

[mrsfbelcher]

Hello, I'm Felicia and I'm really looking forward to re-learning Spanish.  I haven't taken any classes since high school so this should be fun.  I look forward to meeting new people and learning a lot :-)

[dulcinea3]

crim_crazy622 wrote:

... my husband and I have a child in El Salvador that we sponser named Belen.  I would love to be able to write her a letter in Spanish or be able to communicate with her one, if I ever get the chance to meet her. 

Belén is a pretty name.  I thought you might be interested, if you didn't know already, that it is Spanish for Bethlehem.  I have a CCF child in Brazil.  I took one year of Portuguese, but kept mixing it up with Spanish, and I don't really know enough to write him in that language, although I always try to read his original letter as well as the translation, and sometimes find that there are things they left out when they did it.  I'd rather have a child in a Spanish-speaking country, but as soon as one outgrows or leaves the program, they immediately assign me another in Brazil, and once that happens, I don't want them to feel rejected if I were to ask to switch!

[HBT]

Dulcinea3,

     Is there a way you can tell them you want to  help a Spanish speaking child after you are done helping the child in Brazil. That way the child does not feel rejected and you get to help a child in a Spanish speaking country.

[dulcinea3]

HBT wrote:

Dulcinea3,

     Is there a way you can tell them you want to  help a Spanish speaking child after you are done helping the child in Brazil. That way the child does not feel rejected and you get to help a child in a Spanish speaking country.

I suppose that I could try that, but I never know when one will leave the program.  I have had a couple for just a very short time - one was taken back by his mother (he was little more than an infant, and living in a home; others do live with their families while in the program), and another one moved to go live with his father in another city, while others I have had for years, some past the age that I thought were supposed to be in the program.  I'm not sure they would pay attention anyway - when I first signed up, I had requested a girl in a Spanish-speaking country, and got a boy in Brazil, and that's when you would think they would pay most attention to what is on the initial application!  Oh, well, it's not the end of the world - the important thing is making a difference to a child in need.

[nvjen]

Hello,

My name is Jen. I am looking forward to brushing up on Spanish and interacting with all of you!

[SueWho]

Hola¡ Me llamo SueWho.  I took Spanish for a couple of semesters in college many years ago and would like to get back into it, as there are a lot of Spanish-speaking folk around here.  I've never taken an online course before, so I'm not really sure how they work, but I'm looking forward to it.

[A_Writers_Pen]

Hola! My husband and I will both be doing this. We've been putting off learning Spanish for so many years even though many of our friends are Hispanic. I'm excited to learn about this series of audio lessons. From what I can tell the express version has 3 hours of instruction, and the full Spanish 1 has 8 hours of instruction. I wonder how much I can learn in three hours?

[Trebble]

I finally figured out the boards are not too friendly with Safari.

I need to re-learn my spanish as well. I am looking forward to this class!

[Nadine]

A_Writers_Pen wrote:

Hola! My husband and I will both be doing this. We've been putting off learning Spanish for so many years even though many of our friends are Hispanic. I'm excited to learn about this series of audio lessons. From what I can tell the express version has 3 hours of instruction, and the full Spanish 1 has 8 hours of instruction. I wonder how much I can learn in three hours?

From my experience with these "introductory" short forms, whether Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, Learn Spanish Like Crazy, they are merely the first part of the whole program. You won't get far with them but they are teasers. You listen to the first few disks and if you like them, you buy the whole set, but you are get the introductory disks again. I suspect this repackaging "express" set is the same thing. You will get the first three CDs of the whole 8 CD level 1 program -- nothing special or "express" about it. This would be a good move if you decide you don't like it and want to try something else. But if you ultimately decide you like the program and buy the full set, then you have spent unnessesary money on the Express version. You will have to decide on your own strategy.

Pimsleur has carried this marketing to an extreme but the full 30 lesson program costs $350!

Pimsleur Express Spanish

you get the first CD

Spanish  

You get the first 10 lessons (5 CDs)

Conversational Spanish 

You get the first 16 lessons, 8 CD

[Boyce78]

Hello, I am Janet. This the first time I have tried anything like this. My 13 year old daughter is signed up to take Spanish next year in school. I thought this would be fun and useful. I took French in High School. I would like to try my hand at Spanish.

[caritasSS]

Hello I am caritas:

I have taken Spanish in the past and am hoping that this will help refresh my memory.

[hessteria]

Good Morning I'm Hessteria.  I love my hessteria, but reading is my escape from it. Needless to say i read if I'm lucky 2 hours or more a day.  With the purchase of my nook life became a little sweeter.  I love the free book fridays.  LOVE the selection of cheap books.  I am a mother of two girls 11 and 13.  I've raised them to read every night, and it's a wonderful way to spend an evening.  

I want to learn a bit of spanish because it would help with my job, but also because I always want to be learning.  This is a wonderful way to keep the brain juices flowing.

Looking forward to this class!!

[hessteria]

I did the same thing, and have kids around the same age taking foreign language classes.  There is no way I will use any of my french unless I need to ask some french dude if I can go to the bathroom, where I spent most of my French hour.  Blah.  If I knew then...right? 

[laxangie]

Hi, I am Angie.  Like many of you I also had taken Spanish in High School.  I am looking forward to getting back into learning Spanish.