Best System for Learning a Foreign Language?

amrust asks: "I've set a New Year's Resolution for myself. Starting next year, I want to teach myself Spanish. However, looking in local bookstores and online, there are so many different programs and systems to choose from, that I can't decide which method is best. I'd like to learn the Spanish language itself, not just a few choice phrases and words, for traveling. I have a lot of patience for serious in-depth study, at home. I would prefer an easy-to-learn (but comprehensive) system that includes audio CDs, as well as textbook material, to follow along with. Which system can you recommend for someone just starting out, assuming they currently speak English, and have never previously taken a foreign language course?"

Comments

Classes

[Gulthek]

You can't learn a foreign language from a book, especially your first foreign language!

Look up your local community college and enroll in a spanish class. Failing that look for a tutor or group learning sessions. They should be pretty easy to find as Spanish is widely taught.

Re:Classes

[mmaddox]

The BEST way? Easy:

Go somewhere Spanish is spoken. Live without English for some time, and you'll quickly pick up the basics as a matter of survival. This is the essence of the exchange programs--immersion. Immersion is the best way to learn a language, bar none.

That's easy!

[Bob_Robertson]

A lover who only speaks the language you want to learn. Don't learn, don't get laid.

Talk about motivation! Nothing else can come close.

Bob-