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Dennis Peacock
07-20-2005, 7:36 PM
Ok....My family and I are interested in learning some conversational spanish to use around the house as well as in town. My kids have a strong interest in learning spanish and I figured that we could learn common phrases and start using them around the house in our normal day to day communications.

I see that one can spend a lot of money on various forms of study for English to Spanish. Is there something for free that we can try and use to get us started and to see if we will really stick with it before we need to invest in a course financially.???

John Hart
07-20-2005, 7:48 PM
Here ya go Dennis!!

http://www.studyspanish.com/freesite.htm

After you do all that stuff...They'll sell you a tutorial that is more serious

Don Baer
07-20-2005, 7:52 PM
Dennis;
A number of years ago I had a need to re-learn spanish. I too felt that the Berletz and other tutorial were a little spendy. I picked up a CD called "Triple Play Spanish" from Syracuse language system at Best Buy. It came with a microphone and actually has you talking to the computer in Spanish so you can learn the correct way to say the phrases and sentences. It is quite good and I think I only paid about $50 or so for it.

Hope this helps

Chuck Wintle
07-20-2005, 9:23 PM
I once bought a set of cassette tapes with spanish lessons. First you would hear a phrase, first in english, then spanish, after which you had a few seconds to repeat it. I used to play them in my car on the way to work. I found them to be fairly effective.

Joe Meazle
07-20-2005, 11:32 PM
D,
Que fuay?
My best friend from my summer camp days is married to a Spanish teacher. I was their best man. I could check with her if you want. They live in Memphis but were by the house earlier tonight (her folks live here in Conway). I can shoot them an email if you like. Also if you go to the Pasta House they will speak Spanish and give you a little lesson too. "Los platos es caliente". It would be fun for the family good food too. Let me know and I can set it up the guy that runs the place really like me and Betsy. Us fat guys (los gordos) are good for his buisness. I thinks is great that your kids want to learn Spanish and the younger they start the better.
Joe

Arnie Grammon
07-21-2005, 8:18 AM
Dennis:

Mi familia y yo estamos interesados en aprender un cierto español
conversacional para utilizar alrededor de la casa así como en ciudad. Mis cabritos tienen un interés fuerte en español el aprender y
calculé que podríamos aprender frases comunes y comenzar a usarlas
alrededor de la casa en nuestras comunicaciones cotidianas
normales.
Veo que uno puede pasar muchos de dinero en varias formas de estudio
para el inglés al español. ¿Hay algo para libre que poder intentar y utilizar para conseguirnos
comenzados y para ver si realmente nos pegamos con él antes de que
necesitemos invertir en un curso financieramente???

Arnie

Nope.....not that good.....but here's the site:

http://www.worldlingo.com/wl/translate

Kinda fun if you need to come up with a word.

Peter Stahl
07-21-2005, 10:01 AM
Arnie,

It didn't translate back 100% but it got most of it. Really neat site.

Pete

Jim Becker
07-21-2005, 10:13 AM
From a methodology standpoint, I really am impressed with the Pimsleur products and now that they are releasing them on SD media, the cost is coming down. We've been using them for our Russian studies with great success.

For basic translation, we use http://translation.paralink.com/ which provides a reverse translation automatically so you can check that what you are getting is accurate.

Lee Schierer
07-21-2005, 12:42 PM
Here's a site I use to translate foreign languages. It does a fair job.

Free Translations (http://www.freetranslation.com/)

Dennis Peacock
07-21-2005, 2:08 PM
Que fuay?
Joe

Hey Joe....

don't you be dawg cussin' me!!! :p :p :p :D
Or should I be sayin'....whachoo be callin' me?????

We have been to the pasta house. Great food!!!! Just wish "I" knew more Spanish..... :o

Lee DeRaud
07-21-2005, 2:14 PM
We have been to the pasta house. Great food!!!! Just wish "I" knew more Spanish..... :o"Uno mas cervesa, por favor."
How much more Spanish than that do you need?

Don Baer
07-21-2005, 2:27 PM
"Donde etsa Los Banos"

Thats the other one you need.

:D

Joe Meazle
07-21-2005, 2:48 PM
D,

I think it is the best food in town. Not real fancy, it is in an old car wash, but that kinda suits me. I just think it would be a neat chance for the kids to use a little Spanish in public. They will let go at your own pace and it is not too intimadating.

Joe

Joe Meazle
07-21-2005, 3:10 PM
Lee,
es no Cervesa y vino en Conway
lo siento :(
Joe

Vaughn McMillan
07-21-2005, 3:34 PM
I don't have any suggestions for learning materials, but the on-line translator I use all the time is http://babel.altavista.com/translate.dyn. I know from experience it's not perfect, but it is very useful and fast for a quick word or phrase.

I'm currently working on a software documentation project that's taking material I wrote in English and translating it into French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. We have contract translators for the bulk of the text, but I use Babel Fish (link above) for the onesey-twosey stuff. Although I don't understand the bulk of the non-English text, I have to format it and get computer screen shots in each of the different languages (about 50 or 60 shots per language).

I can barely make sense of the English stuff; the other languages give me headaches.

- Vaughn

Michael Ballent
07-21-2005, 4:31 PM
Since I already speak Spanish fluently I would suggest that you try to find a local Spanish speaker to help you out :D Make some of that famous BBQ and invite them over. Also remember that, just like the difference between American English and British English you can run into some stumbling blocks as you learn Spanish. In Spain there is a conjugation of you plural (equivilant as you all) that the rest of the Spanish speaking world does not even use. Something as simple as the word car can be called 3 different things depending on the region/country they are from. It is called coche in Spain, carro in Mexico and can also be known as automovil. There are many examples of this. Just letting you know that what ever training you are looking into, make sure that it covers the majority of the people you will be talking to, otherwise it could get rather interesting :D DAMHIKT ;)

Lee DeRaud
07-21-2005, 4:43 PM
"Donde etsa Los Banos"

Thats the other one you need.:DNah, you can just wander around until you find it.
But most places get upset if you go behind the bar to draw your own beer. DAMHIKT.:cool:

Lee DeRaud
07-21-2005, 4:45 PM
Lee,
es no Cervesa y vino en Conway
lo siento :(
JoeWell, that sucks, in Spanish or in English.:eek:

Dennis Peacock
07-21-2005, 7:18 PM
Lee,
es no Cervesa y vino en Conway
lo siento :(
Joe

So what is this....let me see if I can figure it out without any help. Just relying on my Italian from years ago.....
Looks like: They don't server wine in Conway. I'm sorry?????
Just guessing.

Jim Becker
07-21-2005, 7:48 PM
Worse, Dennis...they don't server BEER and WINE in Conway!! (Cervesa y Vino)

Dennis Peacock
07-21-2005, 8:11 PM
Woops....guess I missed that one. :o

Jim Becker
07-21-2005, 8:15 PM
That would be v'Conway ni-peeva eely ni-veena in Russian...heartbreaking no matter what the language... ;)

Andy Halterman
07-21-2005, 9:34 PM
Dennis,

The trick to any furrin' language is to use it regularly. No matter what method you employ to learn it, if you don't use it, you'll lose it. Being in the construction business, español is very helpful. I can make fun of all the dumb rednecks and they have no idea what I'm saying. Ain't life grand? :D

By the way, a better way to describe the lack of beverages in Conway would be as follows:

No hay cerveza o vino en Conway.

That translates as: There is no beer or wine in Conway. The word "hay" (pronouced as one would say "eye") is a handy little palabra. You'll use it often.

Lo siento que alcohol es ilegal en Conway. Es lo mismo en muchas ciudades aqui en Norte Carolina. Tomo cerveza or vino solamente un poquito. Tengo manejar mucho por mi trabajo.

Buenos Nachos (er, uh) Buenas Noches

Señor Andres Haltermano

Viviendo la vida loca en Hendersonville, NC™

Joe Meazle
07-22-2005, 12:45 AM
Not to worry Jim, if you make to Conway we will find beverages I will see to that. I hear that Faulkner Co., where both Dennis and I live, has been dry since WW2. The story goes that all of the men went off to war and the church ladies voted us dry. It is kinda odd to live in a town with 3 colleges and no cold beer. We make do.

Joe