Myths about learning Spanish: Learning Spanish is expensive

Learning Spanish is expensive
It’s common to believe that learning a new language is an expensive proposition. You might be surprised to know that there Let’s look at the available options.

Books on the Spanish Language
First, you could buy an old textbook, regular book, or book on tape. Most of these are written by PhDs who’ve spent years studying, but have never learned to teach the language to regular folks. If you’ve ever attended a college or university, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Professors who are too busy researching and writing that they fail to improve their teaching ability.

Spanish language books might set you back anywhere from $10-40, but typically don’t offer much in terms of helping you speak Spanish. Most of these books will have you repeating phrases and vocabulary that have very little real-world application and certainly will not give you feedback on your speaking ability. Additionally, they won’t address your specific questions and definitely won’t help you overcome the topics that are most confusing to you. Finally, Spanish books really don’t provide any opportunities to practice what you are learning via conversation.

Private Spanish Tutor or Community Education
Your second option is to hire a Spanish tutor or take a community education Spanish course. Working one-on-one with a skilled tutor is effective, but will cost you from $20/hour and up. When I was tutoring high school students in southern California, parents were happy to pay my rate of $60/hour for quality tutoring. A community education course will cost from $80-$400, depending on a number of factors. Factor in as well the time and money you’ll spend traveling to meet your instructors. These options are somewhat effective, but will cost you time and money.

Expensive Spanish Language Software
Finally, you could purchase expensive Spanish language software and learn from the convenience of your home computer. The consensus on these courses is mixed because it’s difficult to determine which software courses actually teach the student to speak Spanish effectively. One well-known company offers a sleek-looking software package for more than $500 to learn Spanish 1, 2, and 3. I always find it interesting that despited the price tag and appearance of quality, the most expensive courses generate countless negative reviews online. Just do a Google search for “[insert Spanish course name here] course review”. You’ll get lots of result that will give you a better idea what to expect when you fork over hundreds of dollars to learn Spanish.

There are countless products that claim to teach you Spanish. Unless you are absolutely convince that a certain product is right for you, don’t waste your money by purchasing expensive and ineffective language programs that won’t help you meet your goals. Look for a Spanish course that is reasonably priced and will teach you to speak Spanish effectively.