To Learn to Speak Spanish, Should You Take a Class?

If you want to learn to speak Spanish, not just read or write it, how useful is a class?

Well, classes do have some benefits: The regular schedule may keep you studying, you can ask questions, and you can hear the teacher pronounce words and to a degree have your own pronunciation corrected.

But in many cases, the disadvantages of taking a class are greater than the advantages:

1. Your schedule and the class schedule have to line up.
2. You have to go to where the class is, possibly some distance, with the time and gasoline cost involved.
3. Most Spanish classes emphasize grammar before conversation. This method is outmoded for learning to speak Spanish.
4. The teacher's skill may or may not be good at teaching conversation.
5. The class may remind you of not-so-happy high school or college classes you once had to take, and you may have a residue of self-consciousness or attitudes that you don't learn well.
6. The other students may be at different levels and have different motivations than you do, thus scattering the instructor's focus.
7. The class may be boring to you, or the instructor may waste too much time.
8. Even in a good class, you will end up with very little time when you are practicing speaking Spanish out loud, yourself. The teacher will talk a lot, other students will have their turns, and will you get 5 minutes per class?

For all these reasons,working with a Spanish language program may  be much more effective for you.

• You can choose your time and place to study, with complete flexibility.
• You can progress at your own pace.
• You can repeat a lesson several times if you want to.
• You can stop for a week or two if your life gets hectic and then pick right up again. (Hint: make a note on your calendar of when you are going to resume.)

See my page on proven methods for learning Spanish when you want to learn to speak Spanish or to improve your existing Spanish.