Learn Spanish While Cruising?

[armed&hammered]

Anyone out there accomplish this? Single handing and having alot of time to kill, an ipod and some "learn spanish" ripped mp3's dosnt sound like a bad idea... anyone give it a whirl with success?

[mikeandrebecca]

Definitely possible. I recommend the Pimsleur language courses. My wife and I have used both the Spanish and the Brazilian Portuguese ones with some success.

Mike

[Kay Koudele]

I loved learning Spanish while we were cruising. I started listening on quiet night watches to a simple cassette tape with commonly used phrases. I carried my English/Spanish dictionary everywhere and constantly looked up words. I tutored in a couple of ports for an hour each day with local folks, and then went to Spanish language school for 2 weeks in Antigua, Guatemala. I highly reccomend that. It was cheap, fun and productive. There were 50-60 schools there at that time, with mostly European students. Staying with a local family was arranged by the school, and it also was cheap and fun. I still don't speak well, but can communicate for almost anything. Buena Suerte! (Good luck!)

[shadow]

I'm with you!! I purchased french, Italian and Spanish books for such an occasion. When you have all of that spare time and no internet or TV distractions, why not! It can only help you in your future endeavors..

[conachair]

You could do worse than to look here...
Coffee Break Spanish | Radio Lingua Network

[Kay Koudele]

One more suggestion: Keep a little notebook and write down every new word you want to learn. I found I am really a "visual" learner. If I just heard the word, but didn't see it in print, I had a hard time remembering it. If I wrote it down, it was glued in the grey cells much better. You'll find that folks in Mexico and Latin America will fall all over themselves trying to help you. They love that you try to speak their language- even when we butcher it!

[armed&hammered]

thanks for the input, seems like a definite when i make my departure... im only 25 but want to make my first cruise pretty fun... starting to learn spanish would be pretty awesome

[maxingout]

There's a practical book called SPANISH FOR CRUISERS by Kathy Parsons. It's worth a look as it has vocabulary that is specific to the cruising lifestyle and to yachts.

Check it out at:

Complete info on SPANISH FOR CRUISERS Second Edition - Features, Reviews, Sample Pages, Sales Info

[Pacific Jewel]

Definitely possible. We learned 500 words of spanish (and strung them together to make legible phrases) with books/tapes. But man, the discipline it took for me to do this! But yes, I did learn. The quickest way for me though was spending 8 months in Spain (on a boat) - forced learning. I found that alot easier!

I still have a good laugh with a spanish friend we met. I use to to mistakenly say (in Spanish): "Excuse me. What is the toilet? I'm sorry, I've not been in this country long distance..."

Goof!

[Morganministry]

I listened to spanish CDs while driving. Sailing should work also. I think I learned most of mine while in Mexico. (Out of Necessity)

[marc2012]

Picking up in fl. out of necessity.marc

[Bright Eyes]

I'm currently listening to spanish on tape during my comute to work everyday. I think it's working but its tough when theres no one to speak spanish to. I hope this will give me a head start for when I really try to learn while cruising!

Estoy en un barco!

[virginia boy]

I've been using the "Rosetta Stone" spanish dvd. In the past, I've tried running vocabulary drills with some success but nothing even close to the progress I've made with this program. It's expensive but even I am able to retain up to 15 or more words per day, imagine what a smart person could accomplish?! Eric

OH....and I dunno nuttin bout no affiliatin wit duh Rossetta Stone Co.

[KEKKUL]

Tambien escuchar Radio ..........Radio Exsterior de España
Interesting SWL blog.

[Livia]

I've found a lot of free language learning podcasts of very good quality on iTunes. I was working on French at that point, not Spanish, or I would recommend specifics but I saw a lot of Spanish ones.