Here are three aspects that make for a good Spanish program.

There's an ongoing debate in the language learning world, as to whether or not beginning language learners should focus on grammar. 

Whatever your view, you can't deny that sooner or later every Spanish learner is going to have to grapple with difficult concepts like the subjunctive mood, reflexive verbs, or the difference between the preterite and imperfect tenses. 

A closer look as some of the basics of Spanish Grammar

A good Spanish course will help you understand the inner workings of the Spanish language: how and why the grammar works the way it does. Whether or not you start focusing on grammar right away is up to you, but a good course should give you the option of learning grammar when you're ready.

Of course learning grammar by itself won't do much to increase your speaking ability. You also need to learn relevant vocabulary. After all it's a bit hard to speak Spanish if you don't know any words yet.

A good Spanish program should also teach you practical vocabulary. More then just learning how to construct sentences like "The girl has a ball" or "My shirt is blue"; a course that's worth its salt should give you the vocabulary that you can use to express yourself and understand native speakers. 

The better learning programs give you new words and phrases in the form of building blocks. As you grow in your skills you'll be able to use these words and phrases together to construct your own sentences.

A  bad course will have you mindlessly repeating a selection of stock sentences that you're not likely to use or need in the real world. 

If you think about it there are four aspects of learning a language: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You'll need to be proficient in all of these skills before you reach fluency. 

A Spanish course or program should make an effort to teach you all four aspects so that  you can be well rounded in your Spanish abilities. Learning all four aspects together also helps you puck up new words and remember them quicker. 

It's a lot easier to recognize a Spanish word that you've seen, heard, read, AND spoken!

But enough on theory, lets take a look at our top five picks!

One of the many great things about learning Spanish is that you can pretty much take your pick when it comes to tools and resources. Hopefully this article helped you find the program that's right for your language learning needs!

You will be hard pressed to find a course on Spanish pronunciation more thorough and in-depth than this one. Idahosa leaves no stone unturned when it comes to teaching correct pronunciation. Through an abundance of charts, recorded audio, and visual examples, the Essential Sounds course takes students on a comprehensive journey through the Spanish sound system.

The Essential sounds course is easily one of the best courses you can find on Spanish pronunciation. However, beyond pronunciation and accent coaching this course doesn't offer users much else.

You won't find any Spanish grammar or vocabulary here. Nor will you find any conversational phrases. This course is solely about learning correct Spanish pronunciation

One drawback of the course's depth is that things often get very technical. There's A LOT of IPA related information. In fact students of the course are encouraged to learn all the phonetic sounds and syllables related to the Spanish language. 

You also run into a lot of technical terms like "alveolar", "dialectical consonants", "fricative", and many more. In my opinion the jargon doesn't get in the way of the learning because Idahosa explains things very well.

 But some learners may not share his appreciation for the kind of technical jargon which is often ususally for linguists and speech therapists. 

The Mimic Method is the brainchild of polyglot Idahosa Ness. The story of Idahosa's language learning journey is as interesting and unorthodox as his courses. His first introduction to foreign languages was in his high school Spanish class, where he admits that he was at best a mediocre student and fairly indifferent to the language. 

It wasn't until his trip to Guadalajara, Mexico as a teenager that he discovered a knack for mimicking the native speakers of foreign languages. At the time he did his best to sound like the native Spanish speakers around him, and his efforts bore some surprising results as his ability and appreciation for Spanish sky rocketed.  

His travels eventually took him to China (where he learned Mandarin) and onto Brazil (where he became fluent in Portuguese. Overtime,  and after a lot of trial and error, Idahosa gradually came up with his own personalized approach to learning a new language. 

Drawing from his countless interactions with native speakers and his background as a musician, he was able to develop a practical and effective method to become conversationally fluent in a foreign language. The Mimic Method is a direct offshoot from Idahosa's personal experience. 

So what exactly is the method he has come up with? 

If you're using the Mimic Method, sound is king when learning a foreign language. Idahosa's approach emphasizes conversational fluency over written fluency.

The idea here is that, if given a choice, most people would rather be able to speak and understand a foreign language in a conversation rather than being a great writer in the language. 

With a good foreign accent you will be able to be more easily understand rapid native speech and be understood by native speakers. It will also be easier for you to internalize and understand new words and phrases, even without explicitly studying grammar. 

So how exactly do you go about getting a good accent?...

Here's a taste of Idahosa's unique teaching style

Don't be misled, in Idahosa's course, you'll be doing a lot more than the listen repeat exercises you might know from other courses (most notable of which is Pimsleur).  The first thing you'll learn in the Mimic Method is how to conceptualize sounds.

There should be no guessing games when trying to describe or teach the sound system of a foreign language. The Essential Sounds courses provide a slew of charts, videos, and voice recordings to help users accurately understand the sounds they're learning. Student will learn what makes sounds different from one another both audibly and physically. 

Next students learn to train their brain to hear the sounds of the language and differentiate them from one another. After that learners must practice physically and audibly, producing the sounds they've learned. This includes a lot of exercise practice, similar to what you might do if  with speech therapist -just in a different language. 

In the end, the goal of the Mimic Method is to prepare you to communicate in real time with real people. You won't find anything in the course that doesn't serve that purpose. 

The Essential Sounds of Spanish course is broken into three sections of content: lectures, drills and an AMA (ask me anything) section. 

The lecture section of the course makes up the bulk of the material. Each lecture is essentially a lesson. There is at least one lecture video (sometimes more) in each lesson  where Idahosa introduces and explains a new concept.

In addition to the lecture students are often given homework (which usually includes review questions), as well as drills and direct links to tools and resources that will help them practice what they just learned. 

One of the drills from the course

There isn't a single lecture or lesson that doesn't include a practical task or application to help you use what you've been taught.

There are a total of five lecture modules in the 39 Elemental Sounds of Spanish course:

The course introduction section lays out the philosophy and approach behind the course. Here Idahosa shares his experiences in language learning and the objectives of the course.

In the Spanish Vowels lesson users are taught the different types of vowels in the Spanish language, and how to physically form each vowel when speaking. Idahosa also shares some exercises to help students learn to physically feel their way around correct pronunciation.

In lectures three and four Idahosa gets down to the nitty-gritty of Spanish consonants. Consonants are broken into their phonetic groups and students learn the physical mechanics behind each sound.

In the From Sounds to Syllables section Idahosa walks you through how to take the elemental sounds and start to apply them to syllables and eventually sentences. Here you'll learn how to mimic and use Spanish songs to really take your pronunciation to the next level. 

The Essential Sounds Spanish course works best as a primer for beginning Spanish students. a strong foundation in Spanish pronunciation will go a long way toward helping you speak the language quickly.  If you're completely new to Spanish, you stand a lot to benefit by working through this course before diving into vocabulary or grammar.

If you're an intermediate or more advanced learner then this course can be a great way to correct any bad pronunciation habits you might have. You can also use it to learn the more difficult Spanish sounds you haven't mastered yet (like the rolled "r"). 

The Essential Sounds course is also useful if you're having trouble with understanding spoken Spanish. If you know the language on paper but can't understand a native speaker on the street, then it might be a good idea to train your ear and mouth. This course does just that.

The Mimic Method's Essential Sounds course is the most in-depth and effective course on Spanish pronunciation I have ever come across.

No other course I have tried or reviewed (and there have been many) can match Idahosa's apt ability to explain abstract phonetic concepts in a way that is simple and helps the average language student improve his or her accent in their target language. 

Yes the course is a bit technical, and it doesn't teach any vocabulary or grammar. Still, if your goal is a near native if not flawless Spanish accent, then this is definitely the course for you. 

The methodology behind Fun Spanish is simple: get children to learn while they are at play. The app is specifically designed to engage the natural curiosity of childhood while teaching basic Spanish at the same time. 

At no point in Fun Spanish are kids explicitly taught Spanish as they might be in a traditional classroom setting. 

Fun Spanish is broken into various categories, each centered on a specific topic such as colors, numbers, or actions. Within each category you will find 4-5 individual games centered on the topic. Think of the categories as lesson units and each game as an individual lesson. 

Depending on the topic each game will require the student to engage with the language in a slightly different way. Take some of the games in the "Animals" category. The first game has students match the silhouettes of different animals based on their Spanish name. The name of an animal is spoken and students have to guess which silhouette corresponds with the words. 

A second game in the animal's category works similar to bop-a-mole. The name of an animal is called out in either singular form (lion) or plural form (lions). Students then have to tap all the lions (if it's plural), or one lion (if it's singular). They also have to avoid tapping on any other animals that might pop up but are not named.

Just between these two games students will become familiar with common animals in Spanish, and also start recognizing the differences between singular and plural nouns. Not bad for a game! 

The rest of the lessons in Fun Spanish are also build around fun games. Each game was designed to help children practice a particular aspect of Spanish vocabulary such as spelling, listening, or even recalling with speech. 

The best way  use to  Fun Spanish is simply to let children explore and play the app on their own. The app is made to be easy to use and figure out. Children will have no trouble jumping right into the games.  All that's really required is to download the app and hand the phone over to your little Spanish learner!

It teaches Spanish without actually "teaching" Spanish

The greatest strength of this app is that it teaches Spanish implicitly. Children can follow their natural curiosity and walk away with a basic Spanish vocabulary and not even realize it. 

Language apps that use methods heavy on explicit textbook-like information or rote practice, aren't likely to be a big hit with children. Spanish Fun steps in to bridge the gap between fun and learning. 

It doesn't use any English

Fun with Spanish doesn't use any English. This means that all of the input your child receives is in the Spanish language. 

The most common compliant about Fun Spanish has nothing to do with how well the app accomplishes its goal of teaching children Spanish (the majority of users agree that it does). 

The chief complaint is that it's a bit expensive for an app. 

Users can access three categories for free, along with a daily free game. If you want to use the app beyond these three levels you will have to pony up and pay $1.99 for a single lesson,  $7.99 for a pack of five lessons, or $9.99 to unlock all ten lessons on the app.

In the overall app market this price is high. However, if we were to compare the app's price to other courses, sites, or games in the language learning market, the price seems quite reasonable. 

It's a lot harder to design a game that effectively teaches a foreign language than it is to either design just a game or just a language learning app. Thus it's hard not to feel the slightly higher price tag isn't justified in this case. 

There aren't exactly a ton of effective language learning applications aimed at younger children. Fun with Spanish stands out as one of the few. 

Yes as an app the price is high, but as an effective way to help your child learn a foreign language...that's pretty near priceless. 

Most Spanish courses and programs focus only on the most formal uses of the language, not so with Gritty Spanish. In this program you will be inundated with casual/conversational speech, including many figures of speech and colloquial phrases. 

Though they do offer a beginner course, Gritty Spanish is best used by students who already have at least some knowledge of Spanish. You'll get the most out of this program if you have a handle on the basics of Spanish grammar. 

A sample episode from Gritty Spanish​

Gritty Spanish lives up to its name, in that there are a fair amount of curse words throughout the course. Thus you have the opportunity to do something other courses don't usually allow you to do: learn Spanish curse words in context. 

Gritty Spanish also comes in a censored version, if you'd rather not pick up the dirty words. 

If you do learn grammar while working through this program it will be implicitly.  There are no explicit explanations or lessons for Spanish grammar. 

Because of this program's deemphasis on grammar, it is not ideally suited for those who are completely new to the language.  As we said before it's better to have some working knowledge of Spanish first.  

Method 

Gritty Spanish is essentially a collection of recorded Spanish dialogues and their written transcriptions (available in both English and Spanish). Students are free to pick and choose which dialogues they want to work with. They are also free to use the dialogues in any way they see fit. 

There isn't much here in the way of a structured approach.

Gritty Spanish is a flexible learning tool

Four versions

Gritty Spanish is available in four separate versions: The original version, the original version (censored), Gritty Spanish Parte II, and Gritty Spanish Beginnings.

Each version has over 30 recorded dialogues for students to work with. Dialogues are recorded at both a regular speed and a slower speed (for newer students).  

The original, censored, and Parte II versions are aimed at intermediate to advanced students, while the Beginnings version is designed for beginners. 

Every dialogue in Gritty Spanish is designed to leave you with practical Spanish that you're likely to use in a day to day situation. You won't come across any useless sentences like "I have a brown dog" or "The girl is wearing a red shirt". 

You can verbatim take phrases from the dialogue and use them the next time you practice with a native speaker. Just be careful with the bad words!

Gritty Spanish's lack of structure make it an immensely flexible learning tool. The way you use the dialogues is up to you.

You can focus on phrases and build up your conversation skills. You could use the recordings and transcripts to practice your listening abilities. You could even use the recordings to practice your Spanish accent as  you do your best to mimic the native speakers. 

The folks behind this program didn't skimp out when it comes to the voice actors in the recorded dialogues. Each version of the program features an array of actors, many with different regional accents (this is a huge asset to developing your listening skills). 

Also the actors are convincing. In their own way, they help make the course interesting and even entertaining. 

Little to no structure

While the lack of structure can be a pro for many students, it can also be a con. Some learners won't like the lack of direction in Gritty Spanish. There is no guide or walk through. If you're looking for a structured and methodical way to learn Spanish this isn't it. 

No explanations

No explanations are given to help understand why the phrases in the dialogues mean what they mean. As a result you may not be privy to the grammar behind the phrases you're learning. For learners who like to jump right into a language this isn't a huge deal. For others it might be an issue . 

At the end of the day Gritty Spanish stands as a powerful tool for helping intermediate and advance students improve their core conversation skills. To my knowledge no other course or program quite fills the niche of teaching casual real life Spanish conversations quite like Gritty Spanish. 

Beginner students may find other tools and resources more beneficial, but intermediate and advanced learners should definitely check it out! 

Here Glossika's founder goes into detail about what makes their method work

Teaching syntax over vocabulary 

Glossika packs a strong punch as a language learning tool. This is because they have gone to great lengths to design a course that systematically teaches a language's syntax. Most language courses focus on teaching a mixture of grammar and vocabulary, so this syntax based approach is fairly unique in the language learning world. 

Have you ever invested a ton of time and energy into learning the grammar and vocabulary of a language, only to struggle to create intelligible sentences? I've been there, and it's SUPER frustrating.  

I remember spending time every single day studying Spanish. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why I was unable to hold simple conversations after having put in so much work. 

While grammar and vocabulary are important when you're learning a language, it's knowing how to use both of these elements to create a correct sentence that really unlocks your conversational abilities. 

Knowing which words go where in a given sentence is called syntax, and this is the primary thing Glossika strives to teach. 

A good way to think about syntax is this: imagine that a complete Spanish sentence is like a birdhouse. In one hand you have some pieces of wood (vocabulary), and in the other hand you have a hammer and nails (grammar). Syntax is like the blueprint for the birdhouse that tells you where these different pieces go and where to use them. 

Spaced repetition  

Glossika is built on a spaced repetition system.  This means that old sentences will be shown to you again based on how well you remembered them the last time you saw them. 

Thus more difficult phrases will appear more often than easier ones. This entire process is automated. All you have to do is rate how easy or heard a sentence or training session was. Glossika will take care of the rest. 

This method of review is extremely efficient. You don't have to waste your time reviewing things you already know. This lets you put your effort where it counts the most. 

Using Glossika is pretty straight forward. First you will be given a short placement test. This will test your current level in the language by having you listen to audio of a native speaker saying a phrase or sentence in Spanish. 

You will simply input whether it was easy or difficult for you to understand the given phrase. This short test will help determine the best material to show you in the training sessions. 

The bulk of Glossika is its training sessions. There are three times of training sessions on the site:

This type of training is the bread and butter of the program. You are shown a phrase in English along with audio. Then a native speaker in your foreign language says the equivalent phrase in your target language (the phrase will also be written in your target language). 

You simply repeat and mimic what you hear the native speaker say. 

With this type of exercise you simply listen to a phrase or sentence in your native English and see how accurately you can translate it into the language you're learning. 

In this exercise you listen in English and then the language you're learning. After listening you try to write what you heard in your target language. 

You have the option of toggling different topics for your training exercises. If you turn a topic on, phrases about that topic will appear in your training sessions. If a topic is off you won't see any sentences about that subject. 

The program is designed around doing one training session per day. Think of it as your daily foreign language workout!

The program's focus on teaching syntax makes it ideal for increasing your ability to have conversations in a foreign language.  If you work through the training sessions daily as they were designed, you will gain a practical working knowledge of the language. 

This is something few other courses or programs can boast. If you work your way through Glossika you will see improvement in your language abilities where they matter most: in real life conversations.

With Glossika you will use listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills in your target language. This is great because it helps you to see the language as a whole entity, versus a bunch of unrelated parts. 

A well rounded ability in each of these four aspects of language learning is what will bring you to fluency.

One great feature of Glossika is that once you have a paid subscription you can use any of their 50+ language courses! 

For Spanish learners this is especially helpful as there is a separate course for Latin American Spanish and Spanish from Spain. These two variants of Spanish are mutually intelligible but they tend to differ when it comes to pronunciation and colloquialisms. 

While this feature isn't necessarily directly beneficial if you're learning Spanish, it's still really cool. As mentioned before Glossika is offered in over 50 different languages. 

This includes a lot of minority languages that you're unlikely to find other programs for. Some notable examples include: Welsh, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Catalan, and many more!

The program is designed and best used as a supplement to your language learning (albeit an effective one). Unfortunately though it doesn't quite cut it as a comprehensive language course. 

I completely agree with the company's emphasis on syntax over grammar. It's something I've tried to emulate in my own language learning regime. However once you get into the finer points of grammar it can be helpful to have some explicit grammar lessons or explanations. 

In Spanish for example, it can be hard for a learner to grasp the subtle differences between the preterite and imperfective tenses, not to mention the subjunctive mood. With these subjects I've found it more beneficial to read up on the grammar rules behind these parts of the Spanish language. 

Glossika simply doesn't offer anything like this.

A single monthly subscription with this product is going to run you $30. For a supplemental learning tool that's a bit high, especially when you compare it to other sites like Spanishpod101 or FluentU. 

In this post we look at one of my favorite Spanish courses: Rocket Spanish. The company might not be as popular as more household names like Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur. 

Even so this course packs quite a punch! Let's dive in and see why this course might be one of the best kept secrets in the Spanish learning world.

The method behind Rocket Spanish takes a twofold approach to language learning. It focuses on practical vocabulary you can use in a real conversation, while also teaching grammar. The course has two distinct lesson types: interactive audio lessons and culture/language lessons.

The audio lessons are built around dialogues and teach conversational Spanish. The culture and language  lessons get into the nitty gritty of the grammar that goes behind Spanish conversations. 

Most Spanish courses will teach conversational vocabulary OR focus on grammar. Not many do a good job of teaching both. Rocket Spanish is a rare exception.

Each audio lesson is built around a short Spanish conversation between two native speakers. Each lesson is around 30 minutes long (give or take).

 Here the speakers explain and break down each phrase within the conversation. They give some tips on how these expressions and words can be used. They also break down the pronunciation of each word by syllable to help you pronounce it correctly. 

I took an example of one of the audio lessons from the Rocket Spanish course level one. You can access it for free under their free trial (no credit card needed, just an email). 

This particular lesson covers the basics of expressing your wants and needs in Spanish. In the dialogue a woman (Amy) and her friend (Mauricio) decide what they want to drink at a cafe. 

In this lesson you learn two very important Spanish verbs: querer (to want) and necesitar (to need). After completing the lesson you know how to express what you want or need, while also being able to ask someone else what they want or need. 

The lesson also covers the all important phrase: Necesito ayuda (literally: I need help! The lesson points out that if you want to ask for help in an emergency you can simply shout help! (ayuda!), just like in English.

This is a great example of how these audio lessons teach you practical ways to use the phrases you learn!

After each audio lesson you can practice the example conversation by role playing as one of the two speakers. 

Last but not least, each audio lesson has a reinforcement section where you can practice what you've learned through flashcards, saying or writing what you see and hear, or a simple good old fashion quiz.  

The language and culture lessons breakdown the important parts of the Spanish language, such as grammar and pronunciation.  They also often offer some informational tidbits about Latin American culture. 

The lessons are often straightforward no fluff grammar lessons (my favorite kind). They include conjugation charts, word tables, and recorded audio as well. 

Also most importantly these lessons provide you with a list of example phrases where you can see the grammar in action. 

Just like the audio lessons, the language and culture lessons have a reinforcement section where you can review and practice the material you've just learned by speaking, writing, flashcards, or quizzes.  

Rocket Spanish comes in three course levels. Like most language courses the levels are arranged by difficulty and a new learner is expected to work through them in a linear fashion. 

Each level has 7-8 modules of audio lessons (a module can have anywhere from 4-7 lessons), and 5-8 language and culture modules. Each level also includes an array of survival kit lessons which over even more Spanish phrases.

If you start from level one with little to no knowledge of Spanish, and you work all the way through level 3, you should expect to have a low to mid intermediate ability in Spanish. 

This is about as high as any Spanish course can take you. After the intermediate level you'll have to start speaking with real people and interacting with the language as much as possible to continue to improve. Courses simply can't replace that part of the learning process. 

The greatest strength of Rocket Spanish is that all in all it's a pretty comprehensive course. 

It gives you the vocabulary you need to have actual conversations, but at the same time it also helps you to learn the grammar of Spanish. The course also gives adequate attention to pronunciation, the alphabet, and listening and reading. 

There is no one stop shop for Spanish fluency, but Rocket Spanish comes a lot closer than most courses. 

The audio lessons give you words and phrases within the context of a conversation. This makes it a lot easier to mentally copy and paste these phrases when you have a conversation with a real person. 

At first you'll only be mimicking what you've heard, but after some time you'll start to internalize these phrases and you won't have to think as hard the next time you speak Spanish.

There's none of the next to useless vocabulary you find in other courses where you learn sentences like "the cat drinks milk" or "The boy is wearing a blue shirt".   

The course is sequential and well ordered, making it easier for even the most basic learner to follow along. The course levels are paced well. As you work through them your ability will be stretched, but not in way that's overwhelming.  

The biggest drawback of the course is that it focuses exclusively on Latin American Spanish. It doesn't give you the option of learning the unique features of Spanish as it is spoken in Spain. 

Spanish from Spain (AKA Castilian Spanish) is mutually intelligible with Latin American Spanish. If you know one you'll be able to understand the other. The main differences are in pronunciation and word choice. Sometimes the same word might mean a different thing. 

Rocket Spanish works well as a stand alone course. That's what it was designed to be after all. If you decide to make it the main way you learn Spanish, there's nothing wrong with that. 

Just make sure you supplement the course with some real one on one practice with native speakers. You'll want to practice what you learn in real conversations.

I recommend spending 20-30 minutes a day working through Rocket Spanish. Then a couple times a week set aside some time to practice with a teacher on a site like Italki, a language partner, or simply a Spanish speaking friend. 

The course will ensure that you keep developing your skills, while the practice with native speakers will make sure you grow in your speaking abilities. 

It also might not be a bad idea to actively watch some Spanish movies or work with some learning apps once in awhile just to mix things up. 

Rocket Spanish's emphasis on conversational Spanish and grammar make it a compelling option for learners. This course is comprehensive and will take you all the way to a mid-intermediate level in the language (pretty far). 

The course is also reasonably priced compared to other more expensive courses. 

In the end Rocket Spanish is one of the best options out there for a stand alone course. Their site offers a free trial, where you can actually work through several lessons in each level. 

I recommend trying it out for yourself, and deciding whether or not the course is right for you!

Updated 1/12/24

Rosetta Stone is THE most popular language course out there. The company and their courses get a lot of love and hate. Some people greatly prefer the course, while others want nothing to do with it. 

In this review we take an in-depth view of this popular Spanish course. We'll look at what's in the course, how its method works, and whether or not its right for you.

Enjoy!

Rosetta Stone is designed for beginners:  those that are completely new to language learning in general and Spanish in specific. 

Rosetta Stone Spanish is ideal for those who simply want to dabble in the language as an occasional hobby or time killer. It's not suited for die hard language learners because its method is very slow and gradual.

Rosetta Stone is not intended for intermediate or advanced students of Spanish. The course material simply doesn't teach beyond the basics. 

It's also not for those who place a strong emphasis on learning to speak Spanish. RS isn't a substitute for having real Spanish conversations (no course is). It's vocabulary is also somewhat unpractical for typical conversations in the language. 

Rosetta Stone focuses on the auditory and visual aspects of language learning. Their course is almost exclusively a combination of images and recorded audio. 

 At the beginning of a lesson you will be given a selection of images along with the written and spoken word or phrases that corresponds with it. Then throughout the lesson you will have to remember which word or phrase goes with which image.

Sometimes you're given one word and multiple images, or multiple images and one word. In either case you have to pick the correct pair. If you ever worked with flashcards as a little kid, it's a similar idea. 

The key difference with Rosetta Stone is that the course uses absolutely no English. There are no translations. All you have to work with are the  Spanish words and pictures.

The company designs their course this way in an effort to immerse you in the language. They often compare the RS method to the way babies and small children learn a language (though that comparison is debatable). 

In the language learning world the effectiveness of Rosetta Stone is often a hot water topic. Many veteran language learners heavily criticize the course, while some beginners swear by it. Here's a look at some the common critiques and praises of the course.

Many an internet polyglot has pointed out the slow pacing of the RS courses. They are literally designed to walk someone through the basics of a language one baby step at a time. Many argue that this gentle approach isn't necessarily helpful when learning a language. 

Critics also point out that RS has no real speaking or original writing component to it. You're simply not required to produce your own sentences or phrases. As a result you may learn new words and basic grammar, but you will be ill prepared when the rubber meets the road in a real world conversation.

Piggybacking on the slow pacing critique, many argue that RS simply doesn't challenge its students enough to recall and use the language. Compared to other courses and methods many claim it's ineffective in this regard. 

The company is known for using the same stock photos in all of their courses. Meaning you'll have the same image for money or food in a Spanish course as you do in their Japanese and Chinese courses.

Obviously your typical coins, bills, and food are going to look fairly different, depending on where your new language is spoken. Rosetta Stone doesn't make much of an effort to address that.

But this isn't as much of an issue if you're learning Spanish.

The very thing veteran language learners criticize many beginners praise. People who are completely new to foreign languages often find the gentle approach of RS ideal for their needs. 

Many beginners have found Rosetta Stone helpful

The course helps take away the discomfort and uncertainty out of learning Spanish, or another foreign language. 

Many claim that RS helps them learn words so that they can easily remember them later on. For these individuals the no english approach pays off.

We've covered the common opinions of language learners, but are there any studies or examples of empirical evidence that shows whether or Rosetta Stone works?

As a matter of fact, there is. 

There was a study carried out by the University of New York, which tried to gauge how effective or ineffective Rosetta Stone's Spanish course was. The study concluded that roughly 55 hours spent working with Rosetta stone equated to about 1 semester's worth of a Spanish course in College. You can find the study here. 

So it seems that using Rosetta Stone will help you learn the basics of Spanish. 

RS doesn't change their method based on which language they're teaching. Languages often differ widely in their grammar, pronunciation, writing system, and vocabulary. As a result some RS courses are simply better than others. 

Lucky for us Spanish is one of the languages that works best with Rosetta Stone. This is probably because the very first RS course was likely designed for the Spanish language. After all Spanish is the most popular foreign language for native English speakers to learn.

Compared to many other languages Spanish grammar isn't that far from English grammar

These means the company's researchers and developers considered Spanish grammar, syntax, and other features of the language, while designing the course. The same cannot be said for languages like Japanese or Arabic. 

Also the Spanish alphabet and pronunciation system make the language relatively easier for native english speakers to pick up in general. 

RS covers the basics of the Spanish language. Its no translation method works reasonably well for this. The way the course is paced and laid out it's not hard to figure out what is going on in a given picture. 

RS can cover the basics of Spanish. However once you get into the more complicated grammatical concepts like reflexive verbs, the preterite and imperfect tenses, or the subjunctive tense; you need a lot more explanation than just a few pictures. 

Rosetta Stone simply doesn't have an answer for these problems. It's also important to note that the company doesn't offer any courses for learners with an intermediate level or higher in Spanish.

I agree with the common critique that RS simply doesn't prepare you well for real life use of the Spanish language. The vocabulary can be very impractical. I probably won't need to say things like "The dog has a ball, or the boy is wearing a red shirt". 

It would be nice to see words and phrases I'm more likely to use right away should I meet a native speaker. 

Yes Rosetta Stone can be useful for learning the basics of Spanish grammar and vocabulary. The problem is, you won't be learning the basics for very long. The further you go into the language the less helpful the course becomes. 

This is the biggest reason why RS wouldn't be my first or even second choice for a Spanish course if I had to go back and relearn the language. I would much rather pick a course that I could still use even at an intermediate level, especially when considering the price of RS courses. 

Rosetta Stone now offers its courses in three different formats: the traditional software CD, online download, or an online subscription. 

The course software is the same whether you purchase the CD or digital download option. With these formats you get the original audio-visual course that has made the company so famous. 

The chief benefit of purchasing an online subscription is that instead of merely purchasing a single level of the Spanish course, you get access to all levels of the course. This could potentially help you save a lot of money as you would have to purchase each level individually or in a high priced bundle if you bought the CDs or the downloads. 

The Spanish courses are separated into five different levels. Each level is made up of four units, and each unit has four lessons. In total each level will have 16 separate lessons. 

Spanish lessons are designed around topics like specific vocabulary or grammar themes. For example: clothing, daily routine, comparing and contrasting, etc. The beginning of a lesson typically introduces the concept.

 Each lesson is made up of smaller miniature lessons which help you review the concept in that part of the course by answering multiple choice and fill and blank type questions. An entire lesson can take about an hour or so to work through. 

There are some bonus features available with the online subscription option. The most notable are a series of word games; some of which you can play by yourself, while others you must play online with another learner.

  There are also a series of stories (similar to articles) in Spanish that you can read or listen to like an online audio book. 

As an extra feature Rosetta Stone offers the option of purchasing live online tutoring sessions with their own teachers. The price of these sessions is not included in the purchase price of the course. It comes at an additional cost if you want to use it. 

These sessions are very structured and are designed to work in tandem with the course material. Each session is 20 minutes long.

Personally I find the price for these sessions to be extremely high at $20 for 20 minutes (that's $60 an hour!). You would have no problems finding a Spanish teacher on Italki for $10 an hour. For the price of one hour of tutoring with Rosetta Stone you can have 6 hours with a teacher from Italki!

Another important note about Rosetta Stone is that it offers separate courses for Latin and Castilian Spanish. There are a total of 5 levels for each type of Spanish.

For those who may not know, Latin Spanish is the Spanish spoken in the Americas, while Castilian Spanish is spoken in Spain. 

These two versions of the language are mutually intelligible. They differ mainly in word choice and pronunciation. Which course you purchase should depend on where and with whom you plan on speaking Spanish. 

Because it doesn't offer English explanations, and because it focuses more on basic vocabulary and grammar, we recommend that you use Rosetta Stone as a supplement to your learning. 

While the RS company would have you believe that their product is a stand alone Spanish course, that simply isn't the case. 

If you're serious about becoming fluent in Spanish, Rosetta Stone won't cut it. You will need to use outside resources. Most importantly you'll need to use what you learn by practicing with native speakers. 

If you like the RS method you can use the course as an introduction to the Spanish language (a sort of prep before you get deep into the language). The course also works fairly well as a way to help you review and use what you learn elsewhere. 

If you're still at a beginner level and are looking for a way to add some variety into your Spanish practice, then Rosetta Stone could be an option.

Rosetta Stone can be an effective way to learn and understand the core of Spanish vocabulary and grammar. It can also work as a tool for refreshing your skills and or reviewing what you already know.

Unfortunately though, it doesn't work as well as a stand alone Spanish course. The course also doesn't do much to help you develop your conversational skills. 

If you're absolutely knew to foreign languages and want to learn Spanish, this course could be worth your time and money. Try out their free trial and see if this is the right course for you! 

When learning a foreign language, pronunciation is often thought of as more of a luxury than a necessity. Most people and courses treat a good Spanish accent as a bonus you can work on later. They don't realize just how much a good accent helps you remember and understand the language better. 

Because it's centered around audio, and allows you to receive feedback from native speakers, Speechling is an excellent tool for improving your Spanish accent. Not many Spanish courses can say the same. 

In addition to pronunciation, Speechling is great for developing your Spanish listening abilities. It's dictation feature is particularly helpful in this regard, as it helps you double check what you think you heard. 

There are a plethora of Spanish audio courses and tools out there, but most of them don't provide a way for you to practice using what you learn. Speechling does. With their conversation feature you can practice producing the language on your own and receive feedback from the site's coaches. 

This feature is not a substitute for a real conversation, but it is a valuable option. 

While you can obviously learn Spanish vocabulary by learning stock phrases, you're not likely to pick up a lot of grammar in the process. 

Speechling doesn't offer any information, lessons, or resources for explaining the ins and outs of Spanish grammar. All you have to go on are the phrases themselves. 

Speechling sorts its phrases out based on your ability in Spanish. Beyond this there isn't any structure to the site. If you're looking for a systematic and comprehensive course, then Speechling probably isn't the best choice. 

Speechling is simple and straight forward to use. Here's a list of its features:

The core of Speechling are its audio phrases. You listen to a recording of a native speaker, and then record yourself imitating what they said. Then within 24 hours a real person (called a coach) listens to you recording and sends you feedback on your pronunciation and accuracy. 

These phrases are sorted by level of difficulty, but you can also work through them based on subjects such as "restaurant, basic expressions, health, transportation, etc".  

There is also a dictation feature which allows you to practice your listening comprehension. An audio track plays while you write out what you think heard. Once you finish your answer you check against the correct transcription. 

Speechling also has some features which allow you to practice some of your outputs in the language. You can record yourself either answering a recorded question from a native speaker, describing an image, or simply saying anything you want. 

There is also an in-site flashcard system. Each card plays a portion of audio (you can choose whether or not to display the Spanish text). You then "flip" the card to see whether or not you heard the phrase correctly and understand what it meant. 

Finally there is an audio journal which keeps track of all the feedback you receive from  your coaches. 

Speechling is offered at two price levels: free and premium. The chief difference between the two levels are the allotted coaching sessions.

With a free account you can use 35 coaching sessions per month. This means you can receive up to 35 corrections on your recorded phrases.

With the premium account you have unlimited coaching sessions every month. You also have access to the audio journal which lets you keep track of your progress and save past corrections.

With a premium account you can also switch between languages and practice more than just Spanish. Speechling also offers phrases for French, German, Russian, and Chinese.

The price for a premium account is $19.99 per month. There is a 7 day free trial available for the premium level. 

While Speechling isn't strong enough to stand on its own as a full fledged Spanish course, it is a powerful tool for working on your pronunciation and listening skills. 

The site offers a ton of value, even if you don't sign up for a premium subscription. It's definitely worth checking out!

*This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

There’s some great language learning courses out there that are free, fun, and teach you vocabulary and grammar. My first ever stab at learning Spanish was with one of these courses called Duolingo, and it was great. I really enjoyed the game like feel and I felt like I learned a lot….until I actually tried to speak to someone.

I was a about a quarter to a third of the  way through the course and knew a fair amount of Spanish words, but for the life of me I could not remember them when talking to someone! Looking back, it's as if learning Spanish words and using them in a conversation are two different skills.

Duolingo helped with one (learning the meanings), but didn’t do much to help with the other (speaking). And Duolingo isn’t the only course that runs into the speaking wall. It usually takes a lot of extra effort on your part to speak a language while working through a course.

Most language courses do little to nothing to address your need to actually speak the language.

...Then there’s Pimsleur. Pimsleur courses are specifically designed to get you to recall and speak a foreign language. For the most part the courses are pretty effective, though they’re not perfect. If you want a full review on the Pimsleur method and its overall strengths and weakness as a language learning program. You can find it here.

Summary of Pimsleur Method (all languages)

In this post you won’t find a description or commentary on Pimsleur’s method. The purpose of this article is to point a few unique things about Pimsleur’s Spanish courses and how they can help or hinder the Spanish learners who use them.

Is Pimsleur Spanish right for you?

If you are a beginner to upper intermediate Spanish learner who wants to work on their speaking, listening, and pronunciation then yes, you should look at Pimsleur. The level one Spanish course may seem a little overwhelming if you have absolutely no experience with the language, but as you work through the course that shouldn’t continue to be a problem.

Pimsleur doesn’t do anything to help you practice writing in Spanish. It incorporates some reading practice, but it's not much. If you want to develop these skills then you might be better off with something other than Pimsleur. 

5 things unique to Pimsleur Spanish

It has good audio

The Spanish courses are probably Pimsleur’s most popular. As a result they have some of the best audio. The native voice actors do a good job making the conversation sound natural while still speaking at speed that is easier to understand.

Some of Pimsleur’s other language courses recycle old audio with dialogues that feel stiff and fake. With Pimsleur Spanish that’s not the case.

You can skip level 4 (if you want)

Pimsleur Spanish has five levels. For the most part they each do a good job of building up your vocabulary by showing you new words and reinforcing the ones you already know. That is, with the exception of level 4. There isn’t much of a difference of difficulty between levels 3 and 4.

The words and grammar you use for the two levels are also closely related. When working through level 4 you get the feeling that it was part of another shorter stand alone course and Pimsleur threw it in so they could have 5 levels of Spanish instead of 4.

Just like the other levels, level 4 is good for practice, you’re just not going to get a lot of new material if you just finished level 3. You won't miss out by skipping level 4 and going to straight to 5. 

Early levels use Usted not tú

Pimsleur is sometimes criticized for using language that is too formal. In the beginning levels this certainly true. At first you will deal almost exclusively with the formal pronoun for you (usted) and not the informal one (tú).

For those who are new to Spanish usted is the pronoun you’d use to be polite to a stranger or someone in a formal setting (think of when we use “sir” or “ma’am” in English).

The difference between usted and tú becomes important when you’re conjugating verbs. Each pronoun has its own set of verb conjugations. For most of the course you will probably being using usted and its conjugation.

This is fine. It won’t keep you from being understood by native speakers. You’ll just seem super polite (not the worst thing in world).

You will start to use the informal tú in the later levels. To be honest, for Spanish I don’t think using formal language is a huge deal, but it might be in other languages. It’s pretty easy to make switch usted for tú.

Also the verb conjugation for usted and tú are similar enough that they're also pretty easy to substitute for one another. A lot of times the only difference between the two is adding or subtracting an “s”.

Latin Spanish versus Castilian Spanish

You may or may not know that there are two main types of Spanish: Latin and Castilian Spanish. Castilian Spanish is spoken in Spain, while Latin is spoken in central and south America. If you speak one you can understand the other.

The main difference are changes in pronunciation and the addition of an extra pronoun. Castillian uses an informal pronoun for “you” (as in “you all”) called vosotros. Latin American Spanish doesn’t use this pronoun or its verbs conjugations.

Pimsleur offers 5 levels for Latin Spanish but only 1 for Castilian. If you plan on traveling to Spain it would be perfectly acceptable to work through the 1st level of the Castilian course and then continue on with Latin Spanish 2.

There will be a difference in accent but what you learn from the Castilian course can carry over to the latin one. Just remember that in the latin one you won’t being using vosotros.

Reading portion is better than other Pimsleur courses

Reading is not the focus in Pimsleur courses, but each course level in the Spanish language comes with 2 disks of reading exercises. In each exercise the narrator reads a story in Spanish line by line and you follow along with the appropriate Spanish text.

The text comes in a booklet if you buy the CD’s. If you get the Mp3 or software version you can access the reading text on their website in PDF form.

There isn’t much to the reading the exercises, but they do help you learn how to read Spanish. Spanish is a phonetic language that is always spelled the way it sounds. This makes reading easier than other languages, so that you don’t necessarily need more reading materials than what Pimsleur provides.

Spanish also uses a Latin based alphabet similar to the English alphabet, which again makes it easy to read.

What other people are saying about Pimsleur Spanish

Conclusion

Pimsleur is a great language learning tool. It’s not perfect but it clearly stands out from other audio language learning courses (again you can read our full review here). If you decide to use Pimsleur Spanish be conscious of the formal and informal pronouns and feel free to skip the 4th level f you want.

If you’re learning Castilian Spanish unfortunately you only have one level. Still, you can more than get by by using the 1st level of Castilian Spanish alongside the later levels in Latin Spanish.

Pimsleur's site offers 7-day free trial for both their Latin and Castilian courses, so you try them out and see if you like them.