¿Habla usted español?

[Mysteryman]

Can a person learn Spanish fluently in a year? I was watching a movie with Harrison Ford on telmundo the other day with the close caption on. I figured that would be a good way to learn quickly.

[B3Wannabe]

I know some people that were pretty fluent in Korean after 18 months. Spanish is easier to learn than Korean, so I'd say yea.

I think the fastest way is to go over the lessons that are on Youtube, watch TV, and go in the Spanish chat on Yahoo. I used to do that. I'm probably about 60-70% fluent, but I read better than I can "listen". So many languages floating around in there, that I get the words mixed sometimes.

[LaylaMonroe]

I used to be 90% fluent in Spanish and probably about 60-75% fluent in ASL. Its been about ten years since I've used either so I lost both. I learned ASL in less than a year and Spanish from childhood. My sisters are fluent in Spanish.

If you're willing to make the investment (and in today's job market, it really does pay off), you should buy Rosetta Stone. I also recommend the cheap route as a supplement: checking out children's books in Spanish, watching Telemundo and Spanish talk shows. The soap operas aren't easy to follow IMO, but the talk shows and news are. You should also check meetup.com for a Spanish practice group. I LOVE those!!!!

[B3Wannabe]

I used to be 90% fluent in Spanish and probably about 60-75% fluent in ASL. Its been about ten years since I've used either so I lost both. I learned ASL in less than a year and Spanish from childhood. My sisters are fluent in Spanish.

If you're willing to make the investment (and in today's job market, it really does pay off), you should buy Rosetta Stone. I also recommend the cheap route as a supplement: checking out children's books in Spanish, watching Telemundo and Spanish talk shows. The soap operas aren't easy to follow IMO, but the talk shows and news are. You should also check meetup.com for a Spanish practice group. I LOVE those!!!!

I have access to the online version, as part of my job. I use the Spanish, Swahili, and Korean lessons there.

[nessalynn77]

I learned via high school and college.  I strongly disliked the college professor so I dropped off after a couple of semesters.  I got better because I worked at Burger King through high school and some of college and the little mexican girls would only speak to me in spanish to help me learn. 

At my job now I review written documents in spanish, and on occasion translate when the certified translators are unavailable.  It's a 5% pay raise to be certified, and people say I'm about as good as the people who are, but I don't want to be interrupted all day to translate, and I still have a lot of difficulty understanding many of our clients... dialects and slang are horrible .

[Mysteryman]

Thanks for the input. Larue is there anywhere on the net you haven't been. lol