Online classes...

[duaa]

I need some advice. I recently graduated and one of my majors was Spanish. Sadly I have started to forget a lot of grammar and vocab. I do have people I practice with everyday but they are native speakers and they never correct me. I want my Spanish to grow and I want to become more fluent but feel stuck. I have been looking into taking a Spanish class online but I am wondering which ones are the best and don't cost a ton of money. Any help/advice would be great! Thanks.

[Rusty]

There are many online classes. I've never taken any online classes, but have looked at all the free ones that I have run across. In my opinion, none of the online classes will be a better teacher than hanging out with your native-speaking friends.

Your friends will use the language instinctively. They'll speak about a lot of different things. Imitate their way of speaking as much as possible. Repeat what you hear them say as a part of the conversation. This way you'll help them to see that you're ernestly trying to understand and use the language well.
If you have questions about the grammar they're using, the majority of native speakers won't be able to explain it. Come here with those types of questions (remember to jot down what didn't make sense at the time, in context if possible).

Totally immersing yourself in your friends' conversations and culture will be the best thing you can do to improve your fluency. My :twocents:.

[bobcoss]

Hi Duaa,

Congratulations on the degree in Spanish. I wish I could find an economical way to take spanish classes at the university level. Unfortunately, the local community college only goes to second year spanish, and intro level conversation classes. There are a couple of universities near by, but they want over a thousand dollars per class.

I would recommend that you locate someone to do an organized intercambio with. If none of your friends are willing, you will find lots of people willing to do intercambio via Skype or MSN. There are a number of companies who offer web based live classes that I have used in the past. It really boosted my fluency to use them. Some of them are very expensive, but there is a lot of variety. I'm using one service currently that offers a group class for a pretty low fixed monthly rate. They offer the same 45 minute class all day long, but you are free to take it multiple times. I have really been enjoying that approach.

Have you looked at Spanish podcasts? How about watching television series dubbed in Spanish? There are lots of options.

Hope that helps,

Bob