Are There Any Tips On How To Learn Spanish?

Q: I've been learning Spanish for 4 months. I have one 1-hour lesson a week in a small group (4-6 people). I have also started to read the 'Magic Key' book and I've done the 8 hour Michel Thomas course. Despite all this I still find Spanish very difficult. Memorizing individual words is not a problem and I can form small sentences. The problem is I often seem to panic when I have to speak in Spanish and usually I just say the wrong thing. Also, when listening I still can't translate immediately. Instead I have to think about each word and then translate. So, can anybody offer any tips on how to make things easier?

A: Take time , you're just starting ! 4 months is frankly to few time, more if you have a 1hr lesson per week. You are on the right road, you just need some time more. As for reading, the internet is a very useful tool. Go to www.yahoo.es for lots of Spanish web sites. Some newspapers are www.elmundo.es

and www.elpais.es Do you enjoy short wave radio broadcast ? Radio exterior de España (REE) has a wide Spanish programme overseas . Try http://www.rtve.es/rne/ree/index.htm for shedules and frequencies. Also other major senders like BBC , RFI or DW broadcast some programmes in Spanish. TVE internacional might also help, but they are very crappy. If you live in the USA maybe you can tune Galivision, Univision or any other South American TV or radio sender. Hearing native speakers of a foreign language is always very difficult at the beginning, so be patient. I'l suggest that for the time being just keep reading and maybe writing.