Online Spanish Courses Review

The Top Online Spanish Courses Available Today

Hola, my name is Danny Major, and I teach Spanish to all age groups in my spare time. Many of my students have purchased online Spanish courses over the years and this prompted me to research what was available online and to check out the effectiveness of these programs.

I half expected the majority of these online Spanish courses to be very similar, using the same old ‘tried and tested’ (or boring as I like to call it!) methods of teaching Spanish. I decided I would invest in 8 different popular online Spanish courses to see if they were as effective as they all proclaimed to be.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t dissapointed as five of these courses proved to be exactly as I imagined they would be. However, there were 3 exceptions that really shone brightly and below are my personal recommendations based on my findings.

Rocket Spanish Review – An Honest One!

Rocket Spanish is Numero Uno!

OK, maybe I’m slightly biased in my choice of title, but I had such a good learning experience with Rocket Spanish I don’t feel unjustified in using it!

Before I start telling you a little about what the program consists of and why I think it is so good I should tell you a little about Rocket Spanish and the Rocket Languages Trading company.

Rocket Spanish was, and still is, the flagship course of the Rocket Languages Trading Company, formed in 2004, and because of it’s resounding success the company has been able to develop other courses along the same lines.

These courses include; Rocket French , Rocket Italian , Rocket German ,Rocket Japanese, Rocket Chinese, Rocket Hindi , Rocket Arabic , Rocket American Sign Language ,and even, Rocket English for Spanish Speakers!

Why not check some of them out, or maybe someone you know might benefit from using one of them! I honestly can’t pass judgement as I haven’t had a need to use any of these courses but if they’re anything like Rocket Spanish, and there’s a good chance they will be, they’ll be excellent! Anyway I’m transgressing slightly…ah yes, Rocket Spanish.

I have often heard people say that just because Rocket Spanish is popular it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good course! I find that quite a startling statement to make, popularity isn’t given it is earnt and when your product is in a very competitive market, such as the Spanish language learning market, popularity means one thing and one thing alone…quality!

Rocket Spanish continues to be a huge success story and has helped over 400,000 people learn Spanish, a number that is increasing everyday.

Rocket Spanish – Course Details

Rocket Spanish is the most interesting and well designed of online Spanish courses and is extremely easy to follow, and can be easily worked into a busy schedule when hours of continuous study just isn’t possible. It is excellent value for money as the complete course can be purchased in the digital format for under $100! However, don’t be fooled by the price tag, Rocket Spanish provides a quality learning experience using quality materials that are as good as, if not better, than those offered by courses far more expensive.

Rocket Spanish is an audio and interactive language course that will teach you reading, writing, comprehension as well as conversational Spanish. The course consists of 32 audio lessons that are between 20 and 30 minutes in length, which, for those who are not gifted with a speedy mathmatical brain, equates to over 12 hours of audio training. The first 12 lessons are for beginners, the next 9 are more intermediate and the remainder focus on building a good practical use of Spanish as you would expect to use in daily, real life situations.

Rocket Spanish is designed to help a person reach a good level of Spanish in 8 weeks although I have never been a fan of timescales pesonally, when it comes to learning languages, I always think it is better to take your time and not to put too much pressure on yourself to complete a course by such and such a date. Having said that, I do believe that 8 weeks is perfectly feasible if you put the work in.

Each lesson is really easy to follow and focuses on a specific conversation, breaking it down in components to make it easier to learn, one of the biggest pluses I found with Rocket Spanish were the recordings of Mauricio and Amy in conversation, both voices are very clear and are also very enjoyable to listen to, so often an oversight with many other Spanish courses I have used that tend to send you to sleep rather than teach you!

Although not exclusive to the Rocket Spanish course, all lessons are in MP3 format and can be downloaded to be used on the move, be it in the car on the train or even when you are out jogging!

Rocket Spanish also has over 500 pages of written course material consisting of transcripts of all the audio lessons, grammar lessons and written tests that will help you gauge how well you are actually doing at any given time through your studies.

In addition to the printable material there is Rocket Record, a pronunciation tool that allows you to record yourself saying words and phrases in Spanish, you then compare yourself with how a native Spanish speaker would pronounce the same words.

The magic of this software is that it actually uses mapping technology so you an perfect your pronounciation until your map matches that of a native speaker…Amazing stuff!

Rocket Spanish also comes with three interactive software games called MegaVocab, MegaAudio and MegaVerbs, more about them in a bit… and finally, if you have a question there is always someone to answer them 24 hours a day, either Mauricio himself or one of a number of Spanish teachers always willing to give a helping hand.

Rocket Spanish – MegaVocab

MegaVocab is an interactive game that helps you quickly increase your Spanish vocabulary.

This great word building game is easy to use and contains over 1000 words covering 20 different topics. Rocket Spanish has even enabled you to add hundreds of words, accompanied by pictures so the software expands with your own personal knowledge.

Great fun to use as well, my kids really enjoyed using it.

 

Rocket Spanish – MegaAudio

MegaAudio is designed to help you improve your ability to recognize spoken Spanish.

Understanding the spoken word is probably the most difficult aspect of learning Spanish as it is with most other languages and this software is a great in helping you pick out certain sounds that are extremely common in Spanish.

This interactive game will quickly help you to recognise words by their sounds and contains over 1000 words.

 

Rocket Spanish – MegaVerbs

I’m not sure when this software was introduced into the program because when I bought Rocket Spanish a few years ago it wasn’t part of the set up.

However, I wish it had of been because it is a great piece of software for helping you learn what I, and many others believe, is the hardest part of learning Spanish…Spanish verb conjugation.

Just as a side note, as helpful as this software is I have found the Verbarrator verb training software to be unbeatable when it comes to learning Spanish verbs and you can get more information about that program here. Verbarrator Review

That reminds me…if you end up purchasing Rocket Spanish, and I sincerely hope you do, you will have access to any updates and improvements that are made to the course over the years, this is how I was able to check out MegaVerbs…you don’t get that with an over-the-counter course I know!

Rocket Spanish Special Bonus

I’m not sure how long Rocket Spanish are going to be offering this bonus…(hopefully for a while as it will save me updating my review too often!) but you will also get the Rocket Spanish Survival Kit FREE when you buy the main course, check it out below…

…and if that if my review hasn’t made your mind up already you can even try a taster with the FREE 6 day course, just sign up below!!

 Rocket Spanish – My Verdict

Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Rocket Spanish. There is so much in the program for such an incredibly low price and it is all quality material. Rocket Spanish will help you achieve an intermediate level of Spanish competency in a relatively short amount of time.

The affordable price of Rocket Spanish is a major factor for many people, especially in today’s economic climate and Rocket Spanish provides far more bang for your buck than any other course available online, sure there are cheaper courses, but what’s the point if you end up throwing in the towel because the cheaper course doesn’t give you what you need!

Another winning factor is that you are completely covered by a no questions asked 60 day money back guarantee should you not like the course…not that there are many takers, I can assure you of that.

In short…if you want the best quality, the most successful online course in terms of results as well as sales, the most enjoyable and the most effective of all online Spanish courses….then Rocket Spanish can be YOUR ONLY choice!!

Take My Advice….If You Want To Learn Spanish Then Go to the Rocket Spanish Site NOW!

Learning Spanish Like Crazy

Why is Learning Spanish Like Crazy in My Top 3?

Compared with my top two choices the ‘ Learning Spanish Like Crazy ’ program offered little in the way of interactivity and written courseware until recently and as a result was not in my considerations for a top three slot. Not so long ago, Learning Spanish Like Crazy was purely an audio course but they must have seen this as a stumbling block when compared to their competitors and have added a whole lot of bonus material that I will cover shortly.

However, even without the added material, the initial course does provide the student with exceptional benefits with its ability to teach and improve the use of everyday Spanish in everyday situations, although it must be noted that the Spanish taught in this program is Latin American Spanish rather than the more traditional formal Spanish, so for my non American review readers, unless you specifically want to learn Latin American Spanish you would probably be better considering the two courses above!

Personally, I think that this audio course is excellent for improving the use of everyday Latin American Spanish in everyday situations and not the formal ‘textbook’ Spanish that most courses teach. The best way to explain what I mean by this is to use a few lines from the ‘Learning Spanish Like Crazy’ homepage:

- My friend from Latin America explained to me that when he first arrived in the U.S., a learning-English course taught him to ask “How do you do?” in order to ask about someone’s health or when meeting someone for the first time.

But in his thirteen years of living in the U.S. no one ever asked him “How do you do?” It was either “How are you?” or “How you doing?”  And you know what?? He was 100% correct!!  I had definitely been using the “How Do You Do?” type of Spanish -

An Overview of Learning Spanish Like Crazy

The course was initially only an audio course which comprised of 30 lessons per volume. Volume one, which I am reviewing here, takes the student from beginner to intermediate level, volume 2 comprises of 60 lessons and will help the student reach an advanced level and level 3, when released, will take the student to complete fluency.

As stated above the first level has had an additional 5 bonus products attached which are:

FSI Programmatic Spanish Level One

FSI Programmatic Spanish Level Two

FSI Spanish Level Three (Advanced Spanish)

FSI Spanish Level Four (Advanced Spanish)

FSI Fast Spanish Course

Learning Methods Used:

Learning Spanish Like Crazy was developed to allow for natural learning, the way babies and children learn their native languages. The program is based on several principles of ideal linguistic learning: complete immersal, developing ideal habits, and having the correct attitude.

The way we learn language as a baby and small child is by complete immersion. Whatever the native language, we are exposed to that language all the time. Our parents speak to us continually, we hear others speak, the television, radio and music all assert the primary language and thus, we learn to speak. Only later do we learn to read and write in that language. Learning Spanish Like Crazy makes use of that important rule of thumb. Do not attempt to read or write a language until you are comfortable speaking. The way you become comfortable speaking is by listening to native speakers constantly; watching Spanish TV, listening to Spanish radio in the car, and listening to the lessons over and over.

Practice Makes Perfect Learning Spanish Like Crazy Review

Developing the right habits is also a part of the Learning Spanish Like Crazy program. The program asserts that you must practice, practice, practice. The only way to become comfortable with a second language is to use it and hear the sound of your own voice speaking it. It is also crucial to imitate native accents and inflections, so that true fluency can be attained. Using Spanish constantly is a habit that must be learned.

The last part of the Learning Spanish Like Crazy program is the mental component. The correct attitude must be fostered or success will not be attained. After the complete immersal and assuming the right habits, you must believe that you will succeed. It is important to visualize yourself at the end goal of fluency.

Conclusions:

This program will definitely help you learn the Spanish language the way it was meant to be learned: through speaking and listening. I found the lessons to be fun, and the speakers in the audio are fun and engaging. The cost is not prohibitive, and is much less than comparable “popular” courses such as the Rosetta Stone series and Pimsleur.

Click Here to Visit ‘Learning Spanish Like Crazy’ for More Information

Visual Link Spanish Language Course

What Makes Visual Link Spanish Language Course Unique?

Visual Link Spanish is a course that was designed by university level Spanish teacher called David Clark, who found that his students, although able to grasp the academic and grammatical aspect of the language were unable to hold down a competent level of conversation. Dismayed by this he took 8 years to develop a language program that concentrated on conversational Spanish rather than the grammatical aspects of it.

What David Clark realized was that the memorization of words wasn’t effective and that building and learning sentence structure important to a specific conversational setting was far more effective at developing conversational skills.

The benefit of learning Spanish in this way is that because you spend all of your time assembling your own phrases, rather than memorizing a lot of vocabulary that you may not use, you will actually start to think in Spanish and be able to converse whilst you learn.

In short Visual link Spanish is a course designed to teach conversational Spanish concentrating totally on conversational requirements and spending very little time on conjugation, grammar and vocabulary that so many courses focus on and many language purists demand.

Details of the Course

Visual Link Spanish language course is a video based course that provides over 200 interactive Spanish lessons and activities. Each lesson will focus on one theme in particular and will concentrate on creating survival phrases, simple communication and basic needs.

As well as the video lessons there are 10 audio cd’s that are great for supplemental lessons you could even load them onto an MP3 player and listen to them whilst driving.

This list covers everything on the course:

      2 Computer CD-ROM’s with over 220 interactive lessons and activities: 48 Interactive Learning Lessons

28 Vocabulary Review Lessons

37 Review Games

59 Verbal and Written Quizzes

28 Pronunciation Lessons

What Can You Expect From Visual Links?

The type of lesson you can expect from Visual Basic is highlighted here:

The first lesson deals with the initial partial phrase ‘I want to go’ .

From the screenshot on the right you will see that the sentence or phrase you will be constructing is split into 3 section or groups.

Each group is changeable so as to develop different sentences and phrases.

Visual Link Spanish provides a very flexible array of methods for you to learn Spanish. So even though the main focus is on teaching you important phrases there is also a great deal of material included that will assist you with learning to write Spanish as well as pronounce it correctly.

The Verdict on Visual Link

Although my personal preference is with Rocket Spanish, which is both less expensive and looks and feels like a better course I have to say that Visual Link certainly fills a void in the marketplace. It is totally unique, completely different from the aforementioned Rocket Spanish in both the way it teaches the student and the speed at which the student becomes comfortable with conversational Spanish.

Again, one cannot argue with the popularity and success of this course, and if you are the sort of person who would prefer just to learn conversational Spanish without all the grammatical leg weights that many courses force upon the student then this may well be the course for you.

Price wise it is more expensive than Rocket Spanish, level 1 you can purchase for $134.99 and level 2 for $99.95 but you can purchase both levels for $199.99. However, Visual Link offer regular reductions and I believe at present you can get both levels for $134.99, which would still make it more expensive than Rocket Spanish but still a great deal none-the-less.

I have to say that the one area that Visual Link excels in is their refund policy. They are so confident in their product that they are willing to offer a 6 MONTH MONEY BACK GUARANTEE, now that is astounding!

I can definitely guarantee you, that you will not find a better guarantee for a language program ANYWHERE on the net or from a high street retailer!

Click Here to Visit Visual Link for More Information

————————————————————————-

Final Recommendations

I will begin my roundup by saying that these online Spanish Courses are all budget courses and are focused on providing Spanish language training to those who cannot afford the cost of either a private tutor or an immersion course.

If cost is not an issue I would always advise you to look at the possibility of using either a private tutor or experiencing an immersion course as both are excellent for attaining a good and competent level of Spanish very quickly.

The one thing I haven’t mentioned at all is the flexibility that online Spanish courses provide. So many of us have such busy schedules nowadays and therefore require our studies to work around us rather than the other way around. All these online Spanish courses provide that much needed flexibility.

If I was put on the spot, my personal choice would be to definitely go with Rocket Spanish, it is excellent value for money, provides quality material, has an army of very happy users that offer up proof of its effectiveness and it covers all the necessary aspects of learning Spanish to a good level.

My Choice?…Rocket Spanish without question!

I hope these reviews have been of use to you, one more thing…I would seriously check out this Verbarator review! For those of you who haven’t heard of it before it is an absolutely awsome Spanish verb training program!!

Hasta Luego

Danny

FILED UNDER: ONLINE SPANISH COURSES

Tagged with: Learning Spanish Like Crazy Review • Online Spanish Courses • Online Spanish Courses Reviews • Rocket Spanish Review • Visual Link Review

Filed under: Online Spanish Courses

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!