Every language teacher will tell you that there is no substitute for living in the country where the language you are learning is spoken. But what if you have come late to learning, and you can’t readily up sticks because you have a family, a job and a mortgage in some other country?
I’m lucky enough to be able to combine learning Spanish, which I have been doing on and off for a few years, with working. I spent three afternoons in a language school in Quito, Ecuador, while writing a travel story there, and stayed for a week with a family in Valencia, Spain, specifically to write about being a language student there. This week I will be attending a conference in Andalusia that will give me a chance to do some more practice.
But I’ve had no opportunity for sustained in-country learning, and I’ve had no time recently for an evening class, so I do what I can with CDs, Spanish-language films and internet sites (I’ve found BBCMundo.com, don Quijote and El Pais particularly useful).
I’m always on the lookout for any novel approach that might make learning easier or more fun, and LoMasTv, produced by Yabla Inc in New York, seems to fit the bill.
It offers television and video from throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The videos come with subtitles in both Spanish and English. If the speech is too fast, you can slow it down; if you miss a caption your can replay it. If there’s an unfamiliar word or phrase you can click on it and get a dictionary definition in a panel alongside the screen.
It would be better if you could play the videos at full-screen size, but they are certainly big enough (YouTube size) to watch without eye strain. I haven’t signed up yet (subscriptions cost US$9.95 a month), but I’m impressed by the demos and would be interested to hear from anyone who has.