Is Learning Spanish By CD or DVD a Good Idea?

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Many people consider the traditional way of learning Spanish to be popping in a CD or DVD and sitting and going through the lessons. Well — this is not the most efficient or beneficial way of doing things! What happens to most people is they start out with good intentions of learning Spanish, and then they find that these lessons are simply not motivating.

Language and educational studies show that immersion is the best way to learn the language. Listening to a CD or DVD for a few minutes a day is simply not going to help you become fluent. It will help you get you started, but the chances are very good that it will just not be motivational enough to keep you going.

That’s not to say that all language CDs and DVDs are a bad idea. Rather, they should be just a part of your total language learning experience. It is a much better idea to come at your language learning from a few different angles. That will help to ensure that the information and language stays fresh in your mind so that you can become a fluent speaker.

So, if you are going to purchase a Spanish-language CD or DVD you should also consider other avenues. For example, you may want to pair your DVD with a language learning book, as well as a CD. You might also want to enroll yourself in a Spanish language course.

It can be time-consuming to try and piece all of these things together to complete your Spanish language education. The good news is that there are packages available that are more complete courses than just a CD or a DVD. Going with these more comprehensive language learning courses can decrease the time it takes you to learn Spanish and make things easier for you.

It can also be less expensive! If you purchase things as part of the package rather than individual components, the chances are very good that you are going to save some money. This is a good thing and the components will be more helpful since they are designed to go together.

You are definitely urged to not learn Spanish with just a single CD or a DVD. This should be just a part of your total learning! Immersing yourself in the language will be far more helpful and beneficial to you in the long run.