Best Spanish at home Program

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Specializes in Maternity & Well Baby Nursery.

Hello,

I work for a hospital that has a high census of Spanish speaking clients (I work in the Maternity Department) and I want to learn Spanish so that I can communicate more effectively with my clients regarding their own health and that of their babies.

I've purchased Rosetta Stone (for Korean) but was not very impressed, so I am a little leery of purchasing Spanish from them. I have heard of Rocket Spanish, but am not familiar with any of their products and everything online looks like it may have been written by them.

If anyone would be so kind as to recommend a Spanish program, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your time.

Cherry Ames, RN

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I was gonna say Rosetta Stone. :D

Since you didn't like Rosetta Stone, try to find a package that stresses immersion.

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Specializes in NICU, PACU, Pediatrics.

I was gonna recommend rosetta too...I have been using it but it is on my public libraries website

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I was going to recommend Rosetta as well. Not sure about others. Maybe Berlitz.

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Cherry,

Funny you should ask this question as during the last week we at work have all asked that same question. I too, work on a busy labor and delivery floor and we have been encountering more and more spanish only speaking patients. The language line that they provide is ok but it is just such a tedious process. So suffice to say that I was put in charge of doing research on the best at home spanish software and came up with Fluenz Spanish. They have a website http://www.fluenz.com where you can even demo the software online prior to making a purchase. It's a little pricey but wayyyyy less than rosetta stone. Check out the website. Hope this helps!!!

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Specializes in CCU & CTICU.

Ick, I hate Rosetta Stone. I have a decent foundation in Japanese and had no idea what half the stuff I was mindlessly repeating meant.

I don't recommend that "[insert language here] in your car" either. I bought the French one and didn't like it. It was just a person saying words once and their translation. But maybe part of my dislike comes from the fact that I'm weak in French, this was all audio and I needed to see the words.

Pimsleur is decent good if you have some foundation in the language, but it's really geared toward the basics. It's also all audio. I like how they reinforce earlier lessons. I was able to take in some new Japanese words from that. I tried the Italian and German ones as well. Italian wasn't too bad, but I had some foundation (albeit, long since crumbled) in the language. I had no foundation in German and found it hard. If you want to try it, you can check Barnes & Noble's bargain bin, I got a bunch (6-10 CD's each & 2 CD's a lesson) for like $12 a pop.

The thing is, I doubt most programs are going to get really far into medical stuff. A book might be the best thing. If you're interested in books, the for idiots and dummies books are decent and there's quite a few dedicated to nursing. I own this and this and like them. The Incredibly Easy one goes over some basics, which is nice.

In truth, after many years of trying to teach myself Japanese, I've found there is no substitute for a teacher. It might be easier with Spanish because you can find more people to talk with you and practice. Still, you should find out if your job doesn't have some spanish training available, or won't reimburse you for some classes. You can even look for an on-line course at one of the universities.

BTW, that Rocket thing seems to offer a free trial, if you want to give it a shot. Would you let us know your results if you use it?

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

Rio Salado College Online has a Medical Spanish class I and II. I'm going to take it as an elective cuz I figure in Arizona it'd been very helpful. It even concentrates on pronoucing the words into the microphone for testing. Looks to me like you could really LEARN whats important to your field thats for sure. Although not sure its what your looking for but figured maybe something at your local community college as well?

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If you can, have your employer pay for you to go to a class for medical professionals. I tried Rosetta and another CD but the actual class is what helped me. Community centers and local colleges often offer this.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

When I took a Spanish 101 class I found this site, with all of its free tutorials, really helpful.

The site is: http://www.studyspanish.com/

They have all these samples and when I try to learn Spanish again I'm going to look at this site's program or Rosetta Stone rather than take a class. Thanks for starting this thread by the way! I've had the same question for some time. I love your username too. The Cherry Ames books are awesome!:)

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

I really enjoy http://www.coffeebreakspanish.com. I dl the mp3s to my ipod (they are 15-20 minute episodes). It's a great little program, and is free at the site I listed, or on itunes.

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Destinos is a Spanish program now free online, after signing up with the site. They also offer French and German.

Used textbooks for Destinos can probably be found online or in your area if a local college uses it.

http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html?pop=yes&pid=366

Here is the new users sign up page -

http://www.learner.org/vod/form.html?returnurl=&pid=366

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this doesnt really apply to your question, but i saw that you graduated from DCCC and now work in maternity. what hospital? was it hard to get in as a new grad? i started the DCCC program this month and am anxiously looking ahead to see how likely it will be for me to be able to get a job on the floor i want instead of med/surg.

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