There are loads of language self study courses available now. Some are quite costly and some seem to be fairly priced but ultimately the product is judged on how well it taught you to speak Spanish. Is it possible to learn Spanish from just a CD or MP3 ? This article will discuss this topic giving the pros and cons of using an audio self study courses to learn Spanish.

To start off, an audio course is a very intuitive way to learn a new language. People learn their native tongue as a baby or small child by listening and repeating the words that are spoken to them. This is the same method in a learn Spanish CD or MP3. Although an audio course can never completely replicate the way you learned as a baby, it is a good approximation of this method.

This is at odds with more common language learning methods that teach reading, writing and grammar at the same time as listening and speaking skills. This can often overwhelm the average student and they will get bored with learning the new language because they feel they are not making any progress.

Another advantage of an audio course is that it teaches you correct pronunciation (provided the audio is by a native Spanish speaker). This is important for a student of a new language because practicing your skills is the best way to improve those skills. However, if you can’t pronounce words people will not understand you. This is in contrast to not getting the grammar right. People will understand what you mean even though the grammar is wrong. speaking to people not only improves your skills but gives you confidence, and this is important if you want to get fluent in the language.

Finally, a major advantage of learning Spanish from an audio CD or MP3 is the ease of use. You can listen to it in the car or doing the housework. You can repeat the words as you jog round the block or do the grocery shopping (even though people might think you are mad talking to yourself).

To some extent this is true. However, in my experience you can’t devote your full attention to more than one thing, especially when it comes to a new language. Michel Thomas has many audio only courses and he advises (in the introduction to the courses) that you don’t do anything else but listen to the audio. I tend to agree with him, especially on the first few listens.

However, if you have listened to the course often then it gets easier to multi task but to begin with it is tough and you would probably save as much time just doing one thing at a time.

So can you learn Spanish from a CD or MP3 ? I think they can give you a grasp of the language but you have to learn a lot more before you will be considered fluent. Being fluent requires a fair degree of confidence too. And you can only have this confidence if you use the language regularly and have made a few mistakes along the way. Even so an audio course is a good starting point and is convenient for many people that have busy lives.