Rating: 4 stars

Rocket Spanish is an online Spanish language-learning course for the complete beginner. The objective of the program is to teach you all you need to know to become a functional beginning Spanish speaker – someone who can communicate independently on a basic level. The program includes access to course materials, a motivation center, and forum.

The course materials section is divided into two stages and eight lessons. Each one includes audio lessons that you can play through the site or download as an Mp3, multiple-choice comprehension quizzes, and language and culture sections. You can also add notes to yourself within the course and download an ebook that has all the written course material in one place.

The culture sections highlight different cultural topics from Spanish-speaking countries such as the importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico or different currencies in use in Latin America. The language section focuses on aspects of specific grammar points or usage.

After each stage (a group of lessons) you can take a 100-question quiz. With a score of 80% or better you earn a certificate that is e-mailed to you.

The Rocket Spanish motivation center has a series of articles on topics like building your confidence in Spanish, designing your own Spanish-learning plan, memory tricks, and learning to enjoy the language, while the forum allows you to interact with others who are taking the same course.

What It Does Surprisingly Well

I think the motivation center is a nice innovation for a language product. In my experience lack of motivation is a much bigger factor in failing to learn a language than the quality of the materials, as without the right motivation to stick with learning a language, the learning just won’t happen. I think trying to address that problem through the course is rather a smart idea on their part.

The course assumes that you have no previous knowledge of Spanish, which is perfect for a complete beginner, as the course really breaks things down into bite-size chunks. The material starts out slow and easy and gets increasingly more complex.

What Might Turn You Off

If you have studied Spanish before, the course may possibly begin on too basic a level to hold your interest (unless the motivation center motivates you back, that is), but that is really a problem for all start-from-zero beginner courses, rather than the Rocket Spanish course specifically. On the other hand, if you have studied a little Spanish before, you could simply skip a couple of the lessons to get to where you need to be.

In the End

The Rocket Spanish program does well in addressing the needs of the beginning Spanish student and provides a variety of learning materials that complements each other.  It is a good solid program for starting your journey to learn how to speak Spanish.

Even if you are just starting to learn Spanish, you may find that you need to write an e-mail or a letter in the new language. Perhaps a letter to reserve a hotel room for your upcoming vacation in Spain. Or an e-mail to a new friend in Buenos Aires. But regardless of your motivations for writing in Spanish, e-mail and letter writing – in any language – tend to be rather formulaic. This means that once you learn the most common letter-writing formulas in Spanish, you should successfully be able to get started writing letters to almost anyone in Spanish. Here are some tips and the most common ways to write a letter in Spanish:

Dates

A formal or business letter lists the date in the right-hand corner. In Spanish, dates are written with the day first followed by the month and the year, with the preposition “de” used in between both spaces. So July 1, 2010 (or 1 July 2010) is written in Spanish as 1 de julio de 2010. Months of the year, just like days of the week and the names of languages, are never capitalized in Spanish.

As in English, e-mails and informal letters are not typically dated.

Opening

In informal letters, you could open with informal greetings like:

Hola = Hello

Hola a todos = Hello everyone

Querido Antonio = Dear Antonio

Querida Marta = Dear Marta

Queridos Pablo y Victoria = Dear Pablo and Victoria

Queridos Señores Bueno = Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bueno

In formal letters, you could start with:

Estimado Señor Martínez = Dear Mr. Martínez

Estimado Señor = Dear Sir

Estimada Señora Espinosa = Dear Ms. Espinosa

Estimada Señora = Dear Madam

Or for very formal letters:

Muy Señor Mío = Dear Sir

Muy Señora Mía = Dear Madam

Muy Señores Míos = Dear Sirs

Body

As you would expect, the body of the letter is where things get more free form. This is the part where you articulate the motive for writing the letter. In other words, this is where you say what it is you wish to say. However, some common expressions you might find handy for writing informal e-mails and letters are:

Adjunto = I am attaching (in an e-mail) / I am enclosing (in a letter)

Gracias por = Thank you for

Nos vemos pronto. = We’ll see each other soon.

Common expressions in formal communications include:

Quería reservar = I would like to reserve

El motivo de esta carta es = The reason for this letter is

Nos complace comunicarle = We are pleased to inform you

Nos complace comunicarles = (If writing to more than one person) We are pleased to inform you

Estamos agradecidos por su interés en = We appreciate your interest in

Estoy agradecido por su interés en = (If you as the speaker are a man) I appreciate your interest in

Estoy agradecida por su interés en = (If you are a woman) I appreciate your interest in

Close

The universal approach for ending an e-mail or letter in Spanish is with an affectionate or a respectful close that is followed by your name.

Informal letters often end with closing expressions like “Un saludo”, “Un beso”, or “Un abrazo”.

The most common way to end a formal or business letter in Spanish is with the phrase “Un cordial saludo”. However, you could also use “Sinceramente”, “Cordialmente”, or “Le saluda atentamente”.

Studying Spanish online is an efficient and effective way to learn the language. There are no classes to commute to, no tutors to hire, and no books to lug around or store. You can study at your own pace and whenever you wish: night or day, there are no limits to the things you can learn.

To get yourself going in learning the Spanish language online, consider the following tools and tips below.

Tools for Learning Spanish Online

Headset for your computer. I know this sounds like an obvious thing, but make sure your computer has speakers and a microphone or a headset. I personally followed a couple of language courses without having a microphone for my computer, and as I couldn’t participate in the speaking and pronunciation exercises, I think I missed out on some valuable lessons.

Software. Choose a good Spanish learning software program to get yourself up and running in the Spanish language. Some types of software include immersion programs, flash card programs, and programs full of interactive games.

Free courses. In addition to Spanish software programs, sign up for free online Spanish courses through the BBC’s courses like Mi Vida Loca for beginners or Livemocha’s beginning and intermediate Spanish courses.

Online dictionary. Choose a couple monolingual and bilingual online dictionaries to get comfortable with. One option is the Real Academia Española’s online monolingual Spanish dictionary. (The Academia is the official body that serves as the guardian and arbiter of the Spanish language.) For bilingual choices, Wordreference.com is my favorite online Spanish-English and English-Spanish dictionary.

Internet phone capability. VOIP-to-VOIP technology like Skype allows you to talk to people around the world for free. You can then use this technology to have a long-distance language exchange with a native Spanish speaker and improve your spoken Spanish.

Spanish media. Once you have acquired basic proficiency in Spanish, try to read online newspapers and listen to online radio stations. Newspapers in Spanish with online versions include El País [http://www.elpais.com] , El Mundo [http://www.elmundo.es], and La Vanguardia [http://www.lavanguardia.es] from Spain; El Universal [http://www.eluniversal.com.mx] and Reforma [http://www.reforma.com] from Mexico; and Clarín [http://www.clarin.com.ar], Página12 [http://www.pagina12.com.ar], and La Nación [http://www.lanacion.com.ar] from Argentina. You can find some online Spanish radio stations on Radio Nacional de España’s network [http://www.rtve.es/radio/].

Tips for Learning Spanish Online

Impose self-discipline. When you learn Spanish online there is no teacher to ask you why you have missed class again. Disciplining yourself to sit down and learn Spanish online is your responsibility: you only have yourself and your Spanish skills to answer to.

Have goals. Set goals for yourself each week. Determine how many lessons you are going to cover, how many words you are going to learn, or how many language exchanges you are going to have, and then do it.

Make the time. Carve out a regular Spanish learning schedule for yourself, and then stick to it. Whether this means studying on your lunch hour or before going to bed at night, the important thing is to have an ongoing regular time for learning Spanish.

Don’t forget to celebrate. Each time you achieve a victory learning Spanish, no matter how small it is, you should celebrate it! Positive reinforcement isn’t just for kids; adults like you and me respond well to it too, and often with increased motivation for learning Spanish.