learn spanish from telenovelas Archives - Learn Spanish with Andrew

The 2nd Edition of The Telenovela Method is Out! Both Paperback and E-book Available!

Andrew — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:45:25 +0000

I finally got the 2nd edition of my book published (was supposed to happen last fall, turns out self-publishing was a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be). A lot of you had asked if a print version of the first edition was available, so that was one of the main reasons I went with an actual publisher (BookBaby) for the second edition instead of just publishing it in e-book-only format like I did with the first one. It’s also available through a lot more distributors (“Can I get it from ___?” – odds are the answer is “yes” at this point).

Improvements in the 2nd Edition

Now available in print! It’s a 298 page paperback that retails for $16.99 (vs. $9.99 for the e-book).
Whole new chapter on lessons learned in Spain, including how to get an unlimited supply of language-exchanges with locals (the first two months I was there I averaged 2 language exchanges per day during the week).
Two new appendices (one on miscellaneous free online resources and one on recommended products) plus the others have all been significantly updated (especially the appendix listing free online lessons and courses).
The method itself has been slightly revised (nothing major but I’ve backed off a bit on how much I think you need to note for review, e.g. in Anki).
Cleaned up significantly (lots of typos fixed, reads easier). A few people complained about the overly casual, “blog-style” of writing, and I agreed: it needed to read like a book and I’ve edited it to that end.
New resources added, old links that stopped working removed, most resources now appear at the end of each chapter, making things a bit more readable and organized.

You can now (right now) get the e-book (I cover the print edition below) from:

The Print Edition – Please Help Me!

The print edition is currently in what’s known as “pre-order status”, and this is where you guys can not only really help me out but also ensure that you get a copy of the print edition as soon as possible. If you’re interested in a physical copy of the book (paperback, 298 pages), please place your order now.

The way this works when new print books come out is that booksellers (Amazon, B&N, etc.) have a pre-order period during which they determine how many copies they’re going to order based on the demand for the given title. They’ll bulk order (from the printer) more copies than they received orders for to ensure they have enough in stock to meet future demand, and they predict future demand based on current demand (right now that means pre-orders). So the more pre-orders they get, the more copies of my book they’ll order in bulk (e.g. if they get 300 orders for it they might order 400). Amazon is saying they’ll have it in stock by March 23rd, so you won’t have to wait long, and how many pre-orders I get over the next couple weeks is really important. Please help me by placing your order now! Here’s where you can do that:

If you’re someone who buys books wholesale (retailer, library, etc.) BookBaby tells me it’s also available through the following wholesale networks: “Baker & Taylor, Ingram, NACSCORP, Book-a-Zine, Partners, Diamond Comic, BPDI and many others.”

I’m not remotely close to wealthy, and this (writing about how to learn languages via my blogs and books) is what I do for a living. I desperately want to travel continuously for the next few years, all while learning new languages and helping you all learn those languages through my blog posts, books, e-mails, videos, tweets, facebook posts, and instagram videos. I can’t do this for free because that stuff takes time, time which if I’m not being paid for I can’t afford to spare because I’ll be too busy working “a real job” (this is a real job damnit, I work six days a week, take me seriously, grumble grumble).

I really believe in this method. I used it to learn Spanish which I then tested for 3 months in Spain, I’m currently using it to learn German (quick tip: Lola Rennt is a great movie to learn German from, so much fun), and I plan on using it to then learn French, Italian, Tagalog, Japanese, and who knows what else!

Thank You

All of you who read what I write, watch my videos, and especially who buy my book (including those who bought the 1st edition, of course): thank you. I genuinely wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

It’s also vital, for one to be able to continue in their chosen occupation, knowing that other people value what you’re doing–that really means a lot (I’d have long since quit if I thought I wasn’t helping anyone).

Cheers,

Andrew

P.S. If you do buy the book I would greatly appreciate any review you could leave for it (on whatever site you bought it from), books live and die by their reader reviews, you guys have enormous influence over whether someone else will buy the book.

P.P.S. Yes, I know the site is old (this theme is 7, 8 years old now?) and ugly as hell. I’m in the process of completely revamping it right now…along with the newsletter…while learning Spanish and German…and figuring out how/when I’m going to get to Colombia in a few months…and how to unload all my crap I don’t need before I leave and make some cash in the process (anybody wanna buy some weight plates or a cocktail shaker?).

The post The 2nd Edition of The Telenovela Method is Out! Both Paperback and E-book Available! appeared first on Learn Spanish with Andrew.

The Tacit Approach to Learning Languages

Andrew — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:48:49 +0000

Hi guys, today I’ve got a guest post from Alberto Horihuela, who’s the head of business development over at Drama Fever, currently one of the few legal sites for watching full episodes of Spanish-language telenovelas in the United States (I just recently added Drama Fever to my very popular List of Best Free Sites to Watch Spanish-Language TV Online). He contacted me because they had noticed that a growing percentage of their members were people who were using their service for the express purpose of learning the language that the TV show was in and he knew that was a method that I advocated. They currently have several telenovelas available on their site–full episodes, for free–and they all have English subtitles available; I asked him if they had considered doing Spanish subtitles and he said that it was being considered, so let’s hope that happens.

Today he’s going to write about something very related to their service and the method that I advocate, that is learning a language tacitly versus explicitly. Have a look.

The Tacit Approach to Learning Languages

Have you noticed how people who move to other countries tend to learn the language faster than those who studied it from their home countries? Intuitively, it isn’t hard to see how the constant exposure to a new language in day-to-day interactions would push one to learn faster. However, educational science tells us that it is more than just increased exposure, but also the method of exposure. Indeed, the improved rate of learning comes largely from the use of tacit vs. explicit knowledge creation.

Think of tacit knowledge as intuition – it is knowledge we already have or acquired through past experiences, yet we are unable to easily explain it. It’s what we have learned through observation, practice and repetition – think about knowing how to ride a bike, or more relevant, your own native language. You may not necessarily know the ins and outs of it, but you know what sounds right and how to speak it. Explicit knowledge on the other hand is what you learn from studying facts, policies, and rules, i.e. your typical classroom learning experience. Not surprisingly, language learners tend to focus most of their energy developing explicit knowledge, while those who learn a language in a foreign country develop a more extensive tacit knowledge drawn from exposure to television and day-to-day interactions.

That is the reason why most will tell you that watching foreign television is a great way to learn a language. Short of taking a long break and moving to another country, the best (and most amusing) way to throw yourself into a new culture is through the local entertainment they produce, which reflects the language, traditions and customs of a region. An immensely useful example is watching a traditional Spanish telenovela to practice listening comprehension and absorb the elaborate yet necessary colloquialisms. It’s no coincidence that this is the method recommended by many, including the great Telenovela Method we’ve formerly advocated.

If you live in the US, you may already have access to the Latin TV channels such as Univision. Or, if you’d rather watch from your computer, you can find telenovelas in YouTube or streaming platforms such as DramaFever, which subtitles full telenovelas from Latin American and Spain.

Nonetheless, we are not saying it’ll be easy: the tacit learning method requires active engagement and participation, not mere memorization. But it pays dividends! Auditory learning is more organic, babies learn languages by simply listening to the flow of dialogue and drawing logical connections. While you’re no longer a baby (we presume) your learning process will be somewhat similar. By watching telenovelas you’ll be listening to real dialogue, not perfectly annunciated Spanish, which will strengthen your listening abilities in real situations.

That being said, don’t toss your books yet – the best learning method is one which effectively combines traditional explicit learning with tacit knowledge creation – after all knowing the difference between what sounds right and what is actually right can save you a moment of mild embarrassment. Go ahead, enjoy some telenovelas and let us know cómo te va!

I learned to speak conversational Spanish in six months using TV shows, movies, and even comics: I then wrote a book on how you can, too

I have a whole method and a book I wrote about it called The Telenovela Method where I teach you how to learn Spanish from popular media like TV shows, movies, music, books, etc. that you can all find online for free. It was the #1 new release in the Spanish Language Instruction section on Amazon for nearly a month after it came out and currently has 17 reviews there with a 4.9/5 stars average. It's available for $7.99-$9.99 for the e-book version depending on who you buy it from (Kindle version on Amazon is now $7.99) and $16.99 for the paperback (occasionally a bit cheaper, again, depending on who you buy it from).

It's currently available in both e-book and paperback from:

Cheers,
Andrew

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The Telenovela Method: After failing to learn a new language on FIVE separate occasions…I taught myself to speak Spanish like a native in just SIX MONTHS by watching movies and TV shows, listening to music, and reading books and comics like Garfield and Harry Potter…here’s how you can do it, too!

Andrew — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:35:55 +0000

This simple, easy-to-learn secret that even the most linguistically-challenged can master literally overnight is used by many of the most respected and skilled polyglots and language teachers in the world, and it’s never really been laid out, explained, and demonstrated (on included videos!) in full, point-by-point, step-by-step detail until now.

Hi, my name’s Andrew Tracey, I own and run the blog you’re currently reading (and enjoying, I hope). I’ve had a passion for learning languages since I was 12 years old when I decided to take up French on my own (using an old ‘50s era Berlitz book and Pimsleur cassette tapes, for those of you old enough to remember what those are), which led to me taking 4 years of French in high school during which time I went on a school trip to France where I learned…

I didn’t speak French worth a damn!

3 years of French (the trip was after my Junior year) and all the work I’d done on my own time: wasted! Pointless! I later tried to learn German, Swedish, Spanish, and Japanese…on my own and by taking classes while at university. All failed. The textbooks, classes, and audio tapes didn’t work. What does this have to do with you? Well, first of all it probably sounds depressingly familiar since I’ll bet a lot of you have experienced something similar, but secondly and most importantly…

I NEVER GAVE UP: A few years ago I stumbled upon a centuries-old language-learning technique that allowed me to become fluent in Spanish in just 6 months and talk just like native speakers did (not some strangely-weird Spanish awkwardly spoken and learned from a textbook that just confuses native speakers and embarrasses you)…

And it’s something that anyone – no matter how inexperienced, language-learning-impaired, or time-crunched – and I mean anyone, can learn overnight and start applying the next day to teach themselves Spanish. If I, someone who couldn’t learn a language by almost any other means (years of classes at both high school and university, all sorts of courses and workbooks, etc.), can do it then you can do it…and I’m going to tell you how you can learn to do it right now.

Let me ask you something: when you’re watching a TV show or movie (in your native language), do you have a hard time understanding the actors? Meaning: do you have to stop and think about what they mean or look things up in a dictionary? Do they sound completely different from how you and your friends and acquaintances talk every day? Unless you’re watching a Shakespearian play: no, of course not! They talk normally, just like you and everyone else does.

They’re speaking the language normally, in precisely the way that someone wanting to learn that language would want to learn to speak it! Ah ha! Eureka!

When characters in a movie or TV show are speaking the dialogue, unless it’s set in a previous period like the 1800s or something, they speak normal everyday English (or whatever your native language is). So if you wanted to learn Spanish, the type of normal everyday Spanish that native speakers use every day, aka “conversational Spanish”…

Don’t you think that Spanish-language TV shows, movies, music, and books might be a good source to learn from…if only you knew how?

Not only that, but it would be fun, wouldn’t it? Far better than learning the language from some boring, dry textbook or workbook that, even worse, is teaching outdated, formal, “non-conversational” Spanish (look at the dialogue in one sometime: do people actually talk like that? NO!).

But why the hell should you listen to me?

Well, besides what you can glean from reading what I’ve written on my blog, how about if I told you I wrote a book specifically on how to do this and that it’s been a bestseller in multiple categories (namely “Language Instruction: Spanish” and “Linguistics”) on Amazon.com for over two years now, and that it currently has a 4.6 out of 5 stars rating with 34 reviews on it? Screenshot below (from the 1st edition, the 2nd edition is now available, that’s why the covers look different) and I’ll link to it further down so you can verify for yourself:

So how does this help you? In The Telenovela Method:

- I will show you how to completely prevent (so you don’t have to experience it at all) the #1 cause of failure for language-learners, which is: boredom and frustration. If you’ve ever tried to learn a language before you know what I’m talking about: you make it a few weeks or months, get bored, get frustrated that you’re not making the progress you expected, and quit. I’ll show you how to avoid this massive pitfall ALTOGETHER.

I will show you, in simple and easy-to-understand written instruction accompanied by over 7 hours of video demonstration, precisely how to learn to speak, understand, read, and write real, modern, native-level Spanish such that you will have the same competency as a native does: you will be able to understand them and their media (movies, newspapers, songs, books, etc.), write just like them, and, most importantly…you will be able to speak just like a native – meaning that you can hold a conversation with them on any topic you choose and talk to them just like you do with right now with people in your native language.

- I’ll show you my own personal secret technique that combines a specific way of learning (initially) and then reviewing Spanish that means you will never forget ANY of the Spanish you have learned…EVER. You will have it, all of it (all the Spanish you’ve ever learned), available to call on for immediate use whenever you’re talking to somebody in Spanish and need it. Oh, and did I mention this requires less than 15 minutes per day in “review” work? This means you get fluent in Spanish far faster than if you didn’t have this tool and the knowledge to use it effectively – don’t waste time with ineffective methods, don’t spend 2 years doing something that could be done in 6 months!

By learning Spanish from popular media like TV shows and movies you also learn common slang and curse words. Yeeeess, the dirty words, the naughty stuff. Hey, even if it’s something you would never use, wouldn’t you want to know them anyway so you can understand it when somebody else uses them when speaking to or about YOU? If somebody used a curse word when talking to you, or in reference to you when talking to someone else, wouldn’t you want to know what they said? You need to know these words, like it or not (and they’re not all dirty, many slang terms are not, they’re just slang).

- In relation to the previous point: this gives you something to talk about with native speakers. When you do get around to talking to them, either in person or via an online language exchange through Skype, you’ll actually have something to talk to them about so that you’re not awkward and tongue-tied, something they are interested in and know about (recent movies, TV shows, and books in their own language that they’ve seen or read). You will speak Spanish like a native to them and be interesting while you’re at it!

You’ll know exactly what to do, in what order, how, and when (and I’ll explain everything so you understand why). You get extremely specific instruction on what to do and how, complete with examples galore and hours of video demonstration by me, the author. I promise you will not end up confused and having to resort to either guessing or googling something in order to figure it out on your own. I’ll hold your hand the whole way and show you just what to do.

- I’ll provide you with a long, up-to-date, list of websites where you can watch not only Spanish-language videos (TV shows, movies, etc.) online for free but also a separate list of websites where you can watch videos in Spanish with Spanish subtitles online for free. No, you don’t have to pay for anything if you don’t want to (in terms of Spanish language media and the resources needed to learn Spanish from it).

I’ll also provide a long list of websites where you can read both Spanish and English versions of books and stories that are no longer under copyright (such as stories and fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen). Not only that but some of these sites even include audio of the stories being read out loud (in Spanish)! Do you realize how useful that would be for working on listening comprehension and speaking?! And it’s all free! You learn Spanish quickly and easily, have fun doing it, and don’t have to pay a dime.

You can even try this for free by stealing it and ripping me off if you want…but please don’t!

Because this is available as not only a paperback but also an an e-book, and it’s only being sold via highly reputable vendors (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc.) who force me to accept any refund request immediately and without question by automatically taking the money out of my account and giving it to the buyer, you could very easily buy this product, download it, and then immediately get a refund for it from Amazon and, obviously, since it’s a digital product you’ve already downloaded there’s nothing to “send back” so you get to keep it (and no, it doesn’t have DRM for those of you who know what that is, I hate DRM). You could do this to me if you wanted to and I’m actually telling you about it because I’m so sure you’ll be satisfied with the product that I don’t care if you know this, I don’t think you will!

It also gives me the opportunity to point out the absolute, iron-clad, no-questions-asked, 100% money-back-instantly GUARANTEE that Amazon, B&N, and all my other retailers provide with this product by virtue of allowing me to sell it through them. They’re the ones who make the guarantee, not me, which is nice because I know that almost everyone trusts them to refund their money on any purchase for any reason – you know you can get your money back since you bought it through Amazon or Barnes & Noble or whoever, I don’t have to convince you that I will give it back to you since it’s not up to me.

What you get:

The brand-new, recently updated (published March, 2017), 2nd edition of The Telenovela Method as either a 298 page paperback or the e-book equivalent. Check out my blog post here if you’d like to know what improvements were made for the 2nd edition (new chapter on lessons learned during 3 months in Spain and 2 new appendices, among others). The book also includes access to over 7 hours of video instruction by me personally (they’re hosted on both YouTube and, as a backup, iPlayerHD and linked to within the book). You can download the videos from the hosting site I use if you want, also. Oh, and since the videos are hosted on both iPlayerHD and YouTube (privately hosted, you have to have the link) with each one serving as a back-up for the other, if you’re in a country that blocks YouTube or a large portion of it (e.g. Germany, China, or Iran), yes you can still view the videos.

Oh…and did I mention that you get all of this for $9.99 (or $16.99 for the paperback)? Yup, and here’s why it’s so cheap:

I decided that I had to sell this book on Amazon because I wanted it to have the credibility and legitimacy that goes with that – you’re not making it onto anyone’s “Best Seller” list by selling your book just directly through your own site as a PDF or via an affiliate network like Clickbank or something like that. I wanted this thing to have a shot at making various Best Seller lists and book club lists and what not so I knew I had to sell it on Amazon, but Amazon only pays their full 70% royalty if your e-book is priced at $9.99 or less, if you go above that it drops immediately to 30%. They did this in an effort to standardize e-book prices at $9.99, and it worked. As a result of this, very, very few other Kindle e-books on Amazon are priced above $9.99 – so that’s what people are used to, that’s what they expect – therefore I knew that if I priced mine above that not only would I receive less money (unless I priced it really high) but also it would be perceived as overpriced by customers since they’d be comparing it to the other e-books on Amazon.

What to do now:

Well, if you want the e-book, just select the retailer you’d prefer, purchase (it’s on sale on B&N right now, by the way), download immediately, and start reading. For the paperback, since it’s currently on pre-order status with most retailers, your best bet of receiving it as soon as possible is to just place a pre-order with them right now. When they get it in stock (Amazon is saying March 23rd, others will probably be similar) they’ll send it to you. If you’re outside the U.S. my publisher tells me you’ll be able to pre-order it within the next couple weeks, so apologies if this is you, it’ll only be just a bit longer (the e-book, of course, should be available to you right now). You can currently get the e-book (I cover the print version below) from:

You can get the print version online from:

Also, you can almost certainly have your local bookstore order it for you, it’s been distributed to all the major wholesale networks, internationally as well as inside the U.S. Regardless of whether you’re in Tokyo, Moscow, or a small town in Scotland, you should be able to get it via a local bookstore (they may not have it in stock but they can probably order it).

If you’re someone who buys books wholesale (school, retailer, library, etc.), my publisher tells me it’s also available through the following wholesale networks: “Baker & Taylor, Ingram, NACSCORP, Book-a-Zine, Partners, Diamond Comic, BPDI and many others.”

Thank You

Cheers,

Andrew

The post The Telenovela Method: After failing to learn a new language on FIVE separate occasions…I taught myself to speak Spanish like a native in just SIX MONTHS by watching movies and TV shows, listening to music, and reading books and comics like Garfield and Harry Potter…here’s how you can do it, too! appeared first on Learn Spanish with Andrew.