Reccomend me a method of learning Spanish.

MindLib

One of my new year's resolutions was to learn a new language. I just moved to Arizona, so I felt learning Spanish would be bonus.

Could anyone recommend a DIY application, or free online lessons, maybe something which has been successful for you or someone you know personally?

Thanks.

P.S. I'm a complete beginner.

Noff

There are some good online resources if you can keep yourself motivated. I like:

http://www.ielanguages.com/spanish1.html
and
http://www.studyspanish.com/

I personally started in a similar situation with Rosetta Stone, but I was borrowing a copy from my parents and I don't personally feel it would be worth the money to buy. It was good for learning the basic pronunciation, but you'll soon find yourself wanting to move on.

The most important thing if you actually wish to speak the language is to start speaking it as soon as you can. Reading the news or sports in Spanish is very helpful, but to some extent it's a different skill from actually speaking. Use meetup.com or something similar to get you started, as I'm sure there will be a group of like-minded people in your area. If not I've seen similar resources where you can skype with a native speaker who knows Spanish and wants to practice English.

One of my favorite language learning blogs is http://fluentin3months.com/, about a really accomplished polyglot who also started late in life and attributed his success to finally getting over his fear of actually speaking. You can also get some more methods from http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/default.asp, a good forum for all things language learning related.

I also love anki (http://ankisrs.net/), a free spaced-repetition flashcard system that's great for learning vocabulary. If you're reading and come across a word that seems important, you can enter it and actually practice it later, instead of forgetting it 20 minutes later.

Right now I'm starting to use more workbooks to force myself into producing the language when I don't have anyone to speak with, which is something that's easy to neglect with self study. I'm currently using http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Makes-Perfect-Spanish-Tenses/%20dp/0844273341 and it's a great book for everything related to verbs, the conjugation of which is really the heart of learning the language for an English speaker. I'd definitely recommend (even for a beginner), but I'm sure there's similar workbooks that are a little more comprehensive.

Varinn

Invite some over for a party and get them all liquored up, then try and kick them out of your house.