CLEP Spanish: Best way to learn for someone with ZERO prior knowledge

[dfrecore]

armstrongsubero:

Fluently speaking a language does not mean you could pass a written test in it.  Most 5 years olds are pretty fluent in their native tongues and probably couldn't pass a CLEP or other written exam for it.  Fluency in speaking does not equate to fluency with the written word, and vice-versa.

Yes, if you were immersed in a language for months/years, then it would probably be a lot easier - but the OP said they are trying to pass a CLEP and asked about starting from scratch.  They did not mention that they had someone around who could help them through immersion - I am guessing that if they had that resource, they would not be on here asking for help learning the language!

Here's the OP's original post:

"I need to take CLEP Spanish and need a minimum of 50.
What is the best way to start learning Spanish to take the CLEP exam in 4-6 weeks?
I have zero background in Spanish.

I've signed up with Spanish Hour, but haven't found it great so far as it doesn't explain things that well imo."

I think that you may be fluent in whatever language you speak, but you don't spend a lot of time reading questions and then responding to them; you interpret them however you want, and then tell everyone how wrong they are when they are back to trying to help the OP answer THEIR questions.  You might want to slow down and try to see this from the person asking the question.

The OP wants to know if there are resources to pass a CLEP from scratch in a couple of months; the consensus here is that it's probably not possible.  But most of those here did it in a way that explained why, and how long it might actually take.  Telling them that they're wrong in wanting to pass a test but not doing what YOU want them to to learn the language without having the resources YOU have is a good way to help turn people off here.

[cookderosa]

I think the OP is gone, or at least this thread may be abandoned, but I'm just going to say it: it can't be done.

I'd love to be proven wrong- but for someone starting from scratch with zero language- if there is a curriculum that takes you from 0 to 9 college credits in Spanish in 1 month, I want to know about it because I have 13,000 homeschooling parents who would pay thousands of dollars to incorporate that into their homeschool TODAY. I'm rarely so definitive, but I'm going all in- it's impossible.

[sanantone]

I think the OP is gone, or at least this thread may be abandoned, but I'm just going to say it:  it can't be done.  

I'd love to be proven wrong- but for someone starting from scratch with zero language- if there is a curriculum that takes you from 0 to 9 college credits in Spanish in 1 month, I want to know about it because I have 13,000 homeschooling parents who would pay thousands of dollars to incorporate that into their homeschool TODAY.   I'm rarely so definitive, but I'm going all in- it's impossible.

You're probably right. Reading the passages from the sample questions, that's just too much vocabulary to cover.

[Ideas]

I would say it could be done, but only if the person was gifted in languages like you said (and somehow didn't know this yet), already knew a related language very well, or had an excellent tutor or tutors for hours a day. But it would still be a difficult full-time endeavor. Most likely they would have to give up speaking English during this time, like others said.

They would probably also need to be a good test taker in general and good at reading comprehension (in English). I know that my general (non-language) test-taking skills helped with some Modern States practice questions.

[jamshid666]

I think the OP is gone, or at least this thread may be abandoned, but I'm just going to say it:  it can't be done.  

I'd love to be proven wrong- but for someone starting from scratch with zero language- if there is a curriculum that takes you from 0 to 9 college credits in Spanish in 1 month, I want to know about it because I have 13,000 homeschooling parents who would pay thousands of dollars to incorporate that into their homeschool TODAY.   I'm rarely so definitive, but I'm going all in- it's impossible.

The Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA is one of the premier language schools in the entire world.  Students there spend 8 hours per day doing nothing but learning their selected language, not to mention the additional hours spent after class doing homework, studying for the weekly tests, etc.  The basic Spanish course is about six months long.  If DLI can't get it done in less than six months, I don't see any other program doing any better. Note that the end goal for classes at DLI is a high level of fluency, well above what the CLEPs are testing for. One month is probably unlikely, I think three to four months is a more realistic target, especially if you have access to a long-haired dictionary and be willing to dedicate several hours per day focused on studying.

[Ideas]

Yeah the FSI says 575-600 hours spread over 23-24 weeks. But I was taking into account someone being able to eliminate choices and make some guesses without being fluent or close. Personally, I think someone might be able to pass with only about 300 hours of studying, if they had great study skills, reading comprehension skills, and test skills and they focused on what the test wants. Especially if they use language study advice. They would not be very good at the language.

[jamshid666]

I think the OP is gone, or at least this thread may be abandoned, but I'm just going to say it:  it can't be done.  

I'd love to be proven wrong- but for someone starting from scratch with zero language- if there is a curriculum that takes you from 0 to 9 college credits in Spanish in 1 month, I want to know about it because I have 13,000 homeschooling parents who would pay thousands of dollars to incorporate that into their homeschool TODAY.   I'm rarely so definitive, but I'm going all in- it's impossible.

The Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA is one of the premier language schools in the entire world.  Students there spend 8 hours per day doing nothing but learning their selected language, not to mention the additional hours spent after class doing homework, studying for the weekly tests, etc.  The basic Spanish course is about six months long.  If DLI can't get it done in less than six months, I don't see any other program doing any better.  Note that the end goal for classes at DLI is a high level of fluency, well above what the CLEPs are testing for.  One month is probably unlikely, I think three to four months is a more realistic target, especially if you have access to a long-haired dictionary and be willing to dedicate several hours per day focused on studying.

Actually, let's do the math.  At the time that I went to DLI for Persian Farsi, it was a 47 week course that awarded 22 SH of credit.  So, assuming 40 hours per week:

47 weeks * 40 hours/week = 1,880 hours.  22 SH / 1,880 hours = approx 85.5 hours per SH.  So, a realistic amount of study time for a 9 SH CLEP would be around 770 hours.  If you study 3 hours every week night, and 5 hours each Saturday and Sunday, that would be 25 hours per week, which would come out to just under 31 weeks.

As far as learning materials, I would start with DuoLingo or MangoLanguages for the first couple weeks to get a feel for how the language sounds and feels on your tongue. Once you clear those, I would find college-level Spanish textbooks from a used bookstore and set my TV to play the Spanish broadcasts or watch Spanish movies on Netflix. The Netflix option would likely be the better choice, since you can pause it and look up words in the dictionary. Make sure to record yourself reading passages from the textbooks and play them back to see how your accent compares to real Spanish speakers and work on matching their accents and speed.

---

Yeah the FSI says 575-600 hours spread over 23-24 weeks. But I was taking into account someone being able to eliminate choices and make some guesses without being fluent or close. Personally, I think someone might be able to pass with only about 300 hours of studying, if they had great study skills, reading comprehension skills, and test skills and they focused on what the test wants. Especially if they use language study advice. They would not be very good at the language.

I think you are correct, if you only care about passing the CLEP instead of obtaining actual fluency, about 300 hours would do it.

[Ideas]

ACE only recommends 6 credits for a score of 50 on the CLEP.

If we're talking about a score of 63, which ACE recommends 9 credits for, that's much less likely. I was talking about a score of 50

[cookderosa]

300 hours? Name that tune. Show me the money. Go for broke. However you want to say it, I would challenge the math.

Why? Because the assumption that learning is linear is going to be a problem. This isn't like driving a car on cruise control, learning is messy and inconsistent.

A small example. My 8th-grade son is studying conversational Spanish using a really great course on Udemy. He watched lessons 1-3 a total of 3 times each per suggested by the instructor, no problem, 100% mastery. Lessons 4,5, and 6 took at least 4 times each - probably 95% comprehension. He's been on 7 and 8 for 2 weeks - still having trouble, the word list is growing really large now, and he's starting to have grammar thrown into the mix. I'm not saying his pace is an example of success, I'm saying his pace is an example of normal. He hasn't even had to write anything down or do written translation. I would argue that even with excellent motivation and ability, the bucket of content is just too big to go so fast.

[ed209uardo]

300 hours?  Name that tune.  Show me the money.  Go for broke.  However you want to say it, I would challenge the math.  

Why?  Because the assumption that learning is linear is going to be a problem.  This isn't like driving a car on cruise control, learning is messy and inconsistent.

A small example. My 8th-grade son is studying conversational Spanish using a really great course on Udemy.  He watched lessons 1-3 a total of 3 times each per suggested by the instructor, no problem, 100% mastery.  Lessons 4,5, and 6 took at least 4 times each - probably 95% comprehension.  He's been on 7 and 8 for 2 weeks - still having trouble, the word list is growing really large now, and he's starting to have grammar thrown into the mix.   I'm not saying his pace is an example of success, I'm saying his pace is an example of normal.  He hasn't even had to write anything down or do written translation.  I would argue that even with excellent motivation and ability, the bucket of content is just too big to go so fast.

What course on Udemy is your son taking?