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

[sanantone]

Duolingo is good for learning vocabulary. It does not have a systematic way of teaching grammar or pronunciation and spelling rules, so you can't cram in those areas. You would actually be better off with a textbook or videos that specifically cover grammar, spelling, and pronunciation. 

I understand a good amount of Spanish because I took honors and pre-AP Spanish in high school. I can tell you that Duolingo has errors and teaches you improper ways of spelling certain words and organizing sentences. I was taught in high school what would be on an AP test, and AP is made by the same company as CLEP.

Despite what many assume, Spanish is not that easy to adjust to because sentence structure is very different. Many English speakers find Dutch and other Germanic languages easier to learn because English is also a Germanic language. The easy part with Spanish is learning vocabulary since English has so many Latin-based words.

[armstrongsubero]

Learn to speak before learning writing and grammar!!

Pro spanish is the BEST, a lot of people had success with it. My country is just of the coast of venezuela and a lot of them here, after a month or two of this course a lot of people I recommend it too can have a solid conversation, the audiovisiual approach really works.

http://www.prospanish.co.uk

People also say pimsleur is good, I used it for Tagalog and my fiance says I'm fluent but dint try it for spanish.

Then after you feel confident in your ability, then focus on grammar and stuff.

[sanantone]

60% of the test is reading. The reading portion covers vocabulary, sentence structure, and comprehension. 40% of the test is listening. There is no speaking on the test. Learning to speak a language takes longer than learning how to read it well enough to pass a test that's graded on a curve. Many people take several years of a language in high school and make high grades, but they can't speak it on the fly because that requires long-term immersion. I know many Hispanics in Texas who can understand Spanish when they hear it, but they don't speak it well. I also know a lot of Hispanics who grew up speaking Spanish, but they made horrible grades in Spanish class. It's similar to how native English speakers can fail English.

I think speaking a language is more important than being able to read it, but this is not an efficient way of preparing for a test quickly, especially when the test does not include a speaking section. Learner.org has two series that should help with listening and vocabulary.

http://learner.org/resources/series75.html
http://learner.org/resources/series151.html

The Pimsleur series that only have a level or two teach you how to speak as a tourist, and people get a false sense of being fluent. The Pimsleur series that have several levels take a while to get through.

Edit: It looks like the second season was taken off of Annenberg Learner, but you might be able to find the DVD set at a local library.

[armstrongsubero]

@sanatone are you bilingual?

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I was just giving my opinion as someone who is bilingual and is learning a third and have helped others learn the language.

After you can speak its so much easier to learn read and stuff.

Everyones learning style is different, but this method usually works.

---

And my Tagalog is not 'a false sense' my fiance is a native speaker. If she says I'm fluent then I am regardless of what you say. You are not a native speaker. She is.

[dfrecore]

@sanatone are you bilingual?

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I was just giving my opinion as someone who is bilingual and is learning a third and have helped others learn the language.

After you can speak its so much easier to learn read and stuff.

Everyones learning style is different, but this method usually works.

---

And my Tagalog is not 'a false sense' my fiance is a native speaker. If she says I'm fluent then I am regardless of what you say. You are not a native speaker. She is.

I think Sanantone was referring to someone who can be fluent in speaking not be able to pass a written test in the language.  They are 2 totally separate things.  Obviously you've never taken the CLEP exam, or you would know what she's talking about.

[mysonx3]

@sanatone are you bilingual?

---

I was just giving my opinion as someone who is bilingual and is learning a third and have helped others learn the language.

After you can speak its so much easier to learn read and stuff.

Everyones learning style is different, but this method usually works.

---

And my Tagalog is not 'a false sense' my fiance is a native speaker. If she says I'm fluent then I am regardless of what you say. You are not a native speaker. She is.

I might be missing something, but who said you weren't fluent?

And if someone did, having a native speaker say you're fluent doesn't mean you are fluent. I am a native English speaker and I am not remotely close to qualified to say whether someone is fluent in English. That being said, I would imagine based on what you've told us that you are indeed fluent. I have no reason to doubt it. Just a weird argument to make.

[Ideas]

This was brought up in other threads, but one issue with the CLEP is actually hearing the audio. Many test takers said the quality of the audio was not great, so they couldn't make out what the speakers were saying, even if they were experienced with the language and had no problem understanding most people in other videos, in person, etc.

It goes kind of fast. I believe there are some official CLEP samples of audio, but again, when you listen at home, it's not the same as in the test center. I think it's because the audio on the actual test is compressed.

You also cannot replay the audios.

[sanantone]

@sanatone are you bilingual?

---

I was just giving my opinion as someone who is bilingual and is learning a third and have helped others learn the language.

After you can speak its so much easier to learn read and stuff.

Everyones learning style is different, but this method usually works.

---

And my Tagalog is not 'a false sense' my fiance is a native speaker. If she says I'm fluent then I am regardless of what you say. You are not a native speaker. She is.

The OP wants to pass the CLEP in 4-6 weeks. That means there's not enough time to learn basic conversational Spanish in two months and go back and learn grammar. 

Honestly, I'm not sure it's possible to learn that much vocabulary in six weeks to get a 50 on the CLEP, but it's possible to learn conjugations and other basic grammar rules.

Spanish has about 100,000 words. You need to know about 10,000 to be fluent. I know over 1,000 Spanish words, and I don't even think that can be accomplished in six weeks.

Some languages are simple, but most require 10,000 words to be near the level of native speakers. So, no, I do not believe someone can become fluent in most languages in one to two months. You can learn how to hold a basic conversation, but you can't work in various professional industries or teach in that period of time. If someone can't teach classes in math, history, science, etc. because he or she doesn't know enough vocabulary, then that person is not fluent. If you can't hold a business meeting and give a presentation because you don't know enough vocabulary, then you aren't fluent. I've never told any of my employers that I can provide counseling or social services in Spanish just because I can have a basic conversation.

I'm a native English speaker, and I can't assess whether someone knows around 10,000 words. They could hold an informal conversation just fine, but struggle to work a job they're trained in. Plus, the OP didn't mention a Spanish-speaking significant other he or she can practice with....

I went through an analysis of someone who went through all the levels of Pimsleur's Russian course, and he learned about 600 unique words. That's not nearly enough to be fluent.

[armstrongsubero]

I now understand the OP dosen't want to learn Spanish! The OP just wants to pass a test. Oh! good for them, hope it helps in the future. I wont brag to anyone that I know Spanish after passing that test though! because you WILL be embarrassed.

@Sanatone I understand what you are saying about passing the test and you are right. If the OP just wants to pass a test, then hell I think someone can learn to pass a grammar test in 6 weeks, if they can learn fast enough. Just cram basic words, conjugations etc but reading and writing effectively in 6 weeks, lets hope you can guess well!

As for fluency in two months, you are so wrong!! It depends on the ability of the person and whether or not they have access to a native speaker and how much grit they have. With a few lessons and a native speaker you are in love with, you learn ANYTHING quickly. It just amplifies your learning ability! If you never experienced that then you cant say "basic conversation", you can hold very advanced conversations because you will understand not only the language but the CULTURE associated with the people and things become very apparent.

Some guys I worked with after they got a Venezulean woman could go from zero to very very good in two months! There is no better way to learn a language than having someone to speak it with every day. And I can speak for men, when you love that woman you will listen to Spanish day and night, in about a month you'll be over than pimsleur 4 or 5 times and bugging your coworkers to help you learn, losing sleep listening to those lessons just to make her happy and impress her!

As for me I ripped through pimsluer Tagalog in 3 weeks, it was a day and night effort on my part, I talk to her every single day, what is this, what is that? I centered my life around learning only that and could hold conversations with her family and friends within the two months. And of course I learned about the culture and was even realizing when google translate was wrong (btw google translate for tagalog and visaya (cebuano on translate) is so wrong!)

What was the reason that guy learned Russian? was he learning for learning sakes? or was he just lazy, no motivation?

To learn a language just immerse yourself in the culture, listen to podcasts in the language, talk to a native speaker everyday, listen to songs in the music (Tagalog love songs are the BEST) and just enjoy learning.

I guess I shoudl clarify, I'm not saying Pimsleur is all you need, but it gives you a start and the confidence you need to immerse yourself.

@defrecore you are right I never took a CLEP, but I just looked at the test. Anyone speaking to a native speaker and messaging their family and friends on FB can definitely get through a lot of these sample questions, I think they will do better than the guy who crammed some grammar after 4 weeks:

https://clep.collegeboard.org/pdf/spanis...-sheet.pdf

And what do you know! speaking a language also involves listening! wow amazing! Wow!! there is a listeing component to the CLEP!! but I guess I am wrong, no way speaking a language can help with listening

If you learn to speak, you will get high marks in the listening portion, then do what you can and guess the rest in the other section.

I think someone like that will stand a better change than a guy who learned a few basic rules after a few weeks, who will most likely FAIL the listening portion.

Btw I'm feeling to caved in

[armstrongsubero used the escape rope]

[sanantone]

I now understand the OP dosen't want to learn Spanish! The OP just wants to pass a test. Oh! good for them, hope it helps in the future. I wont brag to anyone that I know Spanish after passing that test though! because you WILL be embarrassed.

@Sanatone I understand what you are saying about passing the test and you are right. If the OP just wants to pass a test, then hell I think someone can learn to pass a grammar test in 6 weeks, if they can learn fast enough. Just cram basic words, conjugations etc but reading and writing effectively in 6 weeks, lets hope you can guess well!

As for fluency in two months, you are so wrong!! It depends on the ability of the person and whether or not they have access to a native speaker and how much grit they have. With a few lessons and a native speaker you are in love with, you learn ANYTHING quickly. It just amplifies your learning ability! If you never experienced that then you cant say "basic conversation", you can hold very advanced conversations because you will understand not only the language but the CULTURE associated with the people and things become very apparent.

Some guys I worked with after they got a Venezulean woman could go from zero to very very good in two months! There is no better way to learn a language than having someone to speak it with every day. And I can speak for men, when you love that woman you will listen to Spanish day and night, in about a month you'll be over than pimsleur 4 or 5 times and bugging your coworkers to help you learn, losing sleep listening to those lessons just to make her happy and impress her!

As for me I ripped through pimsluer Tagalog in  3 weeks, it was a day and night effort on my part, I talk to her every single day, what is this, what is that? I centered my life around learning only that and could hold conversations with her family and friends within the two months. And of course I learned about the culture and was even realizing when google translate was wrong (btw google translate for tagalog and visaya (cebuano on translate) is so wrong!)

What was the reason that guy learned Russian? was he learning for learning sakes? or was he just lazy, no motivation?

To learn a language just immerse yourself in the culture, listen to podcasts in the language, talk to a native speaker everyday, listen to songs in the music (Tagalog love songs are the BEST) and just enjoy learning.

I guess I shoudl clarify, I'm not saying Pimsleur is all you need, but it gives you a start and the confidence you need to immerse yourself.

@defrecore you are right I never took a CLEP, but I just looked at the test. Anyone speaking to a native speaker and messaging their family and friends on FB can definitely get through a lot of these sample questions, I think they will do better than the guy who crammed some grammar after 4 weeks:

https://clep.collegeboard.org/pdf/spanis...-sheet.pdf

And what do you know! speaking a language also involves listening! wow amazing! Wow!! there is a listeing component to the CLEP!! but I guess I am wrong, no way speaking a language can help with listening

If you learn to speak, you will get high marks in the listening portion, then do what you can and guess the rest in the other section.

I think someone like that will stand a better change than a guy who learned a few basic rules after a few weeks, who will most likely FAIL the listening portion.

Btw I'm feeling to caved in

[armstrongsubero used the escape rope]

If you reread my posts, maybe you will have a better understanding of what was said. I clearly made listening recommendations and broke down what percentage of the test covers listening. What I said is that there is no SPEAKING. 

All I'm saying is that it's misleading to say that someone can become fluent listening to Pimsleur lessons. Pimsleur only covers about 700 words, at the most, depending on how many levels they have available for a language. One can indirectly learn grammar through Pimsleur or Duolingo, but it's not a quick process. It is also misleading to compare some languages to others. Some languages only have about 10k-50k words; some have fewer than that. There are around 100,000 words in a typical Spanish dictionary. If you need 10k words to become fluent, then you need to be a genius to learn all of those in two months. One of my Spanish teachers in high school was married to a native Spanish speaker, and she said it took a couple of years of living in a Latin American country to become fluent. 

Your first post said nothing about surrounding oneself with Spanish speakers, which might be impossible for the OP. Most Americans are not surrounded by friends and family members who speak Spanish. But, as I mentioned before, being a native speaker does not guarantee that you will pass the test. Many people are not very well-educated in the proper grammar and spelling of their native language. As a matter of fact, many native speakers around the world can't even read and write in their language or any other language.