The advent of the personal computer opened up endless opportunities for enhanced learning and even the pursuit of higher education in one's spare time from the privacy of home. It is nearly impossible to find a city on the face of the planet that doesn't offer connectivity for locals and travelers eager to keep in touch with a rapidly changing global environment. And the now common trend of North American and European business development in lower-cost, lesser regulated foreign countries has driven the need for business professionals to learn to communicate in a number of languages, sometimes simultaneously.

Spanish is the native language in several countries that have become service and industrial powerhouses in recent years. The languages of Mexico and in many South American countries are variations of traditional Spanish dialects. These countries offer untapped potential of land and workforce all at a price substantially less than those in traditional business markets such as Europe and North America. It is this potential that has driven the popularity of online language courses geared to fit the schedule of the busy executive.

Search online for "Spanish language internet" and you will be presented with hundreds of opportunities to learn at home in your spare time. So which programme is right for you? That's going to take a lot more time than the nanosecond required to find the wealth of available training programmes.

Here are some of the most popular and well renowned programmes available: www.rosettastone.com: CD and study sets are specialized for use in corporate training programmes, schools and homeschool applications. The company stands behind its claim that it is the fastest way to learn Spanish (and a host of other languages) with a 100% money-back guarantee of satisfaction.

www.fluenz.com: Developed by executives with pedigrees earned at Cornell, Harvard and the University of Chicago, Fluenz employs CD tutorials with one-on-one coaching at a pace self-determined by the student. Native Spanish speakers challenge the client's conversational skill and grasp of sentence structure in real-time monitored conversations that are followed-up with coaching sessions by the online tutor. Recently launched podcasts reinforce the CD lessons and may be saved to many data platforms.

www.spanishprograms.com: These interactive online training sessions are reinforced with CDs for home study. The student learns conversational techniques and the specific details of verb conjugation and sentence structure that will give confidence to the business professional that will need to communicate as effectively on paper as he or she does over dinner.

www.accelleratedspanish.com: This innovative programme offers iPod and MP3 friendly training programmes that you can take with you to learn and practice while riding the train or waiting for your next flight. They also offer site immersion training, online and phone-based programmes, tutorials and personal coaching designed to meet the specific needs of the client.

www.multilingualcenter.com/free_spanish_lessons_02.htm: This is an instructor-led programme that requires real-time phone and IM classes following a structured lesson protocol. Teachers correct pronunciation and help the student to develop a firm grasp of the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish language.

Whether learning Spanish has been a lifelong goal or has now become a corporate necessity, these and other options for online training are available for the willing student. Review the terms of the agreement, training schedules and depth of the programme to determine which platform is right for you.