Try to imagine yourself as a native Spanish speaker. You will find that as you are learning Spanish, there are many ways of saying things that have no equivalents in English. This means that, as you learn, you are actually acquiring a slightly different personality. It's as if you become a slightly different person. This is something that you should get into and nurture as much as possible. It's important to really get into the feel of it, so that you start thinking in Spanish. This can tremendously speed up the rate at which you learn, and it will also be a lot more enjoyable.

Now, let's continue with the initial question of this article. What I am actually exploring here is what the required ingredients are, that turn a self study Spanish course into an effective and pleasurable learning experience, and what can make it better than being in a class with other students and a teacher. At the end, I will get into why the Pimsleur courses are different, and why they work so well.

One of the primary ingredients for successfully learning a language is dedication and consistency. More specifically, it means learning something new every day. It soon adds up, and in addition it keeps you immersed in the Spanish language. A self-study Spanish course makes this very simple. You don't have to leave the house to go out to a class, and you don't need to waste time commuting.

Another ingredient for success is portability. If you can take the language course with you, you are then able to study on your way to work, while out and about, on vacation, etc. like this you are able to make good use of time which would instead be wasted, and this helps to continue your commitment and consistency to the language study.

Cost is another element to consider if you are going to learn a language. Home study is a lot less expensive than going to regular classes at a reputable language school. If you investigate the price of 3-5 lessons a week at a good language institute, over a time span of a few months, you will quickly see that even the most costly home study course will save you a fair amount.

Finally, though, it all comes down to how effective a home-study course really can be - and this is where the Pimsleur Spanish course comes in. The method developed by Dr. Pimsleur relies on two core principles - one is the "Principle of Anticipation", which requires you to "anticipate" an answer that is correct. This is implemented by giving you questions to which you can easily anticipate the answers, following on from what was previously said. The next principal is that of "Graduated Interval Recall" which is based on asking you questions about previously presented material, at ever increasing intervals. Which all makes the studying almost effortless. In addition since the course is all audio, it's easy to carry around on a digital music player and to study while traveling to work or going for a walk.