Learning Spanish

For the past few years I have been trying to learn Spanish. My main motivation is that I enjoy traveling in Latin American and speaking the language opens up many opportunities. I have tried several different methods, cds, books, rosetta, immersion school in Costa Rica, personal tutors etc. They all have their benefits but in many ways my current method is my favorite when all the time and cost is factored in.

What I am doing now is paying for a personal tutor who lives in Guatemala to talk with me over Skype twice a week. The cost is fair and I get the added benefit of learning about the culture there which is exactly the vocabulary and context I am interested in. Things like local politics etc. My favorite thing I learned had to do with the most recent presidential elections in Guatemala. The president is elected for 6 years and cannot be re-elected, and neither can they be followed by a close family member. Last year, the president and first lady got divorced so that she could run for president but in the final weeks the Supreme Court ruled her ineligible, although I think the divorce was still valid.

I also learned about the difference between Elote and Maiz.

There are several services you can go through to find a tutor, I ended up just working directly with mine. If you are interested in trying it out, let me know in the comments and I will hook you up.