NuLengua

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I recently ran across NuLengua, and I have to say – about time!!! This is where the internet and Language learning perfectly compliment each other!

I wasn’t going to comment on NuLengua, as I didn’t really consider it a Spanish Language course, per se. I am sure they would disagree, as their instructors do have considerable teaching experience and they do have various lesson plans, strategies and methods.

But my view is that they are an invaluable additional resource to any other course or program you choose.

One of the biggest drawbacks to most self-study language programs is the inability to actually interact with native speakers. It is one thing to listen to audio recordings, do written exercises, study vocabulary and verb conjugation – which are all valuable and necessary – but it takes it to a totally different level when you can actually communicate with a native speaker.

NuLengua is a company based in Guatamala and they employ several language instructors whom you can sign up with for one-on-one lessons via skype. You can follow a structured lesson plan or (and this is where I think they would have been invaluable for me in my learning) you can just have conversation and a more unstructured style of practice and learning.

At around 9$ per 50 minute lesson, this is a FANTASTIC way to supplement your home study at a very affordable price. I can’t recommend this highly enough. When you reach a certain level in your studies and you have learned even a little vocabulary, this type of practice – actual conversation with a native speaker – is a tremendously helpful in learning a language. In fact I would go so far as to say you will never actually learn a foreign language until you interact with native speakers and use the language.

So please  give them a try when you feel you are ready. Actually do it before you feel you are ready. If you are like most learners of a foreign language (myself included), you never feel like you are ready to carry on a conversation. But it is only by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone that you will really make substantial progress.

So I would recommend at least opening an account with them (I think you may have to fund at least one lesson – but then you will have credit and can schedule a class at any time when you are ready).

(Disclaimer – I do earn a very small fee if you sign up with NuLengua, which goes toward site, bandwidth, research costs.  But I can honestly say I would not recommend this service with this much enthusiasm if I didn’t believe in it. If your serious about learning Spanish, please check them out).