raymondmarble

Any general advice? Like the best time to shop for a fare, the best agency or website, how far in advance to book...

My subjective thoughts about Pimsleur Spanish:

I did the first three levels, which totaled ninety 30-minute lessons. At the end of the lessons (during which I'd try to practice with Spanish speaking friends), I felt comfortable enough to enroll in a local Spanish language school as an intermediate.

And in that class, I felt I had a better grasp of the language overall than many of the students, although my vocabulary was lacking.

I think Pimsleur did a great job of introducing the language to me, and getting the pronunciation and the flow of conversational grammar. And it introduced several tenses, beyond just simple past/present/future. There wasn't much subjunctive, but enough that I recognized the concept when studying it in class.

And yes, for the first chunk of the lessons, it used the formal you pronoun exclusively, introducing the informal much later. In some countries, you'd use the formal more often than other countries. So I don't think it's wrong, but it does err on the formal side. Good practice for when I'm speaking to my girlfriend's parents.

My speech is almost certainly more formal than a native speaker. But I'm not bothered by this, I try to make my speech correct, and as I spend time with people and hear them talk, I introduce bits of their speech little by little. No one (to my face) has ever criticized me as being too formal.

I mean, it's not a magic bullet, I also have made a point to speak with friends when possible, and I still go to that school periodically. But overall, I'm glad I used Pimsleur.

Haven't used RS, so I can't compare.

Hello!

Any rivalry, friendly or otherwise, with the natural history museum across Central Park?