| Which Spanish, you ask? Yes, there are differences in | | | | Fluenz: Instructor Edgar Ramirez is an emerging Latino |
| the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America. Many | | | | actor from Hollywood. Ivan Losher is famous from his |
| non-Spanish speakers don't realize this truth. Before | | | | work with HBO Latin America. |
| you start to learn Spanish, you may prefer to decide | | | | Shortcut to Spanish: Developed by Marcus Santamaria |
| which version you would like to learn. | | | | to teach Mexican Spanish. |
| Now, don't misunderstand. Spanish spoken throughout | | | | Synergy Spanish: English teacher Marcus Santamaria |
| the world is common enough everywhere that native | | | | did not speak Spanish until he moved to Mexico to be |
| speakers can understand each other. The differences | | | | near his wife's family. |
| involve Spanish idioms, some pronunciation, and some | | | | These are just a sampling of a few back-stories. |
| differences in speech patterns. These elements of | | | | Many online courses don't indicate who the instructor is, |
| speech, though, are the ones that will make or break | | | | or what type of Spanish will be learned. Hardly any |
| your ability to be completely fluent. For some, it won't | | | | programs offer to teach either Spanish from Spain or |
| matter, but for others it will be quite important. | | | | Latin America. But, there is one program that offers |
| When you look online, you will find many Spanish | | | | both forms of Spanish in two extensive course |
| learning programs. Most of them will give you a | | | | offerings. That program is Rosetta Stone. It is also |
| back-story about the people who have developed the | | | | highly popular, as are its competitors above. It does not |
| program. Be certain to check out where the instructor | | | | indicate where its instructors are from, but at least it |
| learned Spanish, when possible. Some will say that | | | | recognizes that the differences are important enough |
| they are native speakers from their homeland, which | | | | to offer two distinct courses. |
| may be Mexico, Peru, Chile, Spain, or you name it. | | | | The purpose of this review of programs is not to |
| If you look at this short list of currently popular courses, | | | | endorse one program over another. It is simply |
| you can compare the countries where the instructors | | | | designed to make potential online Spanish learners |
| learned Spanish to decide if their version is the one | | | | aware of this key element in the Spanish learning |
| you most want to learn: | | | | process. The programs sampled are successful, |
| Rocket Spanish: Mauricio Evlampieff is a native | | | | absolutely well done, and are all excellent choices. Just |
| Spanish speaker from Chile, and his teammate Amy | | | | choose the one that best suits your future use of |
| Waterman became fluent in Spanish while living in | | | | Spanish. |
| Ecuador. | | | | |