I just had to take a minute to let you all know about a program I’m doing right now that is absolutely amazing.

Now, it is not a new system. I’ve heard of it for years, but never tried it. It’s called the Pimsleur Approach. I am using the Pimsleur Approach Conversational Spanish. They actually have just about any language you can think of but I tried the Spanish version.

This is honestly the first time I ever felt like I was really learning something and trust me I’ve tried many times to learn Spanish ….let me explain:

I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. I remember, beginning in the first grade, every morning started with the Pledge of Allegiance and then a Spanish lesson. So, everyday from the first until the tenth grade I took Spanish lessons and I should say that half of my friends were Cuban. I didn’t learn anything except how to say hello and goodbye. When I was a junior in high school, I took beginning Spanish and flunked. As a senior, I took it again and flunked it again. I was the butt of many jokes among my friends. I gave up.

About three years after graduation, I went into the Air Force. Once I got to San Antonio for Basic, all of us were taken in and told we were going to be tested to see how our linguistic ability was. I laughed out loud. After the test, which consisted of grammar and spoken evaluation of some made up language, they had people taking each person in and privately reviewing the results. When they called my name, a nice young man led me to a room and pointed at a chair. He flipped through some papers and looked at me smiling. All he said was, “Do you even speak English?”

Today, 45 years later, I’m still trying to learn Spanish. It has become almost an obsession with me. I’ve tried all the programs out there, cheap ones and expensive ones to no avail. A few weeks ago, I received the Pimsleur Approach Conversational Spanish cds and began using them. Ten days in a row, I simply listened and repeated what was said. Each lesson is about 30 minutes long and you do have to pay attention because you have to answer questions out loud.

The instructions say that when you can do 80% it is okay to move on to the next lesson. When I began, I was hesitant to move forward if I missed anything, but I wanted to follow the instructions exactly.

I am currently on lesson eight and I cannot believe how much I am retaining. There is something about the rhythm and structure that really drives these lessons home. The most interesting thing to me is that the other night when I went to sleep, I had a dream that I was talking to my best friend who is Cuban and I was speaking in Spanish. It was not like a dream-like, generic Spanish, I was speaking and when I awoke, I sat on the edge of the bed and repeated it out loud!

I am so excited about this program and finally feel like I might finally accomplish what has turned into a lifelong goal. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. If you want to check them out go to: Pimsleur Approach .