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Phonetic language teaching is extremely effective, it seems to work with every child on the planet than can speak, in any language, without knowing a whit about grammar and all the other nuts and bolts the we adults just 'have to know'. You better believe there is something to "learning like a native". Though there is something to "learning like a native," there's also something to understanding what's going on, the structure of the language and the rules and how the pieces fit together and why
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I have finally reached a level of being able to 'comfortably converse' with most Spanish speakers and I give a lot of the credit to RS, but my wife says it is because I'm obsessed. Whichever route you choose, it depends on what level of fluency you want to attain (if any) and just how much effort you are willing to put into it (and it takes a lot). To quote Izononi1: "Assuming the same level of enthusiasm and effort" I won't go so far as to grade the different methods, your mileage will probably vary anyway. I've completed all five levels of Latin American Spanish but I continue to pursue 'real' fluency. I used Rosetta Stone as a foundational tool and vocabulary builder for me, and it has worked well. He taught himself with every method he could find. He's only visited Spanish speaking countries for a week at the time, so most of his immersion has been at home and on the job. I've only met one other gringo that speak the language as well or better than I, but he's had two more years learning than I have, and he did it all by 'self immersion', in other words, his level of dedication required him to turn his entire life over to the latino culture and language. I know children that have attended school through 2nd and 3rd grades, and they can speak Spanish and English equally well. I live around, work with, attend church with, and in other ways hang around people that have taken through college level classes of Spanish, and they can't carry on a conversation in Spanish.
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