The Telenovela Method, 2nd Edition

After failing to learn a new language on five separate occasions, I taught myself to speak Spanish like a native in just six months by watching movies and TV shows, listening to music, and reading books and comics like Harry Potter and Garfield.  Why does this work?  Read on, please!

When characters in a movie or TV show are speaking the dialogue, unless it’s set in a previous period like the 1800s or something, they speak normal, everyday language. So if you wanted to learn Spanish, the type of normal everyday Spanish that native speakers use every day, aka “conversational Spanish”… Don’t you think that Spanish-language TV shows, movies, music, and books might be a good source to learn from…if only you knew how? Not only that, but it would be fun, wouldn’t it?

This is far better than learning the language from some boring, dry textbook or workbook that, even worse, is teaching outdated, formal, “non-conversational” Spanish (look at the dialogue in one sometime: do people actually talk like that? No). Has this basic technique been used for centuries by language students and teachers alike? Yes, there are records dating back to the 18th century of language teachers using popular media in the language they're teaching to help their students learn it. I'm not claiming to have invented it. What I've done here is, after having used and refined the technique myself for several years, distilled it down to a system that's easy to learn, and which is taught in a format that's organized, easy to understand, and which takes advantage of all the latest technology, such as the all the various resources available on the internet now.

This simple, easy-to-learn technique, that even the most linguistically-challenged can master, is used by many of the most respected and skilled polyglots and language teachers in the world, and it’s never really been laid out, explained, and demonstrated in full, point-by-point, step-by-step detail until now.

Let's delve into more (point-by-point) detail: precisely how will my book, The Telenovela Method, help you learn Spanish?

• I will show you how to completely prevent (so you don’t have to experience it at all) the #1 cause of failure for language-learners, which is: boredom and frustration. If you’ve ever tried to learn a language before you know what I’m talking about: you make it a few weeks or months, get bored, get frustrated that you’re not making the progress you expected, and quit. I’ll show you how to avoid this massive pitfall ALTOGETHER.
  
• I will show you, in simple and easy-to-understand written instruction accompanied by over 7 hours of video demonstration (the videos are on my website, I give you the link to them in my book), precisely how to learn to speak, understand, read, and write real, modern, native-level Spanish such that you will have the same competency as a native does: you will be able to understand them and their media (movies, newspapers, songs, books, etc.), write just like them, and, most importantly…you will be able to speak just like a native – meaning that you can hold a conversation with them on any topic you choose and talk to them just like you do with right now with people in your native language.
  
• I’ll show you my own personal secret technique that combines a specific way of learning (initially) and then reviewing Spanish that means you will never forget ANY of the Spanish you have learned…EVER. You will have it, all of it (all the Spanish you’ve ever learned), available to call on for immediate use whenever you’re talking to somebody in Spanish and need it. Oh, and did I mention this requires less than 15 minutes per day in “review” work? This means you get fluent in Spanish far faster than if you didn’t have this tool and the knowledge to use it effectively – don’t waste time with ineffective methods, don’t spend 2 years doing something that could be done in 6 months!
  
• By learning Spanish from popular media like TV shows and movies you also learn common slang and curse words. Yeeeess, the dirty words, the naughty stuff. Hey, even if it’s something you would never use, wouldn’t you want to know them anyway so you can understand it when somebody else uses them when speaking to or about you? If somebody used a curse word when talking to you, or in reference to you when talking to someone else, wouldn’t you want to know what they said? You need to know these words, like it or not (and they’re not all dirty, many slang terms are not, they’re just slang).
  
• In relation to the previous point: this gives you something to talk about with native speakers. When you do get around to talking to them, either in person or via an online language exchange through Skype, you’ll actually have something to talk to them about so that you’re not awkward and tongue-tied, something they are interested in and know about (recent movies, TV shows, and books in their own language that they’ve seen or read). You will speak Spanish like a native to them and be interesting while you’re at it!
  
• You’ll know exactly what to do, in what order, how, and when (and I’ll explain everything so you understand why). You get extremely specific instruction on what to do and how, complete with examples galore and hours of video demonstration by me, the author. I promise you will not end up confused and having to resort to either guessing or googling something in order to figure it out on your own. I’ll hold your hand the whole way and show you just what to do.
  
• I’ll provide you with a long, up-to-date, list of websites where you can watch not only Spanish-language videos (TV shows, movies, etc.) online for free but also a separate list of websites where you can watch videos in Spanish with Spanish subtitles online for free. No, you don’t have to pay for anything if you don’t want to (in terms of Spanish language media and the resources needed to learn Spanish from it).
  
• I’ll also provide a long list of websites where you can read both Spanish and English versions of books and stories that are no longer under copyright (such as stories and fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen). Not only that but some of these sites even include audio of the stories being read out loud (in Spanish)! Do you realize how useful that would be for working on listening comprehension and speaking?! And it’s all free! You learn Spanish quickly and easily, have fun doing it, and don’t have to pay a dime.