Wanting to Learn Spanish

[JustAGuy]

There isn't a Spanish community where I live, as far as I know. The biggest community is most likely my very own family, as we're fairly large (cousins, aunts and uncles total up to 40+ in the family) and most, if not all, speak Spanish. I knew some Spanish speakers in High School, and boy did I have a hard time speaking with them. It's nice to have a cultural acceptance with other "Latin" people, but I always felt different because of my linguistic shortcomings.

I agree that practise makes perfect; the best way to learn is to speak it. The problem with me is that I've got it all in my head, but I just can't spit it out. I need structure, I need rules. Therefore, I'd like to read a book about it, practise alone for a bit, then apply what I've learned. That's usually how I learn things. Book learnin' combined with the practical side.

ASIDE: Community Colleges are alive and well in Canada, but they offer lots of things, including some gems that are University standard (or better!). For instance, the Computer Engineering program I took in College (I guess it's considered a "community college") was a course designed around theory and practical together, and was very hands-on. It is widely regarded as a quality course, and in many people's opinions (mine as well) is superior to the Computer Science course at the neighbouring Queen's University. I was in and out in 3 years, and I left with more practical knowledge than any Queen's Computer Science student. Most of the Queen's students that graduated at the same time as me are currently unemployed, whereas I'm doing just fine at my Software Development job. <evil laugh>