Spanish in the CHP

[RookieD]

I had read most of the Spanish threads and really haven't specifically seen any threads that explain how long you are in the Spanish LD, and what you go over.


I'm seeing posts that state, "take a Spanish class", and some that say, "learn it while you are there".

Well, I'm not very strong in Spanish. I have taken classes before and I have bought books and still haven't grasped it all.

So i guess my question is, Does the CHP academy teach you basic communication skills, or is it a full in depth Spanish class? Also, if it is a learning domain; is the book available to buy like all the others? If it is a basic course, what would you recommend focusing on?

Lastly, testing wise, is it orally or on paper?

[iakona]

You can't go wrong by taking a Spanish course outside of the academy. The more you take the easier it will be once you're in the academy. You can only better yourself by taking the opportunity to get more proficient in an area you already know your deficient in. The Spanish LD, if I can recall, is a lot of handouts which goes over how to say certain things you say on a regular basis (Good afternoon, the reason I stopped you..., pre-FST questions, how to explain FSTs, etc). This is not conversational Spanish. You'll be able to ask these questions, but if you don't know any Spanish it will be irrelevant because you will not be able to understand their responses.:noidea:

My suggestion, if you want to learn Spanish fast, is to get Rosetta Stone or something equivalent to help you learn Spanish at a faster rate. I do believe that there were lots of written quizzes to test how you are picking up the language. The tests were done as a practical. You have to demonstrate to the instructors that you are able to give commands, do FST instructions, and arrest someone all in Spanish. Study hard and buena suerte!

[feedmelies]

http://www.livemocha.com/

I found this. It is supposed to be a free way to learn languages. I haven't tried it though.

Oh, I also ran into this. I checked it out a little and it is actually really cool, especially for being free!

http://www.mangolanguages.com/

[G-Man]

Like others have said, it can never hurt to take a Spanish class. When I start rattling off the stuff I know from memory, Spanish speakers tend to think I actually know how to converse and go off at a million miles a minute and I can't keep up. However, the stuff that they are teaching you, they tend to spoon feed to you (one of the few things that is spoon fed).