Help me learn Spanish

[MarthaBerry]

I did Duolingo last test and it was good enough for ordering food but I want to keep going and keep getting ads for some kind of app where you learn to speak really quickly.
I am good at languages but never done Spanish before (I can speak French ) but really want to get to a point of decent conversational Spanish for a summer holiday. I wish I’d signed up for gcse at local college now but is too late ! I find Duolingo weird - like I don’t need to say “this belt looks expensive “ ever but do want to confidently order white wine like I would in English where I typically order by the grape / wine type ! Or is that not the done thing ? When in Bilbao I asked for white wine and then was given a choice and went Verdejo. And it was delicious. But how to locals do it ? I’m following loads of French teachers to brush up on that but Spanish am not sure where to start. I feel like a beginner again !

Jump speak is ok and better than Duolingo.
The best is michel Thomas. You'll find him on you tube, it's a bit annoying at times but very good

Ah, I've just noticed that the Santander course I've linked above is not a beginner course, it's designed to expand on basic knowledge. But it looks good once you've got to grips with the basics.

As an aside, nothing in my post justifies it being hidden, but seeing how much spammy advertising disguised as genuine posts MN allows I don't see what was wrong with what I wrote.

But the BBC page looks good:

BBC - Learn Spanish with free online lessons

I'd also look at Instituto Cervantes, or other online courses.

Thanks @Bjorkdidit! I’ll also try jump speak. Am just so embarrassed when I can’t at least order properly. I find Italian easier but really want to do both so starting with Spanish as my challenge and as going there first !

Verdejo o rueda son los vinos blancos que suelo pedir!

I did evening classes a few years ago which was the equivalent of gcse standard. I really enjoyed the class environment and learnt a lot. Ask on a local Facebook group if there’s any about

If you really want to improve you'd do well to have actual classes. Have a look at Language for Fun. They have teachers all over the country running sociable group classes at various levels with a focus on conversation and speaking confidence. If there isn't someone near you they also have teachers offering live online class where you also get to practise speaking with others.

"No, no, no, Señor! Not... not 'on... those... trays.' No, sir. Uno, dos, tres."

If you have some basic knowledge, ‘Español con Juan’ is very good but it is not intended for total beginners. There are free videos and podcasts on YouTube and Spotify or you can subscribe to a complete course at ‘1001 reasons to learn Spanish’.
He is very engaging and makes it an easy way to absorb Spanish for communication.

A free thing online called “language transfer”.
really good

My elder son and his wife went from having absolutely no Spanish whatsoever to being very confident in conversation with ‘Dreaming Spanish’ which they did eventually pay for but has lots of free online content. Have fun, it’s a beautiful language.

It's worth checking over the next couple of months whether there are any local evening classes - It's often July/August enrollment for September start. However, such education provision far sparker than it once was. (I did Spanish to AS-level with evening classes.)