Learning Spanish Online: Bueno, Entonces... the Facebook Version

I don't remember how Bueno, Entonces... (which can be translated as "Well, then..." first caught my eye, but once I took a look at their Facebook page I was hooked. It's my understanding that they offer a full language-learning system--not covered in this review--but the bite-size facebook version, with short video lessons or illustrated tutorials on topics that range from hilarious to vocabulary so realistic it's borderline inappropriate, makes a great supplement to any Spanish language learning program. The greatest appeal of the Bueno, Entonces... Facebook page is that it's short, quick, and immenently useful. Even if you're not planning on using the vocabulary you learn here, you'll probably want to be able to understand it if you ever hear it.

By the way, you don't need a Facebook account to view the Bueno, Entonces... Facebook page; just click the link above.

Farts and pick-up lines are hardly the stuff of most formal Spanish classes, but no matter how proper you are, bodily functions and informal social interactions are bound to come up at some point. Why not know how to handle them--or at least how to understand what others are saying about them? Learning this sort of vocabulary and grammar is also a great way to avoid making social gaffes; if you know how to say the word fart in Spanish, you're much less likely to use it, in all innocence, by mistake.

While the folks at Bueno, Entonces... themselves note that the subject matter on their Facebook page isn't always for the easily offended, it's not all about body parts and bodily functions. The bulk of the material they publish on their Facebook page is short, to-the-point lessons focusing on a core concept or learning challenge. For example, in this lesson they use humor to help you master reflexive verbs. It's the combination of humor, irreverence and useful lessons that hold your attention, all delivered in quick, bite-size format through Facebook.

These quick lessons won't turn you into a fluent speaker if you're starting from scratch--in fact they might be a little bit confusing if you don't have at least a basic foundation in Spanish vocabulary and grammar. But if you've already started your language learning journey, just think of the Bueno, Entonces page updates as supplemental lessons. They're both entertaining and useful because they teach you how to handle real-world situations and topics. While Bueno, Entonces... focuses primarily on South American Spanish in their Facebook lessons, they occasionally provide context from other Spanish-speaking regions as contrast.

The Bueno, Entonces... Facebook page is an obvious leader for their full-fledged language program. They bill themselves as the replacement for Rosetta Stone, and while I can't speak to the validity of the Bueno, Entonces immersion system vs. Rosetta Stone, I can tell you that the Facebook updates work in exactly their intended purpose. It's hard not to be interested--sometimes fascinated, in all meanings of the word--by the material they select, and the short, bite-size lessons are the perfect length to absorb quickly and still walk away with something useful. Just be warned that, before long, you'll want to buy their full program just to see what these quick sound-bites are like in a half-hour lesson.