That's the city I'd choose and living with a family can't be beat. All the comments made on this thread are accurate. I have a lot of language learning experience and nothing beats immersion.

Good preparation is daily monitoring of Spanish language newscasts and other broadcasting- even including soap operas. Remember, it is not necessary (or even desirable) to try to understand everything that is said and speakers will seem to speak very quickly. Even so, the constant exposure will be good preparation.

Also, the main impediment to adults learing a foreign language is pride. One has to become like an infant again (well, not completely) and accept one's ignorance as a given. This is especially true if you are introverted.

Lastly, depending on your age, marital status, etc. a romantic interest in a native speaker really does the trick!

Can anyone recommend an interactive DVD or on-line Spanish course? I speak basic Spanish and just need to polish it up but books are so tedious.

This free video program by the Annenberg / CPB Project is pretty good:

http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html

Read comics instead! Not only do they break up the prose into manageable chunks, the pictures framing the words put them into context, so you're more likely to figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word, thus reinforcing it in your memory, rather than having to rely on the dictionary.

If you're interested in South American culture (esp. Argentina) then 'Mafalda' by Quino is a true delight - just as witty, sharp, and intelligent as it is charming and funny.

For learning about Spain, the more brutish 'Mortadelo y Filemon' by Francisco Ibáñez is... well, it's something else. One of the few things I can read that will consistently make me laugh out loud - as long as it is classic Ibáñez penned stuff, not M&F drawn and written by someone else (usually rubbish)
http://www.mortadeloyfilemon.com/ibanez/biografia.asp

By the same author I always enjoyed 13 Rue del Percebe - a literal slice of (extreme) Spanish life.

If you're interested in Europe and European culture then 'Asterix & Obelix' is more gentle fare. The original comics are in French, but IMO they translate much more successfully into Spanish, where they retain their gutsy humour, than the wussy English versions - which at the most can raise a wry smile or a weak chuckle.

At a basic level, the resources on the BBC Languages website are helpful: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/ They also sell some course materials - I used their Suenos series to teach myself beginner Spanish a few years ago, before going to an immersion course. I also found their companion Spanish grammar book very helpful when taking Spanish courses. (I've got the same book for French and German as well.)

For those whose Spanish (or French, German or Italian) is at an intermediate level or higher, I can recommend the audio magazines published by a company called Champs Elysees: http://www.champs-elysees.com/ You get a CD (monthly for French, bi-monthly for the others), a transcription (in French, Spanish, etc) of the magazine, a glossary (in English) of unfamiliar terms and you can also pay extra for a study supplement. The articles in the magazine are quite interesting (politics, culture, business, etc) and are spoken at a speed that just a little slower than regular audio programmes - great for training your ear.

You can download Pimsleur (an all-audio course) in 10 lesson increments for the first level (of 3).

People who are thinking about a language immersion holiday might find this post I wrote on Fodors helpful. It focuses on French, but the principles apply to other languages as well:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34869116

This thread from the South America forum has good advice on learning Spanish in South America. I did 2 weeks at a program in Quito, Ecuador and highly recommend it. Subsequently have done 1 week at Nueva Lengua's program in Medellin, Colombia. I love MDE as a vacation destination but the quality of instruction was much better in UIO.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503472

Any one ever use the Rosetta Stone language program that I always see advertised? How does that rate for trying to learn Spanish?