If I want to become fluent in Spanish, should I start out from the beginning or go straight to intermediate lessons?

I went to college with a couple of people that served in the Peace Corps. They learned the language of where they served through total immersion in that language. It was strangely effective.

@Adirondackwannabe: Ah, would that I could do that! Unfortunately, I have no way to immerse myself. I figure I can “test” myself by reading Spanish novels, watching Spanish movies sans subtitles and going to restaurants where no one speaks English.

You don’t need to go back to the basics in a low-level course. What you need is to find a way to put into use all the stuff that you already know and continue building on vacabulary and idiomatic expressions as well as work on more complex grammar such as the subjunctive (which in my teaching experience has proved to be the most difficult for English speakers since you hardly use it in your language). For listening comprehension you can go to YT or the like and listen to native speakers speak and get used to the pronunciation, etc. For actual speaking, you can join a conversation club/group or try Skype language exchange you can have conversations with native speakers via Skype. Reading stuff of your interest in Spanish will help you with grammar and vocabulary building.

Don’t start at the beginner level, you are way beyond that, even with the years that have past by. Maybe buy a $12 Berltz CD to start repeating sentence and hearing the rythymof the language again before the first day of class. Check for Latin American Spanish or Castilan.

People I know seem to pick up languages pretty well, even after longer periods without speaking or using the language. It seems like you can usually jump back into about where you left off.

Are there any Spanish-speaking communities near you? You have the skeleton now; you need to flesh it out which means working on your oral skills. The only way to replicate being in a Spanish-speaking community is to hang out in a Spanish-speaking community.

I went to live with a French family when I was seventeen, having had 5 years of HS French.

It took me a week to dare to open my mouth; then it was fun and easy. At the end of three months, I was pretty comfortable with the give and take of daily life.

I am in a similar position, and I found that a really quick review of beginner level stuff was all that I needed. It came back to me really fast, and I have a much larger gap than 3 years. You may not need that at all, but maybe just glance over the material and see how you feel about it. If you remember all of it, then move on to intermediate level stuff.

I think you should get a beginners book and spend a few weeks going through it, so you have a solid base, and then go to the intermediate classes. In beginners you’ll be back to ‘my name is whatever’, it’‘ll drive you nuts.

Use the Pimsleur approach, easy to follow has you using words and phrases immedianly.