I really want to speak spanish, and fast. Any suggestions to help me learn it?

You could try busuu.com it has helped me, but so has being around others like immersion has really helped.

I haven’t tried it but LiveMocha is a learning language site. If you can rent a show called Destino’s. My high school Spanish teacher used as a tool in class. It teaches like a Spanish Sesame Street. You could try kids books in Spanish and/or watching a movie in Spanish with English sub titles. Is there a movie you know almost all the words. Also there are computer programs that are much cheaper than Rosetta Stone. Try to focus on learning through pictures as opposed to translating from English. Good Luck!

You can search YouTube for videos. I’ve seen some lessons online through that site. And it’s free!

I HATED Destinos.

You’ll probably have to combine more than one approach at once if you want to learn to read and speak a language. I really like Pimsleur’s audio series for learning to speak a language. They have them available at the library for a few different languages, and they nearly always have Spanish. They’re very clear and easy to follow. The only downside is that I think they still don’t have them in MP3 format. For learning the very basics of grammar and things, I like Lonely Planet books. Some books have so much information that you just get lost, but this one is meant as a crash course/ travel guide. Lonely Planet gives a basic, but clear, introduction into grammar and vocabulary, and it’s pocket-sized so you can take it anywhere with you and learn a few words. It’s also interesting because there are random facts and trivia about the culture and language thrown in
It’s really tough to learn an entire language fast without being really dedicated to it. You should make a study group with your friends, and ask the Spanish teacher if you can borrow a copy of the textbook and follow along, or see if one is available in your bookstore. If you find ways to inject Spanish into a large part of your daily life, you’ll pick up lots of stuff almost through osmosis. You can pick up some words and phrases fast, but if you really want to become fluent, it will take a while.

This site is the greatest: SpanishDict. It’s got everything you need: vocabulary drills, word of the day, iPhone apps – the works!

But, like @Haleth said, without complete dedication and hours and hours of practice, it doesn’t matter what tool you’ve got.

That’s awesome you have Spanish speaking friends to practice with! I wish I had that. I hope they don’t use it to exclude you or something though…

Move to Mexico

@PooperDood Better than that: move to Spain.

There really isn’t a fast way to learn a foreign language. Yes, go to Mexico, meet a lot of people. Have plenty of conversations. Read a grammar book. After 4–6 weeks you’ll see a difference. I learned Italian in 8 weeks in 1983 when traveling the whole country going from campsite to campsite. But I had already studied French in school for 6 years.