What Is the Best Software for Learning Spanish?

Here's a question I receive frequently in email: I've seen the ads that promise me their software will help me learn Spanish. Which one should I buy?

The best answer I can usually give is "I don't know." That's because I haven't used such software in years, and what works for me might not work well for someone else, because we all vary in our learning styles. But I'd venture to guess that many of you reading this might be able to provide an answer. And, at least for the next week, the way to do that is to make a nomination for best desktop instructional software in this year's Readers' Choice Awards. Might you need a reminder of which software you've tried? You can check our user software reviews to see what has been useful (or not) for others.

During the coming week you can also make Readers' Choice Awards in seven other categories:

• Best travel destination for learning Spanish.
• Most admired person who speaks Spanish.
• Best iPad and iPhone apps for people learning Spanish
• Best Android apps for people learning Spanish.
• Favorite Spanish-language entertainer.
• Best Spanish-language website.
• Best Online Spanish-English Dictionary.

We've had some good nominations so far, including quite a few for people or products I hadn't known about or thought of before. I'll be providing an update in the coming days, but in the meanwhile I look forward to your further nominations!