Despite Ecuador being a Spanish country, we are asked if it’s necessary to learn Spanish before moving. The short answer is: “No, you don’t have to learn before you move.” We didn’t and we got by fine. But if you do learn Spanish (even in a basic form) before you move, life will be much easier.

You’ll certainly want to learn it once you arrive in Ecuador or any other Spanish-speaking country.

It not only shows respect for your new host country, but it also makes your life easier and much more interesting. To get started, you’ll want to learn how to say the letters and sounds in Spanish.

Over the past 3 years, we’ve spent over $1000 on Spanish books, cd’s, software and classroom courses to learn Spanish.

See our reader’s choice: The Best Book to Learn Spanish

Really! Over $1000?! Just what did we spend all the money on? Aside from a Spanish course, we took here in Cuenca, everything we purchased were materials that we could use at home. 

Looking for great books to learn Spanish? Here are the ones we used:

He actually had a copy in his house and he lent it to us (out of pity, I think). We didn’t even know how or when to say buenas tardes when we arrived.

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In the first few chapters, the book covers hundreds of Spanish words that you already know.

Highly recommended. Read our full review.Bottom line: Worth every penny

After struggling for a year here in Ecuador we purchased it online with Audible and it helped us the most of all the courses. Now you can buy directly from Pimsleur – from 1 week to a monthly subscription.

Its slogan is: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish. 

Price: Get a 7-day free trial. After that, there is a monthly subscription fee. Free lesson to monthly subscriptions – from $15-$20/month. (price depends on the package and currency)Bottom line: If you are serious about learning Spanish, and don’t want to buy 11 different books and courses, buy this one.

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The actors can be a little over the top, but we found it actually helps us to remember the lessons better. Sometimes they are funny … other times just really corny.

Bottom line: It’s a great way to learn the rules.  The result of the corny skits is that we remembered the lessons really well.

Check current price on AmazonBottom line: I’m a fan of the Standard Deviants series. We have 5 of their programs – certainly worth the money.

We have all of these and they are worth it, especially if you prefer visual learning to books.

Check current price on AmazonBottom line: These are some well-produced training videos that make it easy to assimilate the Spanish lessons. Highly recommended.

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While this isn’t recreational reading, it is an important key to properly understanding the language. And as a reference tool, it will serve you for years to come

Bottom line: A great reference book with a detailed section on verb tenses.

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Bottom line: It won’t get any more boring than this, but worth the time to learn the verb properly.

What I love about the book is its phonetic spelling of Spanish words. It really helps to get the sounds under control and lose the harshness of the Gringo Accent.

Check current price on AmazonBottom line: At just two bucks, it’s hard to go wrong. It would be worth having one for every member of the family. We bought just one, and our new puppy went to town on it. You will learn from this little book.

It makes you reason on sets of images – with no English used at all. While that sounds intimidating, it actually works pretty well.

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There are some drawbacks. For example, when a color is shown you’ll learn the Spanish word for that color – but depending on your screen settings, you might confuse purple with brown … as we did. Price: Depends on how many levels are purchasedBottom line: An effective way to build vocabulary. Lessons are broken into bite sized pieces.

We heard the two milestones of 5 years and 10 years of age are important in terms of language learning. She loved this program and when we moved she knew more Spanish than we did.

Check current price on AmazonBottom line: This is a great way to get your young kids involved in learning Spanish. The interactive story makes it more like entertainment than learning.

Days of the week, months of the year, the alphabet, and names for family members are all taught here. There are a number of different disks. We bought two of them.

Check current price on AmazonBottom line: Worth it, whether you have kids or not.

More reading: Guide to The Best Way to Learn Spanish (Immersion, Books, Classes, Resources)

What about you? What is your favorite book or course to learn Spanish? Please share your thoughts in the comments below: