Is this any help?

Mudpuppie has a brother?!? Is he just like her, but with different bits? These are the kinds of things I need the internet to tell me.

Thanks, amro! It helps a little.

My bro's situation, though, calls not really for face-to-face interaction -- he's already got lots of that. He's a studier, and what he needs is some sort of instruction to augment the interaction he already has.

He did a search for software, but found that each software package had a website or something that recommended it as the best. Sort of ran into a brick wall there, so I thought I'd see if anyone had used anything similar.

Cali, heh.

Yep, he's pretty much just like me -- witty, underemployed and totally neurotic. We of the Puppie clan are quite a catch, I'll tell you.

Here's a listing of free online language courses that might be helpful.

I learned by singing along to Shakira. It's not a bad method and most Spanish speakers don't mind if you break into song in the middle of a conversation.

some podcasts, maybe?

he should watch tons of Spanish tv, and practice with people all the time...also read Spanish-language papers and magazines. And going to websites that have both Spanish and English versions of the same stories will help as well. (it's impossible to really become fluent as an adult i think tho--he can only become much better)

Can he got to a library and check out their spanish instructional CDs and or DVDs? I'm not saying he should take them home and burn copies of them to continue to use as study aids long after he's returned them. He might find it useful to go to Amazon first and read reviews of the various products out there and then go to the library with a list since they won't carry all of the materials that are commercially available. But he might be surprised at just how many are offered.