Everyone Has One: Apple has formed a veritable monopoly upon consumers with their products. Although many people still run Windows software on their computers, the vast majority of people have an iPod. Being the king media-playing device on the market, the iPod is being sold all over the globe and is always one step ahead of the game. Apple has made their iPod line, over the years, become faster, sleeker, and able to do more than anyone (or at least those who grew up with the record or 8-track) could ever imagine.

The App and Spanish: One of the newest installments to the iPod and iPhone is the ability to add “apps”. An app, which is short for application, can be found to download in The App Store. All a person needs to get to The App Store is a computer, iTunes, and an Apple account. An iPod or iPhone would be great to have as well if you want to take these applications with you on the go. How do apps have anything to do with learning Spanish? Well, just by typing in the search field “learn Spanish” you will find that there are over 100 applications on all different approaches to learning the language. Some are flash cards, some are virtual tutors, and others give you insight to culture and the people that live in these Spanish-speaking countries. I am going to inform you of some of the applications I think would be most helpful, and tell you about a few of my favorites.

Translation: The translator application would probably be most helpful if you are traveling. The first application that comes up on the search is called iSpeak Spanish. It comes in a variety of other languages as well and at $1.99, what a great price for your own personal translator. This app also has a voice system that will read aloud what is typed. You can translate from Spanish to English or English to Spanish and you can even save the translations to your iPhone or iPod. All of the ratings were five full stars and customer reviews were positive.

Vocabulary Drilling: As it has been said before, it is great to learn conversational Spanish (like how they teach you in Rocket Spanish). Jumping right in and understanding conversation is critical to learn the language fluently, but in addition, vocabulary needs to be maximized. Byki Spanish is an app that drills vocabulary rapidly with a 3-step game. You can download your own lists of vocabulary that you want to improve on, in addition to their 1000 words and hundreds of phrases. Statistics are logged so you can see how well you are doing and as a new addition to the program, Byki also works with Twitter to search words and phrases. Byki costs $7.99, which is a great investment, since you can request what words you want to master in addition to the vocabulary they have on hand for you.

Tutoring/Classes: If you are looking for more of a virtual class, rather than help in a specific area, you should try out Bueno, Entonces. These applications are Spanish Class episodes created by Miniature Studios and are priced at $2.99 per episode. There are over 25 episodes, and by the looks of the reviews, Bueno Entonces is funny, entertaining, and will keep you engaged in the lessons. They, just like Rocket Spanish, stress repetition, they also make use of graphics and color-coding as well. In January 2009, more than 20,000 people bought these applications and the numbers are even higher now. Joining Rocket Spanish with the venerable iPod is a great way to supercharge your spanish learning goals in a fun and convenient environment!