CLEP Spanish: Best way to learn for someone with ZERO prior knowledge

[rktwelve]

I need to take CLEP Spanish and need a minimum of 50. 
What is the best way to start learning Spanish to take the CLEP exam in 4-6 weeks?
I have zero background in Spanish.

I've signed up with Spanish Hour, but haven't found it great so far as it doesn't explain things that well imo.

[Johmford]

Step 1: Marry a spanish person
Step 2: have them take you to a south america country
Step 3: forbid them from helping you
Step 4: you now speak spanish out of necessity

JK, I have not really found a good resource either. If you find something interesting let me know! I was interested in an audio format I can listen to while at work, but a lot of them require you to look at the presentation as well.

[Ideas]

I think scoring 50 in 6 weeks would be pretty hard, without something like jjsafari said. A great personal tutor, not speaking English, etc. Do you already speak a second language fluently? A language that's related to Spanish?

The FSI says that to get working proficiency in Spanish takes 600 hours, but there is going to be a limit to how much a person can accelerate it.

It seems much better to take a self-paced Spanish course somewhere.

[quigongene]

Perhaps DuoLingo.com as at least a study aid. I like that it gamifies the learning.

[davewill]

Do you just need 3 foreign language credits? I would think an introductory Spanish course at a CC would be a much surer path. You might be able to find it as an accelerated online course.

[bjcheung77]

The cheapest/easiest/fastest way to 3-6 or 9 credits is the CLEP, however; because you're starting from scratch and I doubt you know a second language. I recommend you taking the Study.com courses instead, 3 courses of Spanish in one month if you can cram all that into your daily schedule. I recommend at least 3-4 hours a day, 30 days = 90-120 hours.

You can try to supplement that with the Modern States Spanish CLEP prep materials. The only way to learn a language is by "paying for it" with money & time spent "learning" the material and immersing yourself in it... Whatever you do, don't take the StraighterLine Spanish, as I hate using Rosetta Stone material, I don't know how others love it...

If you want to do more, you can, it'll cost you another subscription... I would do it this way, review the MS/CLEP materials for 1 month, do 3 courses from Study.com for 1 month and you'll have 180-240 hours total if you do 3-4 hours a day for two months. Heck, I'll even recommend you to get some DVD/CD/Book combo from the library and use that as review material for another month, 3 months total - 270 to 360 hours of Spanish knowledge crammed!

[cookderosa]

I need to take CLEP Spanish and need a minimum of 50. 
What is the best way to start learning Spanish to take the CLEP exam in 4-6 weeks?
I have zero background in Spanish.

I've signed up with Spanish Hour, but haven't found it great so far as it doesn't explain things that well imo.

Well, let's see. Let's take a native Spanish speaker and see what we can do to get them to pass the English Composition exam in a month, not a good chance imo......

Seriously, I am normally really encouraging, but you want to learn an entire language's grammar and usage in 4 weeks? It's not even an issue of SPEAKING since you won't be tested on speaking on the CLEP (which many people find easier than writing/reading/editing) Realize that I've met people who took 4 years of high school Spanish and still had to study hard for the test.

That said, we had a member here (burbuja0512) who managed a perfect score - I believe she lived in Mexico for 6 years speaking Spanish exclusively at work.

I can't remember who it is that recruits multi-linguists (CIA? FBI? NSA?) but if you can learn a language proficiently in 4 weeks, you need to take that superpower to the next level.

EDIT to add: you didn't say if you already speak more than 1 language. If you are already bi-lingual, I might revise my answer..... some people do have a knack, and if you already speak something else, it might be doable. (and I'm assuming you've already earned college credit in that language too)

[MSK9]

I second the Duolingo recommendation. It's excellent (and how I learned Dutch).

[Ideas]

I felt that DuoLingo was repetitive, so if I only had 6 weeks, I wouldn't use it much. I liked their section with short conversations.

[cookderosa]

I second the Duolingo recommendation. It's excellent (and how I learned Dutch).

I used Duolingo faithfully for a year (French) and granted it was before they did the refresh a few years back, but no way could I even answer 1 practice question in the CLEP Official Guide. MSk9 - did you get college credit in Dutch after using Duolingo?