KLOO's Learn to Speak Spanish Language Board Game - Race to Madrid

We loved that we were creating sentences in Spanish as part of a game. I played this with my 11 year-old son, and we both enjoyed it. Figuring out the meanings of words during the course of the game was fun, and an effective way to learn. The only downside was that my son realized that this is not the same Spanish he is learning in school (Latin American Spanish)l, and the differences were somewhat confusing and frustrating. I had read this before, and I should have realized this from the title of the game, being a city in Spain, but had forgotten about the two different dialects. However, if he can keep them separate in his head, we'll keep playing the game, which is a learning bonus. There were some words that had meanings he wasn't used to, and the articles were different. Much was the same, however. We'd recommend it, but know which dialect you are getting.

I went for the "whole enchilada" and bought the full Race to Madrid board game! After traveling through Spain this past summer, I love seeing cities like Salamanca, Valladolid, and others on the board! This game is being used 1) in my home with my family to improve ourSpanish, 2) with a 2nd grade student that I teach Spanish to, and 3) in my classroom for use during free time. I am definitely getting my money'sworth and everyone loves the ease with which they can learn and enjoy Spanish. This game is an effective motivator for those who are reluctant to learn Spanish or for those who haven't had a positive classroom experience learning the language Also, it inspires interest in countries using the language. My guess is that this game is just as fun in the other languages (French, Italian) offered. Thank you, KLOO, for really thinking through the game design; we love it!

We really enjoy the Kloo range of language learning products, and decided to try the Race to Madrid board game to add to the fun.This is another well designed product that offers the same great format you will soon learn to love. The twist that keeps the children interested is the classic race to the centre style board. Choose your coloured car and you are ready for the off.There are four decks of cards available in the game, People, Clothing, Eating and Drinking, and Everyday Objects. The most useful categories for everyday interaction in a foreign climate! This is perfect for learning conversational Spanish. The children who are 16 and 11 were really engaged and the competitive sibling rivalry soon kicked in, each being determined to win. It was actually the younger child that cottoned on to looking at the cards in his hand (as yet unplayed) to assist him with translations, as well as looking at the cards already in play. He was soon streaking ahead on the first attempt.The object is to build sentences using the clever colour coding to help nudge you in the right direction. Points, which equate to squares moved, are accrued by constructing the sentences and then by translating them. So a three card sentence can potentially accrue you 6 moves, IF you can translate it successfully!There are added action squares to further increase the fun, and give players a chance to earn extra moves forward, and even in one case send another player back 2 if they fail to translate the card.The game is really good fun, we were surprised how much time we had been playing for, an hour passed really quickly and the children were still really engaged and determined to win. I think we play slower than the rules suggest but the fact that the time was taken up with lots of discussions about the words and the structure is definitely good in my book. They were animated and happy, and more importantly they were learning. I am sure most school lessons are not met with this much enthusiasm. There was some argument over the occasional word, specifically pronunciation but we were able to clear that up really quickly because the cards do help you with that, it is just simple phonics pronunciation.As the game progressed, even the first time we played it, I was hearing shouts of ‘oh I know what that means’ and then they would start repeating to each other what they already knew - which was helpful repetition. My 11 year old has repeatedly referred to various food items in Spanish since we started playing, specifically cheese and chicken - he is very impressed with himself and whats more he is learning words as second nature.Overall this is another great option in the Kloo range, we really love the products and thoroughly enjoy the learning experience.

I bought this game since I was learning Spanish. It's really good practice incorporated into a fun little game, which I enjoyed playing with the kids. Took us a while to understand the board game and the overall process, but we eventually got along with it.Doesn’t matter if you don’t know Spanish at all, this game actually works on the basics until you start making sentences. I guess this is how languages work :)

This is a good game for beginners. The repetition within the game and cards works well for memory. However this isn’t a sustainable game once the words have been learnt but it is good for the inital purpose.