Learn Spanish for our trip to Spain

You have got 6 months. If possible take a community college adult ed class in your town on the weekend or in the evening.
it is easier to learn and retain more if you can see and experience a live person talking to you sort of how we all learn naturally

i also recommend plimseur; most public libraries have these to check out for free but you need cd player or to rip those to your portable audio player

I used the Pimsleur CD's, also available as a download. I'm in my old car a lot so it was handy to use the CD's. I used what I learned a lot more than I expected. English is not as common in Spain as in other Western European countries.

I love the DuoLingo app. Very easy progression, lots of review, keeps your attention.

I'm with Jazz+Travels: If you have a reasonably-priced classroom option, you will almost certainly learn much more than you will from self-study. In addition to community colleges, check for "continuing education" options at local 4-year colleges and universities.

Almost all the movies on DVD at your library have multiple sound tracks and subtitles that include Spanish.
Watch your favorite films, and anything else that catches your eye, in Spanish.
And of course your TV, if you have one, has a second audio program SAP button that lets you watch your favorite soaps in Spanish.
Watch the evening news on one of the Spanish channels. Read the online newspaper for the city you will be staying in in September.
Note that in Spain they say Vale! rather than Vama nos!

Hi Morgan... where about in Spain?... I would imagine you know Spanish is not the local language in every region, right? and albeit co-official in those with different languages, it's not necessarily the day-to-day language for everybody. Just sayin'... so you don't get frustrated if you meet people whose "normal" language isn't Spanish :))

I have had good luck using the Rosetta Stone language software to learn enough French and Italian to get by on. Also used the German version to refresh my high school language classes. I would think the Spanish is just as effective.

What is helpful is it is a total immersion process and has you use a microphone (included) to check your pronunciation. The now also include online live help. Not the least expensive option, but for me well worth the money especially if you can get it at a reduced price from Amazon or similar places.

Approach may also be determined about best intentions. A class is going to also require homework - so a commitment. I also found that depending on the teacher's origins, it all sounded different when I actually landed in a country. Even if they provide 'proper' spanish, I found it was a lot of reading and classroom time with little speech and hearing for the time invested. I love school (still) but didn't find it as useful as other learning methods. Also, given that it is often book based, I kept searching for a dictionary, as I didn't retain what we had learned.
I used Pimsleur for Swahili and it was the best language retention I have experienced. Not that Swahili is very useful, but their teaching method worked for me. I bought the sessions on Audible (audio books).
Otherwise, I check out all the Spanish audio systems I can get from the library and try them all. They provide a variety of methods and focus and fill in where others are weak.