Location:Home » Caribbean » General AAS » Spanish I - 2nd Rev. Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Comprehensive)
Product Description Comprehensive Spanish (L.A.) I includes 30 lessons of essential grammar and vocabulary -- 16 hours of real-life spoken practice sessions -- plus an introduction to reading.
Upon completion of this Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will be able to:
* initiate and maintain face-to-face conversations,
* deal with every day situations -- ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family,
* communicate basic information on informal topics and participate in casual conversations,
* avoid basic cultural errors and handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements,
* satisfy personal needs and limited social demands,
* establish rapport with strangers in foreign countries,
* begin reading and sounding out items with native-like pronunciation.
OK For Beginners, Too Formal for Southern US December 2, 2008 This is a good start for a beginner who knows almost no Spanish at all. I personally found it way too elementary for me and found myself giving the Spanish equivalent for the spoken English words and phrases BEFORE the speaker on the CD could. Also, this is formal Castillian Spanish, not the Spanish spoken by most Spanish speakers in the US. Also, I have not heard the more personal form of "you", which is "tu" used yet. I find the topic of the conversations somewhat offensive and people are asking each other to give them money and being choosy about it. I wished I had gone with Rosetta Stone.
An excellent auditory learning method May 27, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the third language I've learned the rudiments of via the Pimsleur method. I had Spanish and French in high school (during the last century) but I also picked up enough German to negotiate a hiking trip in Austria and I'd never learned it before. The Spanish CDs have been a boon to me and if you are primarily an auditory learner as I seem to be, I believe you will be pleased with them.
Pimsleur Spanish I Review February 27, 2008 Good complement to a traditional Spanish language class. Focuses completely on listening and speaking. No written exercises or teaching. All vocabulary learning is through the interactive excercises which feature enough random repetition to keep you on your toes. Should be a good training for dialog and every day conversation. I probably would not want to use this as my only way of learning the language.
Price tag out of step with quality and usefulness February 20, 2008 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm happy to say that I didn't have to pay the ultra-high price-tag for this course. My uncle has opened a language products store and I'm running through some of the beginners Spanish courses to help him recommend one.
Pimsleur definitely has an innovative approach. It will help an absolute beginner get off the ground, for sure.
However, one would be much better off by buying the Michel Thomas beginners course (which is far better than Pimsleur and much cheaper) plus one or two others as well as the Thomas course is light-on for non verb related voacbulary.
Many lessons have a point where a speaker starts instructing you in Spanish what to ask or say. He might say "ask him if he has seen the movie." So you say "have you seen the movie?" That exercise feels like an utter waste of time, the instructions would better have been delivered in English.
I would recommend Pimsleur if it was $50, for sure. Until it hits that price I won't recommend it to anyone who isn't loaded with cash.
Simply the Best Product There Is February 6, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pimsleur is simply the best most useful way to learn a language. It's practical, actually fun, challenging and effective at getting you SPEAKING a language instead of staring at a page trying to memorize rules and vocabulary.
The need to react quickly and the variety of things they throw at you really cement the knowledge and make it instinctive and not just intellectual. It's not cheap, but there is no other substitute out there that comes close to this.
You will need a good book in addition to help formally learn grammar rules and you'll need to learn more vocabulary than you can on an audio program, but when it comes to hitting the ground running and internalizing a language, Pimsleur is the way to go. SIX STARS.
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