Spanish Say Hello

Rating:
Summary: Time saver and great for beginners.
Review: Louis Aarons, a foreign language dropout and later a research psychologist, figured there must be a better way to learn languages. After studying learning systems involving unconscious listening, he developed what appears to me to be a very good program. He uses recordings combined with a manual. Instead of the typical grammar-plus-vocabulary base, his primary focus is vocabulary. After thoroughly learning several lists of topically related words with practice speaking and writing, students hear dialogues that use them. Then more lists and more dialogues. Just enough grammar is presented along the way to make sense of the language. The right and left stereo channels are used to present either foreign and native words or native only words. By listening to both channels at once, each word on the lists is heard first in the two languages simultaneously, then in the foreign language only. Of course you can listen to only one channel if that works better for you.

Although the program is more like ones for travel preparation than for serious scholastic study, I have an idea that those who faithfully go through the four cassettes and the manual will have a better preparation than those taking a brief high school course. The thorough grammar, needed for more complex study can come later and without oversimplifications to overcome. This program would be my first choice or nearly so except for young children.