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PIMESLCDF Spanish1 : English for Spanish Speakers

PIMESLCDF Spanish1 : English for Spanish Speakers

List Price: $345.00
Your Price: $269.54
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Speaking not Repeating
Review: I've made several attempts to pick up Spanish on my own, including some travels in Mexico. After finishing the 8 lessons in this series, I felt more confident using the words I knew because I'd heard how they were used.

One underlying lesson of the tapes is how to sound like a polite, educated visitor.

A second is using the words 'forward and backward'. You don't learn one sentance which demonstrates a word, you hear a word and use it in many different ways... as part of a question, as a statement, about yourself, about others, etc. You also learn different ways to get at the same information.

Today I would feel a lot more comfortable in a restaurant in Mexico than I did last fall, because I would recognize the questions "What would you like?" "Do you want anything?" "What would you like to eat/drink?" (Gratefully, I had patient waiters last fall who could speak English!)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Learning insurance for the linguistically squeamish
Review: Learn to count to seven, buy beer and ask for the bathroom. But, mainly, learn if the method works for you. I heard about the Pimsleur Method years ago, but I was afraid to spend all that money on what, for me, would be a sixth attempt to learn Spanish. This 8 lesion set was the perfect introduction. About the price of a hardback book, the Basic sets lets you see for yourself whether you like the method, and whether you have the resolve to do it every day. Also good if you have no desire to learn a language in depth, but would like to be able to say "Hello" in Japanese or Hungarian.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: From No Spanish to Un Poco Espagnol
Review: Since my wife and her family are all fluent in Spanish, I was motivated to start to learn. These basic CD's were great for listening to in the car on the way to and from work, a great way to turn commuting into quality time. The methods employed constantly reinforce learned material while sprinkling in new vocabulary. I found myself easily learning and having fun! I can't wait to move onto the next set of Pimsleur CD's- Spanish I

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Is there a way to get the script for the CDs?
Review: The only complaint i have is it does not come with any script. I think i need to read the script to remember all the vocabulary.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: The Pimsleur family of language courses is probably the best available in the English-speaking world. Unlike most other audio programs, the emphasis is not on mindlessly repeating phrases... but rather on natural conversation. Spanish words and phrases are slowly introduced by the English narrator throughout the conversation, and you then incorporate them into conversation with the Spanish speakers (followed by the "right" response to compare yourself to). This more natural approach makes a huge difference in absorbing and retaining the knowledge.

However, the tried-and-true Pimsleur courses today are owned by the Simon & Schuster corporation... which has made some very corporate-like decisions in marketing them. The classic courses are 16 CD's/cassettes each, three course levels available per language, with all being quite in-depth and quite expensive. Unfortunately, "in-depth and expensive" is not in as high demand as "cheap with just a few phrases to impress your friends". Most people who pick up tapes and CD's at the bookstore are just trying to learn a few phrases so they can have fun with it on some upcoming vacation... they're not trying to gain actual proficiency with a language (and if they are, they're crazy for thinking that's possible with just a handful of lessons!).

Therefore, Simon & Schuster has extended the Pimsleur product line... creating 4-CD and 8-CD sets (in addition to the original 16-CD sets), to market head-to-head against other companies' products in lower price ranges. This 4-CD set is basically just the first four CD's of the original "Spanish I" 16-CD set, and the 8-CD product is just the first eight CD's of that set. There's nothing really new here but the packaging, the company is essentially just trying to squeeze some new money out of an old workhorse.

The problem is that this material wasn't designed to serve as a standalone product, it was designed to be the first four CD's of a 16-CD set. If you're hoping to just learn some travel phrases, you'll probably be a bit disappointed... your needs may be better served by purchasing some other "Repeat after me: Where is the bathroom? ¿Donde esta el baño?" product. If you're more serious and hoping to really gain some proficiency in Spanish, the only real value here is to give you an idea (before you spend allot of money) as to whether or not you want to go all-out and buy the real 16-CD set.

The Pimsleur approach is probably the best out there for learning a foreign language... so I by no means want my mediocre rating here to imply that I wouldn't HIGHLY recommend other Pimsleur products. All I'm saying is that Dr. Pimsleur originally designed courses that were comprehensive programs for serious learners, and that's been twisted around here into a marketing ploy. By itself, this 4-CD sub-set doesn't really seem to do a good job satisfying the needs for anybody.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great product family, poor individual product
Review: The Pimsleur family of language courses is probably the best available in the English-speaking world. Unlike most other audio programs, the emphasis is not on mindlessly repeating phrases... but rather on natural conversation. Spanish words and phrases are slowly introduced by the English narrator throughout the conversation, and you then incorporate them into conversation with the Spanish speakers (followed by the "right" response to compare yourself to). This more natural approach makes a huge difference in absorbing and retaining the knowledge.

However, the tried-and-true Pimsleur courses today are owned by the Simon & Schuster corporation... which has made some very corporate-like decisions in marketing them. The classic courses are 16 CD's/cassettes each, three course levels available per language, with all being quite in-depth and quite expensive. Unfortunately, "in-depth and expensive" is not in as high demand as "cheap with just a few phrases to impress your friends". Most people who pick up tapes and CD's at the bookstore are just trying to learn a few phrases so they can have fun with it on some upcoming vacation... they're not trying to gain actual proficiency with a language (and if they are, they're crazy for thinking that's possible with just a handful of lessons!).

Therefore, Simon & Schuster has extended the Pimsleur product line... creating 4-CD and 8-CD sets (in addition to the original 16-CD sets), to market head-to-head against other companies' products in lower price ranges. This 4-CD set is basically just the first four CD's of the original "Spanish I" 16-CD set, and the 8-CD product is just the first eight CD's of that set. There's nothing really new here but the packaging, the company is essentially just trying to squeeze some new money out of an old workhorse.

The problem is that this material wasn't designed to serve as a standalone product, it was designed to be the first four CD's of a 16-CD set. If you're hoping to just learn some travel phrases, you'll probably be a bit disappointed... your needs may be better served by purchasing some other "Repeat after me: Where is the bathroom? ¿Donde esta el baño?" product. If you're more serious and hoping to really gain some proficiency in Spanish, the only real value here is to give you an idea (before you spend allot of money) as to whether or not you want to go all-out and buy the real 16-CD set.

The Pimsleur approach is probably the best out there for learning a foreign language... so I by no means want my mediocre rating here to imply that I wouldn't HIGHLY recommend other Pimsleur products. All I'm saying is that Dr. Pimsleur originally designed courses that were comprehensive programs for serious learners, and that's been twisted around here into a marketing ploy. By itself, this 4-CD sub-set doesn't really seem to do a good job satisfying the needs for anybody.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for beginners
Review: These CDs are good for people who don't speak any Spanish. I think the purpose of the Quick & Simple program is to get you interested in buying the ... full version. Even though I didn't really benefit from the Quick & Simple version, it did help improve my pronounciation and it did help to improve my speaking ability. This is because you constantly repeat the phrases over and over. You won't learn how to say anything in the past tense; only the present tense is presented. You also don't learn any significant vocabulary. For a beginner, the Quick & Simple program would be very useful. If you know how to speak a little (i.e. if you took one course in high school or college), you won't benefit too much from this.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for beginners
Review: These CDs are good for people who don't speak any Spanish. I think the purpose of the Quick & Simple program is to get you interested in buying the ... full version. Even though I didn't really benefit from the Quick & Simple version, it did help improve my pronounciation and it did help to improve my speaking ability. This is because you constantly repeat the phrases over and over. You won't learn how to say anything in the past tense; only the present tense is presented. You also don't learn any significant vocabulary. For a beginner, the Quick & Simple program would be very useful. If you know how to speak a little (i.e. if you took one course in high school or college), you won't benefit too much from this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This program is a great first step towards learning Spanish the Pimsleur way! The full 16 tape set is expensive and if you are on a budget, I would recommend buying this set first. That way you can go ahead and get started while saving up for the full set. Or you can see if you like the program without being out the full price of Spanish I. Once you have mastered the first eight lessons, which will give you a great foundation to build upon and many phrases useful in travel situations, you can sell Quick & Simple right here on Amazon to get your money back. I highly recommend this route for the budget minded or for those wanting to test the waters.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but.....
Review: This was a good CD but not what I was looking for. The lessons on the CD fall more along a traditional line of Spanish (Castillian). I am from Arizona and I want to learn what is commonly spoken here. Otherwise the CD has great lessons for learnng Spanish.


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