Outreach Spanish

Rating:
Summary: Not a "basic" Spanish language course
Review: I bought this book (with tapes) this summer while an intern with a public service agency in Los Angeles where nearly 40%-50% of the individuals we worked with either spoke only Spanish or did not have a strong enough command of English to navigate public bureaucracy. This book didn't make me fluent but it definitely helped in my being able to communicate with Spansh speakers in person or over the phone.

As the title suggests, this book is NOT geared towards "traveler Spanish." Do not buy this book if you're learning Spanish for travel related reasons--instead something like Lonely Planet Language Guides or Inflight CD will suffice for learning basic communication in a short amount of time.

This book was authored for individuals who may need to know basic Spanish in a more professional context. These books are increasingly appearing in the Learn Spanish section of most bookstores. For example, "Spanish for Doctors", or "Spanish for Law Enforcement Personnel." This book fills the gap where individuals may need to know Spanish but whose professional context don't fit neatly in specific categories like medicine.

For me a big help was the "Telephone" section of the book. The section included some of the more common questions and responses when persons call an office.

For example:
"May I speak to_______"/Puedo hablar con_______
"I'm calling about______"/Estoy llamando acerca de______
"I'll transfer you to______"/Le voy transferir a________

This is something I could not find in most other basic Spanish books. At the same time most of the situational dialogues introduced are still basic and/or more common situations. I doubt I'd be able to explain in Spanish legal issues even after reading the book cover to cover and listening to both accompanying tapes. But at the very least I didn't have to hang up on individuals simply because my bilingual co-worker was out of the office.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it!!!
Review: I have been studying Spanish for 9 years and have purchased many courses and books attempting to learn the Spanish language. I also try to teach others who go with me on short term mission trips to Central America. This is absolutely the best course that I have found for teaching people in a short time. The cassette tapes and the teaching format that they use are absolutely wonderful. Even though I had been studying Spanish for a long time, the tapes were very helpful to me, and I was able to learn a lot from them.

Rating:
Summary: The absolute Best that I have seen!
Review: I have been studying Spanish for 9 years and have purchased many courses and books attempting to learn the Spanish language. I also try to teach others who go with me on short term mission trips to Central America. This is absolutely the best course that I have found for teaching people in a short time. The cassette tapes and the teaching format that they use are absolutely wonderful. Even though I had been studying Spanish for a long time, the tapes were very helpful to me, and I was able to learn a lot from them.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it Today!
Review: Please ignore all negative reviews of this product -- it has helped me connect to all the Latino people I've met! It truly is a tool we need to bridge the gap between two cultures. Buy it today!

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it!!!
Review: This book and cassette package is really not the kind of Spanish course it is made up to be. I have studied several languages before using "teach yourself" material, and this is the worst by far. Whatever excercises are offered are totally inadequate. The book is in effect hardly more than a glorified vocab list. The presentation are simplified to the point of being misleading (The pronunciation guide for consonants being a case in point). The course presentation generally lacks in any understanding of the underlying processes of language acquisition.