Pimsleur Spanish Level 1 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (1) (Comprehensive) (English and Spanish Edition)

Since I travel a lot, I need a way to learn languages the easiest, most efficient, and fastest way possible. Nothing beats being able to practice with and learn from a native speaker of a language. However, when I'm driving, flying, or just don't have access to a native speaker to practice with, I still need a way to practice and learn. I tried most language programs out there and I found Pimsleur's and Michel Thomas' methods to be the most suitable for me. Here are the strong points of Pimsleur's approach: 1) It's perhaps the easiest way to learn pronunciation of all the programs out there. They teach pronunciation by saying words slowly syllable by syllable until you put together the whole word. It's especially useful if you want to learn a language like Arabic, Chinese, or any hard-to-pronounce language. 2) The program begins with a simple conversation and they keep building on it lesson by lesson. 3) The conversations are based on real life scenarios so many of the things you learn you can put to use. 4) You don't need to get a lesson 100% before moving on to the next. They're great with reviewing the contents of previous lessons while teaching you new things. So you can just keep moving on with the lessons and you'll see that by the end of lesson 3 for example, you've got most of lessons 1 and 2 down. 5) No rote repetitions are necessary with their method. No writing, note taking, etc, just listen to the CDs. 6) If you love their method, you'll be able to learn the basics of many languages easily. I used their programs to begin learning Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Arabic. Downside of Pimsleur: 1) If you're natural at picking up foreign languages, you'll find their method very slow. 2) Even after you finish all the levels for a particular language, you're still at the beginning stages of the language, and you'll need to continue with other more advanced programs. Or better yet, with a native speaker if you can. 3) The transcripts don't come with the program. You'll have to do a Google search for those if you want them. 4) They're more expensive than many other programs. I want to emphasize that language learning is a highly individual process and other programs may end up working better for you. If you can, it's definitely worth buying the beginning version of other programs to see how much you relate to their teaching methods. To see if you like Pimsleur's approach, you can get a used copy of the Quick and Simple program for less than $10. I found the cheapest way to get the full copy of Pimsleur's I, II, and III programs is by buying the MP3-only version on audible.com with an annual subscription. Each program costs 5 credits which comes out to be less than $50 for each level with the annual platinum membership.

I have gone thru all but the last 3 cd's now in the set. Overall I am quite happy with the purchase. Generally, the way the lessons work is, first the narrator will introduce you to a new expression or word. You will repeat it a couple of times, use it in conjunction with some words and expressions that you have already been taught. Then, the lesson will move on to new words and expressions. The new words and expressions will be taught in context, using many examples that include all the knowledge you have been taught to that point. So the lessons will repeatedly go backwards and forward thru spanish you have learned, getting you to constantly reuse your knowledge and apply it. When I was learning french, on my own, I would make flash cards and subject myself to constant repetition until I knew the words and expressions (and conjugations...) by heart. The technique used on these lessons is the same, except that you also have the benefit of listening to the Spanish speakers. I cannot say anything about the quality of the spanish speakers choosen, except that the speakers switch back and forth between a male and female speaker. They are supposed to have "neutral" accents - somewhere between european spanish and latin american. I find the lessons are perfect for listening to in the car while commuting. With a little attention each day, I am slowly learning spanish. Sometimes I get a little bored. But I am happy with the results. I am also reading a book in spanish and watching TV in spanish, plus speaking it every chance I get (at least 2 times a week here in dallas TX). I find that I am slowly advancing. This product helps a little with learning the sound of spanish speakers, and at conversational ability. You will not learn a lot of vocabulary from this product, but you will learn the basic grammar and pronounciation very well. The lessons are light on vocabulary, and more focused on learning grammar, proper conjutation of just a few words, and some idiomatic expressions. This product is not about bredth, but reinforcing a couple of key topics. Another proof that it works : often while listening to this CD, my daughter (who is 3) was in the car with me. Often later in the day she would start spouting spanish, especially if she heard in English one of the phrases used in the book. The first half of the CD's are basically translation exercises, and kids seem to pick up on this pretty quick. My only complaint, and it's a pretty odd one, is that for some reason many many of the example conversations involve asking someone to go to a restaurant with you to have a beer. After practicing the lessons a couple of times, I found myself having a huge craving for a XX, and I don't drink!

1課30分と無理なく続けられる長さで、学んだ内容が時間をおいて繰り返し出てくるのできちんと定着します。 会話・発音の練習としては素晴らしい教材だと思います。 ただ、これだけでスペイン語をマスターできるわけではなく、あくまでも基礎的な日常会話ができるようになる程度で、文法・語彙、またCDなので当然読み書きは一切カバーされません。 ちなみに、解説が英語なのでご注意を。

This is the real deal! Good. Challenging. Formatted well for learning. I am on the road a lot so CDs is the only way for me to learn this has worked great.

it waS Well pakage i;m well pleased you need patience to succeed with everrything this will help you to speak the language you desire

I bought this to help me understand and speak spanish for an upcoming trip. It puts you right into the language and the techniques are very good, however, i found that i needed to do some reading about the rules of grammer and how the two different "to be" verbs are used and when to use them. It is not that clear in the cd's and you definitely need to know how to use them.

Well, I have learned that I am not a strong auditory learner. I need a visual of the word for it to stick in my head. All the sounds were blending together, so I had to "cheat" and look up words to make sense of what I was hearing. The structure of the program is good for building vocabulary. The key is repetition and doing half an hour per day. I also had to get over the expectation that I could do 1 lesson per day. I have to repeat each lesson 4-5 times before I move on. And I go back to earlier lessons to give myself a break from the harder stuff. I don't pick up languages easily but with repetition, I am learning some. I haven't tried other programs so I don't know how this compares.