Customer Reviews

Instant Immersion Spanish

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Myself: I took one Univerity level Spanish class and have gone throught all 8 CDS twice now.

What I liked:
1. Lots of vocabulary
2. Was a good continuation of my Spanish learning.
3. Actually learned a bunch of good useful phrases.

What I didn't like:
1. It should come with a book. Some words are hard to hear
on the CD especially if you've never heard them before.
2. Some of the conversations are rushed and I had to repeat
them 5 times to understand them even after the English
translation.
3. Some vocabulary was near useless
4. Could be too technical in spots: Use the third person
formal conjugated with the infinitive...Huh?, I don't even
know what that means in English, just tell me how to say
where's the bathroom already!

Bought this set because I wanted to use it in the car to review Spanish (took a couple of courses before). Overall, disappointing and would recommend something more detailed for learners at any level.

Strengths:
- starts from scratch with letters of the alphabet, good for the absolute beginner
- covers present tense regular and irregular verbs, pronouns, articles, indirect/direct object pronouns, and a lot of vocabulary that is almost all travel-related (heavy on shopping, hotels, etc.)
- would be a fine review of the most basic concepts for someone who has been exposed to Spanish previously

Weaknesses:
- 8 CDs does not mean 8 hours of lessons! some are very short!
- use of obviously non-native speakers (heavy American accent) for some dialogues
- too much travel-related vocabulary rather than everyday words
- would probably be difficult to follow if you had never had Spanish before or seen these words written
- too many lessons focused on increasing vocab without additional useful grammar (e.g. only the present tense is covered)
- uses the Spanish "vosotros", which is not used in Latin America
- use of "y'all" as the English translation of vosotros/ustedes. This is hardly grammatically correct (or necessary).
- predictable and outdated dialogs e.g. wife has packed too many clothes for trip, worried about getting to airport, husband remarks on her 3 suitcases, reassures her

This set does a good job of holding the learner's hand, particularly in the early CD's. On the other hand, those with some background in Spanish might find the pace a little slow. The content is more conversationally oriented than the other set I tried, Penton Overseas' Learn in Your Car (or Anywhere), which is also a good course. Penton's course is more travel oriented, at least in the early CD's.

One thing that does bother me about the Instant Immersion course is a technical point. Namely, in many of the tracks on the CD's, the content is inexplicably and obviously truncated. For example, in some cases, the CD skips to the next track mid-sentence, or even mid-word. I don't get the sense that I am missing too much, but it is an annoyance.

I took 3 years of Spanish in high school, which was almost totally book learning, very little conversation. However, that was 30 years ago. After listening to these cd's it all started coming back to me. I listen while commuting and find myself looking forward to my daily lessons...then attempting to form phrases throughout the day. I've even begun using simple phases with hispanics I encounter throughout the day! I agree with some other reviewers that a companion book would be helpful, however for me the cd's were enough. I am ordering the Advanced version tonight (although the reviews say it is more intermediate...perfect for me!). Also looking for an electronic translator to help build my vocabulary more.

I use the Instant Immersion series as a supplement to Pimsleur and written materials for reading and writing Spanish. I have completed the first Instant Immersion Spanish series and am starting the Advanced Instant Immersion Spanish series.

After completing this series alone, you will not be fluent in Spanish. But for the price, it is a decent supplemental program to learning Spanish.

You do learn a lot of useful vocabulary and some grammar on each CD. Then at the end of each CD is a conversation in Spanish. You listen and repeat the conversation in Spanish; every sentence is translated into English. Then you listen to the conversation in English and answer questions.

The CDs are interesting and a change of pace in your Spanish language studies. All in all, a good value for the price.

The lessons start with useless music, continues with distracting instructions with long pauses between instructions. When the actual lesson begins you usually aren't paying attention anymore, so you have to go back and start again.

Pronunctian is frequently unclear. I had to listen several times before recognizing words I already know. The lesson on pronunctiation utilizes Spanish words you can't see, and may not know. Unless you have had some prior training you will probably be lost. It also introduces vocabulary words, so you have to listen to the entire lesson to review vocabulary.

The interactive portions tend to be unclear and very fast, which makes it hard to repeat. By the third CD, you will be lost.