Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary : Learn and Remember Spanish Faster than You Ever Imagined Possible! [Audio CD]

Michael Gruneburg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 065801143X | ISBN-13: 978-0658011436 | Publication Date: October 8, 2001 | Edition: 1

Teaches 200 key words in a matter of hours!

When learning Spanish, one of the hardest tasks you face is remembering new words. Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary presents on two CDs a technique for learning and recalling vocabulary that has been scientifically proven up to three times more effective than conventional methods. Spanish words and their English meaning are linked by verbal images to help you learn, and, most importantly, periodic testing ensures that you retain the vocabulary. Topics include food and drink, clothing, traveling, family, numbers, and time.

No matter what level you are at -- a young student or a older traveler -- Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary will teach you 200 key words and phrases, as well as providing a method that can be adapted for learning many more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Developed by memory expert Dr. Michael M. Gruneberg, Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary offers a proven method that provides easy-to-remember word pictures to help you recall words in Spanish--instantly. All you need to do is listen, picture the images, and then respond to the tests--and you'll learn 200 basic words and phrases faster than you ever imagined possible.

Think of an image in your mind's eye for about ten seconds.

• The Spanish for soup is sopa. Imagine a soup that tastes like soap.
• The Spanish for rice is arroz. Imagine someone shooting arrows that land in your plate of rice.
• The Spanish for cheese is queso. Imagine a case o' cheese.
• The Spanish for bread is pan. Imagine loaves of bread stuffed in a pan.

Now, what are the Spanish words for bread, cheese, rice, and soup?

Studies have shown how fast and easy this course is: Students have achieved remarkable results up to three times quicker than through conventional methods. For travelers wanting to be able to communicate abroad and for those having difficulty learning basic Spanish at school or in class, Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary is the quick way to success.

About the Author

Dr. Michael Gruneberg is an internationally respected authority and author on memory enhancement. He is the president of the American Society for Applied Research in memory and cognition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 065801143X
• ISBN-13: 978-0658011436
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,210,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Gruneberg PhD is an internationally recognised expert on memory improvement. He has published a number of popular and academic books and research papers on the topic. He is a past president of the international learned Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition and has acted as consultant on BBC programmes on Memory improvement.

He is best known, however, for his Linkword Language courses, many of which are published by McGraw Hill in the Instant recall series.

The courses are based on the method of association.

For example:

The Spanish for Rice is Arroz
Imagine in your mind's eye for 10 seconds ARROWS landing in your bowl of RICE

Another example is The Russian for JUICE is SOK
Imagine drinking JUICE through a SOCK!!

Dr Gruneberg and many other investigators have published studies in peer reviewed journals showing not only that the method is much more effective than traditional methods of learning, but is seen as much more enjoyable as well.

Typically studies find the method used up to three times more effective than traditional learning methods. In one field study, for example, in a major travel company,5 executives learned a 400 word vocabulary and basic grammar in 12 contact hours. A consultant brought in to assess the course, previously employed by Berlitz, tested the executives on what they had learned and found they were almost errorless. He concluded that it would normally have taken 40 hours to learn what they had learned in 12 hours. Earlier two psychologists Atkinson and Raugh found in their study that those using the method recalled 88% of a list of Spanish words, compared to 28% for those not using the method.

Based on these and other studies Dr Gruneberg has publish his courses in various formats in various counties and to date over 700,000 courses have been sold!!

Dr Gruneberg did not invent the method of association or Linkword method. What he did do was to integrate vocabulary learned using highly effective images with grammar, sentence translations and optimal testing patterns to produce courses which enable learners to communicate effectively abroad after 10-12 hours of study.

Courses are published as MP3 Audio, learn by listening course by McGraw Hill in Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Portuguese.

Dr Gruneberg is married to Rhona, who looks after him far better than he deserves. They have two lovely sons and two glorious grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good method to learn, but the package falls a little short, August 26, 2005

By 

J. Questad (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary : Learn and Remember Spanish Faster than You Ever Imagined Possible! (Audio CD)

This method, in which you visualize quirky little images to anchor your attempt to memorize, does work. It's called Mnemonics, and you can find it explained in many places on the web.

An example from this CD would be for the English word "rice", which in spanish is "arroz" (pronounced ARROS). When attempting to learn this word, you visualize arrows landing in your plate of rice. You actually take a second, provided by the narrators, to "see" this.

Sounds silly at first, but it really does help, and this CD will help you start using this technique as second nature. You can memorize anything this way and you may find yourself using it to remember other things outside of your language studies. You'll also find it explained in books on memory.

And that's why it's worth it - you will thoroughly understand how to do this - and feel comfy doing so - by the time you have done these words and will start doing it every time you have trouble retaining new vicabulary. If you have never worked this way, it will seem much more natural by the time you complete the CD.

And that's the way to evaluate this because the package itself is pretty thin. I'm going to call it 3 for the value of the method, but be a little critical in how much this package provides in actual vocabulary.

Con:

a) There are only about 200 words.

b) The words are generally too easy. The vocabulary is useful... household, days of the week, colors.... but very elementary. If you have studied even a little Spanish or been around Spanish speaking people you will find you know a lot of these words already. I found I knew 75% of the words with no practice, probably just from living in Texas and reading menus and bathroom doors in Mexican restaurants. It's really for complete beginners or at least those who have never heard of the method.

c) It's a waste of time to teach words that are almost exactly like the English in this way. An example: The word hospital in Spanish is hospital, but pronounced slightly differently. They train you to "imagine a bullfighter is hurt and must go to the hospital". Since the excercise reminds you of the English sounds rather than the slightly different Spanish sound you get nothing from it except the knowledge that the word doesn't really need translating. A considerable number of these silly words are included further diminishing the overall number of truly new and difficult words you retain. I'm dissapointed the would waste space on words like telephono, accidente, dentista and color. I bet at least 15% of the words are of this type that require pretty much no thought and are not well applied to this method. Subtract these and the other obvious words and you get only 50 or less that actually need a method like this to help you.

Pro:

a) Word list and glossary included. Not that you really need it for this tiny selection.

b) Useful self testing tracks, and a full program accompanying. You should do the self-tests. They tell you to relax, no one gets them all right, but I think many people will get them all right. Again, nice they thought to include it, but since the words are so easy not sure how crucial it is.

c) Words are grouped into categories. I contrast this to the Vocabulearn series, which I also just got, and which unrolls words randomly without grouping them by type. Not sure which is ultimately better for learning (perhaps a combination of both is) but the grouping seems to work well here and makes it easier to see where you are weak or need to go for additional work. If you wanted to pick up missed words in the Vocabulearn CDs, you'd have to just guess where they were on the CD.

d) The CD is recorded well and has tracks. It always amazes me when language CDs are recorded in huge single tracks where you can't isolate specific sections easily. This one is short, but well made. Sound is clear, and the speaking is well done. The Spanish speaking woman's voice is a little shrill, but contrasts well with the English voice.

In sum: Use it to learn the method, if you don't know it already, and don't get upset about the simplicity of this particular program. Then use the technique in conjunction with more comprehensive and useful vocabulary lists like Vocabulearn CDs or Reznick's 1001 Most Useful Spanish Words pamphlet.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Genderless Recall, May 23, 2005

By 

Jeffrey C. Narvil - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary : Learn and Remember Spanish Faster than You Ever Imagined Possible! (Audio CD)

I gave two stars because it has been two years since I listened to the cds and I still recall many of the hints and vocabulary I learned using the system, however, I deducted 3 stars for failing to teach whether the nouns are masculine or feminine. There is a small booklet which accompanies the cd's but it does not provide gender either. If you are studying on your own and digesting a lot of grammar through books, these cd's make a welcome change of pace and seem to cover the basics.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It works!!!! It is amazing., May 19, 2006

By 

Dr.Fencing (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary : Learn and Remember Spanish Faster than You Ever Imagined Possible! (Audio CD)

Ok, I read the above reviews and agree with all the points made.
However, I give strong 5 stars for this product. DO NOT buy it if you know some Spanish already, DO NOT buy it if you are seeking for materials to study Spanish grammar. DO BUY IT if you want to learn 200 words in a couple of hours and remember them well for a long time. This material helps you to memorize 200 words and it does it very very well. They do not promise that they teach you grammar. They do not promise that you will start speaking Spanish right away. Memorizing words is essential task in learning any language, I would say the most tedious task and the CD helps you with it greatly.