Customer Reviews

Learn Spanish the Fast and Fun Way

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book seems to be a nice compromise between courses that just teach you a bunch of phrases and the highly rigorous treatment of the language found in textbooks. I used this as part of a conversational Spanish course a couple of years back (the course used the book for Spanish I and II. I am working through the book again at a slower pace (the courses were very fast moving) and feel like I am getting enough of a foundation to either pick up the rest of the language "on the fly" or to move on to more serious study.

The focus of the book is on the traveller, with chapters on things like "at the hotel", "in the market", "time and seasons" etc. However, plenty of language structure is worked in along the way to give a little bit of meat to the material.

The book deals only with the present tense forms of the verbs so if you are looking for something more comprehensive, you will need to supplement your study elsewhere.

I am very impressed with the workbook and accompanying workbook. This book was very helpful to me in acquiring everyday vocabulary. For example, this book has the words for "flat tire," "I need a tow truck," various articles of clothing, how to size clothing, etc. It has a very thorough section on foods and ordering in restaurants. I didn't expect the included flashcards to be very helpful, but I was pleasantly surprised in how much they aided me in memorizing the new vocabulary. The cartoon-like illustrations have been surprisingly helpful in memorization. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to use the tapes in my car without the book. The tapes also include various sections which focus on listening comprehension. I was not very impressed with the included dictionary. It is so limited that by the time you're able to use Spanish with non-english speakers, you will already have most of it memorized.

I wouldn't recommend this series for an absolute beginner because it doesn't have the degree of practice in pronunciation, especially two-vowel combinations, which is necessary for someone learning a new language. However, once you have basic pronunciation down, the new vocabulary is given with an extremely helpful phonetic spelling (much clearer and easier to understand than the Mastering Spanish series, by the same company). It is also a little weak in grammar and sentence building. However, it does provide the most gentle introduction to verb conjugation that I have seen.

I used this book after the Barron's Mastering Spanish Levels 1 and two series, but I was amazed at how much practical vocabulary I was able to acquire from this book. I think the Mastering Spanish series does a far better job teaching pronunciation and sentence structure.

My only complaints about this set are that I didn't find it sooner and that there isn't more of it. I really hope they will expand this very easy-to-use format in the future. I'll be their first customer.

In summary, I would recommend this set very highly for the person just past the absolute-beginner stage. You will not learn Spanish with this set, but it will help you in acquiring very useful vocabulary. The tapes are of very high technical quality, and the words are spoken very clearly, but slightly slower than I usually encounter with hispanics.

If you are an absolute beginner, I would suggest the Success in Spanish CD-ROM. I found this after struggling to learn pronunciation from the Learn in Your Car Spanish tape series. After acquiring basic pronunication, I would use this series before going onto the Mastering Spanish series, which provides much further practice in sentence construction.

Preparing for a trip to Mexico I focused on this book only to find that it was poorly composed. The irritations I had were:
1. Many of the chapters were not picked to be of as much use as I would like: e.g., Camping, A Trip by Train, The Beauty Shop, The Shoemaker and the Optometrist. 2. A dictionary is a separate book but it doesn't have all of the words that are in the Learn Spanish lesson book. 3. There is no index for being able to go back to certain words or grammatical subjects when you wish to refresh your memory. 4. The pages in the back of the book are supposed to be used for "flash cards", having a question on the front of them and supposedly the answer on the back of the flash card, but most of the flash cards have answers on the back that correspond to questions on one of the other flash cards, which makes most of them unusable. The pictures are useful but not particularly well done. Overall I was very disappointed.

I did not like this book. You can't use the cds in your car. The book skips around and doesn't interpret the sentences the cds read to you. I bought this book for a Spanish 2 class. The teacher didn't even end up liking the book after reviewing it more. This would be a good book to use as a refresher before a trip to Mexico. I don't recommend it to someone wanting to learn Spanish.

I've tried lots of foreign language programs and this is the best I've found so far. The program is dependent on the book and there is a lot of written exercises so if you are looking for a listen only type program this is not for you. But, if you are like me, and you need to see the language as well as hear it, this is a great program.

It's a great starter book. Would recommend it to anybody who wants to start learning the language. It is the prescribed book at a community college, where my wife and I are taking a beginners Spanish course.

I am taking private lessons with a teacher, and he recommended this book. It is pretty good, and I like the way that the more complex subjects, such as verbs and conjugations, are introduced gradually so that it is easier to absorb. Most of the exercises, though, are extremely simplistic. If you are a raw beginner to learning languages, this book will be fine.

I am using this book in conjuction with taking a class. The book is a good guide, but I am sure that I would not learn to speak espanol, without the verbal lessons. I did not buy the CD and think that the CD is a must,if you are not taking lessons.

I was a bit disappointed with this Book and Tapes. I am taking a Spanish mini-course in a local community college and this is the text that is used. I thought that having the tapes to go with the text would be great to use as I drove to work; but, one cannot use these tapes in conjunction with the book in the car. You must be able to have the book in front of you. Needless to say, it was not the help I needed.

Although this is geared to traveling, it is fun and I'm learning more grammar than my Pimsleur lessons. It has a lot of lessons, well worth the money. It seems to be more Latin America than Spain Spanish, which is better for me.