Learning Like Crazy Spoken Spanish, Vol. 2 (Spanish Edition) [DVD-ROM] [CD-ROM]

Learning Like Crazy Inc. (Corporate Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0978609085 | ISBN-13: 978-0978609085

This course is a continuation of Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level 1. Level 2 consists of Lessons 31 to 60. There are also bonus CD's with 8 more lessons and a DVD with an hour of video Spanish lessons. Learning Spanish Like Crazy teaches you conversational Latin American Spanish and helps you develop an authentic Latin American Spanish accent. As an additional bonus gift, with your order you will receive a link to download close to an hour of bonus video Spanish lessons.

Product Details

• CD-ROM: 13 pages
• Publisher: Learning Like Crazy Inc. (January 1, 2007)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0978609085
• ISBN-13: 978-0978609085
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I like it but..., March 26, 2007

By 

M. crislip "covertly famous" (Athens, Greece) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning Like Crazy Spoken Spanish, Vol. 2 (Spanish Edition) (CD-ROM)

It obviously mimics the Pimsleur technique, but it covers more ground and explains most things much better than Pimsleur does. Having done the whole three levels of Pimsleur, I'd say it was better, and given that it's cheaper, there's just no question about which one you should get (this one). There's only one thing that Pimsleur does better and that's keep you off balance. Since Learning Spanish Like Crazy approaches subjects thematically, it's pretty easy for your brain to get into a rhythm on a particular topic (say, for instance, forming commands with AR verbs). Since you just stay on one topic your short-term memory kicks in and you find yourself just zombie-ing it through). I went back to a previous topic a few weeks later and asked myself "did I really learn this?" Pimsleur, on the other hand, is *constantly* reintroducing past learned material and constantly trying to keep you off balance so you always have to reuse things you've learned in the past. In this way, I think Pimsleur may allow you to digest things a bit better. Still, there's more here than in Pimsleur and I think it's more useful for people who want to chit-chat with new friends than who want to learn stuff for a Business setting. Pimsleur is far too business-centric for me and far too formal-occasion oriented because of it. My only other little gripe is tiny and applies only to a small fraction of those wanting to learn Spanish and is a problem with all Spanish learning products. I did this series because I knew that I would be spending a good deal of time in Argentina. The first day I was there someone said "vos sos" to me and I was like "Is this Spanish?" Well, it turns out that in Argentina you don't really use the "tu" form except with small children and cuddly animals. "Vos sos" is the basic equivalent of "tu eres," but if you say that to an adult, they might get offended. But anyway, buy this, it's probably the best product out there.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ¡Qué Bueno!, December 1, 2007

By 

Laurel L. Clapper "K4CCW" (White Post, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning Like Crazy Spoken Spanish, Vol. 2 (Spanish Edition) (CD-ROM)

I've been studying Spanish on my own for the past two years and have found the reviews on Amazon to be ever so helpful in both the quality of learning materials I have purchased here as well as avoiding many pitfalls for courses that don't offer much. And so I felt I needed to contribute also since the reviews have been so helpful to me.

On this particular product: It's exactly what I needed for the stage that I currently am in my learning... I would call the stage 'TRUE intermediate' with the continued desire to continue on into true advanced Spanish. En otras palabras, I understand much more than I can speak but need more conversational audio for the subjunctive mood tenses. As others have already stated here, this course is terrific for continuing on in the subjunctive. I also liked how they did the conditional tense, commands, etc. Oh, before I forget: The audio is crisp and clear!

As an aside: The FSI course has been the main thread for me during these past 2 years, pushing me closer and closer to true fluency... but the FSI audio cds are NOT clear audio. The FSI manuals are indispensable and are terrific. I just wish someone would redo ALL the audio on the FSI CDs because it's such a great course!

Back to the subject at hand: I'm happy to report that the Learning Spanish Like Crazy Vol 2 is exactly what I needed for a little variation on the listening end of things due to the above-stated reasons. This product is terrific but please make a note (as others have already stated)this isn't for the beginner. The only downside to this package is that there were no transcripts. Let me repeat: NO TRANSCRIPTS CAME WITH THE AUDIO COURSE. (Usually, I'd be pretty upset, but, believe it or not, I'm not too disappointed because the audio is just that clear and also because I am not a stranger to the mood tenses, etc.) What it does contain: 14 audio CDs, as well as a bonus lesson package of 4 audio CDs (which I haven't yet listened to since I just received everything 2 days ago); also a really well done video interactive DVD. You get a lot of material with this one, folks.

Hope I may have helped someone up here just a little, because many of you have helped me without ever knowing it by taking the time to post a review. ¡Sigan adelante y que Dios les bendiga!

56 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, Questionable Promotion, April 15, 2007

By 

Paulybrooklyn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning Like Crazy Spoken Spanish, Vol. 2 (Spanish Edition) (CD-ROM)

The creator of this product is quite an aggressive salesman--his marketing tactics actually made me hesitant to buy it! There are obvious shills for his stuff all over Amazon and the rest of the internet--transparently phoney "reviews" for other products that end up being an endorsement for his program. Even on this page there is at least one planted endorsement from a bogus review site. Because of this, it is impossible to tell which reviews are from honest, satisfied customers!

All that being said, I actually bought this thing (downloaded, much cheaper, from the website), mostly because of the sample lessons I heard. I've only had it a couple of days, but from what I've heard so far the sound is nicely recorded (although 96 kbps is a bit thin in quality), and I can usually hear subtle nuances of speech and mouth movement. The actors are expressive in their delivery, which holds my attention much better than the droning voices in the FSI recordings. People actually laugh and flirt in their conversations, which involve everyday topics rather than finding the right office at the American Embassy. The narrator/teacher has a very odd accent, almost spanish/british (?), but he explains and breaks down the grammar very well and has a friendly, encouraging manner. The speed of speech seems about right--it's challenging, and I have to replay sections in order to hear how words are clustered together. That has been the most difficult part of learning for me--the transition from what I know about the language to hearing the way it sounds in real conversation. It has made me conscious of how we English-speakers do the same thing with our language-- we naturally garble syllables and link words together, which makes comprehension excruciating for new learners!

There is a slang section in the package, which is great. However, most of it is from Mexican and South American Spanish; as a New Yorker, I would have preferred to hear a lot more Dominican and Puerto Rican Spanish, which I have been told is quite different.

There's tons of material in this package, plenty to listen to. The video lessons also seem useful, although the image quality is mediocre (at least in the downloaded version). I've made pretty good progress in reading Spanish over the last couple of years, but still can't understand a word of the spoken language--I think this will be great for me to sink my teeth (or ears) into. I just wish the owner of the company was a little less of a huckster, because he's distracting attention from the integrity of his product!

Just a side note for other Spanish learners--I have found that Spanish comic books are a GREAT tool for learning to read. In New York, there is a Chilean comic about a character named "Condorito" available all over the city. It's howlingly funny-- the humor is very dark and politically incorrect, a great relief from the bland material one usually finds in textbooks. The artwork is excellent, and it features cast of engagingly bizarre characters such as "huevoduro", whose head appears to be a hard-boiled egg. The jokes are usually one page, often involving puns, misunderstandings, insults or sexual inuendos that give great insight into the language. There are visual clues to help, but I often need to consult the dictionary (which results in building vocabulary). The idioms can be difficult to decipher--sometimes it takes 20 minutes to get through a page--but psychologically, there is a great "payoff" incentive to get to the hilarious punchline at the end. So far I've found it to be the best resource yet for improving my comprehension!