Customer Reviews

Mastering Spanish, Level 1 (with Audio CDs)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I originally learned Spanish years ago with the Foreign Service Institute Basic Course in Spanish, and purchased Barron's previous edition of "Mastering Spanish" a couple of years ago thinking it would be easier to use than the original. What I found was that it was a copy of the 1957 original--but the page sizes had been photographically reduced from letter-size to 9" x 7", making the text very small and difficult to read. The previous edition of Barron's Mastering Spanish on Amazon had numerous reviews, many of which pointed out usability problems: small, indistinct text; too-fast and sometimes indistinct speech on the audio; an intrusive and not useful phonetic alphabet which dominated and sometimes replaced the normal Spanish; and a preponderance of political/military situations and vocabulary inappropriate for most users. By comparing Barron's with the FSI original, I found that Barron's is nothing more than a photocopy of the old original; the audio is also a copy.

My curiosity was therefore aroused when I saw on Amazon that Barron's had a "new edition with new references, and up-to-date vocabulary and idioms". Unfortunately, the "new" is limited to a twelfth compact disk, which does contain some valuable information. However, it does nothing to address the problems with the previous version (and with the almost 50-year-old original) which numerous reviewers had commented on in Amazon's pages.

While the content of Barron's Mastering Spanish (and the FSI original) is perhaps the most proven, effective way to learn to communicate in Spanish, the usability issues militate against its successful use by any but the most dedicated and stubborn students. The fact that it is almost in its entirety a copy of a U.S. Government public domain publication may also help explain Barron's relatively low price. Not having to invest in development is probably a big help in keeping cost low.

Another problem is that Barron's sells the first half of the FSI program as a complete course, promising that learners will "master grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary..." as they "...gain command of the spoken language." Well, that's true as far as it goes, but if the FSI program, of which Barron's is a copy, is considered the model, it only goes half way. Those interested in a truly modernized version of the Foreign Service Institute approach will have to look elsewhere.

As others have said this course is only for those who are serious about learning spanish and are not afraid of working their asses off to do it. There is no silver bullet. Learning a foreign language is tough and not for lightweight learners. This is the heavyweight division folks. No you will not master this while doing other activities. When you were in college did you expect to learn calculus, physics, or other heavy duty courses while driving to the bar? I think not! You are going to have to use the book with the cd's in a quiet place without distractions every day. This course is going to drill you like being in boot camp in the Marine Corps. There are a variety of different types of drills that will drill this material deep into your DNA and when you master it and the next three levels after it you will be able to handle yourself in all but the most technical of situations. If you have no background in Spanish I would reccomend pimsleur first. I would also supplement this course with slangman's street spanish with audio and penton overseas vocabulearn. Something else that i have found helpful is listening to dvd movies first in english, then in spanish with spanish subtitles and then without subtitles. This is an excellent aid to comprehension. Even though I feel that these FSI courses are the SINGLE best way of learning spanish, your ability will be enhanced even more with these auxillary methods. Where this course is a bit light is slang and vocabulary but the products that i mentioned above will shore that up. If you want to speak with near native ability then this is the one for you...all others should take a pass on this one and check out spanish while you sleep.

I have an older edition with 12 audio tapes. As pointed out elsewhere, the "textbook" is a reduced version of the original, and is clogged by the most annoying amount of transliterations. I find the drills really valuable, and feel like I am actually SPEAKING Spanish instead of reading it. I feel it is well worth the price, assuming you have the perserverance (sp?) to stick with it, and it does require disipline. If you did the three courses through to the bitter end while drilling the vocabulary separately, you would know a ton of Spanish.
From a learning perspective, the most difficult thing about tapes (and maybe even the CDs, although I have no direct experience and Barron's was not much help when I inquired) is their lack of usable indexing. If, say, each tape is gone over from start to finish 4 times, there are yet sections which require many more repititions. To do this on a "walkman" tape player is difficult at best. Here is where the "bookmark" feature in a language lab really shines. I thought about a dictation transcription machine, but I really don't want yet another piece of electronic equipment.

I'm taking Spanish in college, and the weakness of college language courses is the intense focus on grammar, reading, and writing. This course is almost completely opposite, focusing mostly on pronunciation, speaking, and listening comprehension. Perfect for me! And certainly the price is right, especially when compared to the $700 or so that a full 3-level series of Pimsleur tapes.

That said, I'm so glad I'm not learning Spanish using this course by itself! The format is very frustrating that I probably would have given up, and as it is I've become uncomfortably well-acquainted with my pause & replay buttons on my cd-player. Many parts of the course seem to have been designed with a teacher-led class in mind. There are definitely better designed and more user-friendly courses out there.

But for the price, you get a book and 12 cds. Poor design or no, that beats any other course I've heard of. So if you're willing to put up with a bit of quirkyness, I'd definitely recommend this course.

I did not have any Spanish in school and so this was a pretty heavy duty first course for me. The tapes/CDs alone might be ok if you have had Spanish before but if you are a beginner, reading the book as you go along is a must. Listening to the tapes several times is also a good idea. The author really emphasizes pronunciation, speaking quickly, and using appropriate stresses (inflections). The book is also loaded with tips. You get some vocabulary--maybe 300-500 words, but feel like you need more when you are done. There is some grammar, but again, you want more. The emphasis is on speaking, typical phrases/idioms, and some fairly useful situations. By the time you finish the first book, you feel that you have really made some inroads. I am definitely getting the second book.
Other features are some possibly dated cultural tips, speakers from several other countries (mostly male), great drills, and a fairly good glossary. I do sometimes wonder if I will sound like Ricky Ricardo out of the 50's to a modern day Spanish speaker.
PS--I tried the travel type series first and found them to be pretty useless.

I have nearly completed Level I after several months of study and feel that it has helped me immensely. Nevertheless, I would not recommend it to anyone who has only a marginal interest in the language or to anyone unwilling to invest hours of study a week. Learning a language isn't easy and this program makes no pretense of making someone fluent in a short time (I would avoid any program that does).

If you want to learn Spanish and are self-motivated, then this program is for you. If you are not so interested or dedicated, then you probably won't get much out of it. I plan to continue by studies with Level II.

I bought this because I wanted to learn Spanish fluently, not just conversationally. However, I have had a hard time sticking to the program. It is completely focused on pronunciation. I'm sure that in the end, after a long, long process, this is helpful, but it just doesn't hold my interest. Plus, I don't feel that I'm only learning pronunciation and not the rest of the language - vocabulary, grammar, etc. If I knew everything but great pronunciation I could communicate with Spanish speakers, but all this program leaves me with is the ability to read words without knowing what they mean. Maybe I just need to keep plugging along, but personally, I know I will learn better with something that breaks down the information in a more structured manner and allows me to integrate all aspects of Spanish. Could be great for someone who learns best by listening. Also great for someone who has the potential to have a great Spanish accent. I can't even trill my rrs so I'm very discouraged and going to try a new method since I'm typically good at learning languages.

This course is very hard to stick with. I agree with the other reviewers, everything is just thrown at you. The way the beginning is set up doesn't seem to make much sense. You have to drill pages of words before you're shown how to pronounce the alphabet properly. Not everything seemed to be covered, with the greetings, grammar, etc. An alright course, if you have the dedication, but definately for use with something else.

My wife and I are going to Argentina on vacation, so I picked up the mini-Pimsleur course (16 lessons on 8 CD's) at Costco. In only a few months, I feel I've learned something, and I'm encouraged to learn more.

A friend lent me her Spanish Made Simple book. Again, a great and empowering way of learning.

Then I borrowed Barrons.... Sure looks good, with plenty of hype. However, after forcing my way thru the first three CD's...FORGET IT! This course is a great way to feel like an idiot. First, there's no way you can use the CD's without the book, so forget about learning during your commute. The pauses are inadequete, the way they fire the phrases at you (someone else said it better...like bullets). The one positive is that it's probably how you're going to hear it for real, but when you're trying to learn.....pure frustration.

I could go on, but I won't. Maybe, like some reviewers said, it's good for serious students of Spanish. I guess wanting to learn to be conversational isn't serious.

Thanks for listening.

You can load all 12 cd's onto your iPod (via iTunes and a little manual editing of the track lists), after which this massive library of 1940's introductory Spanish tutoring is at your fingertips forever. My iPod is the old 5 Mb wheelie model, and the 12 hours of instruction barely makes a dent in its capacity -- not bad, considering that I have Barron's Mastering Japanese (Jordan!) on there as well.

I really respect and appreciate these old Foreign Service Institute packages. I find the English speakers very odd, and wonder if some of that rapidfire 1940's Radio-style delivery is an artifact of the old reel-to-reel tape mastering everyone used to use. It was nice, as someone who reads newspaper-level Spanish passably well, to be included in the intended audience of "serious students" of Spanish.