Customer Reviews

SmartSpanish - Learning Spanish the Smart Way

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It didn't take much for me to want to give SmartSpanish a try because I had such great results with their other program, SmartFrench. The Smart language programs are so unique because they teach you how to speak and understand a language the way it is ACTUALLY spoken. Unlike French, however, which I began study as an adult, I had an early background in Spanish but hadn't studied it since high school and that was many years ago. I recently moved to LA and decided since I was in an environment where I can actually practice the language, I might as well try to reacquaint myself with Spanish. But I do not have time to study it now, I just want to understand it and refresh what I already know. This program is absolutely perfect for that because I can listen to one of the conversations at my convenience whenever I want to practice my listening and speaking. I also bought a tiny Spanish dictionary. Now when I run across a Spanish TV channel I actually understand much of what is said which is really weird. I even started speaking some Spanish here in LA with confidence which is something I never did when I was a formal student! SmartSpanish is a great complement to formal study or a do-it-yourself course of study. I am proof that no matter what your background is you will benefit from this technique.

I started studying Spanish 20 years ago when I was a union organizer for the Roofers. I took some college correspondence courses. A few years later I left that job to work as a pipefitter.

When I quit organizing, I decided to continue to study Spanish on my own. I bought all the typical educational tapes, the ones where you repeat a
sentence after the voice on the tape. I started reading Spanish nearly every night, to increase my vocabulary. I read one or two Spanish novels a month, depending on how much time I have.

I recently started to work on big, overtime constructions jobs. The past
year I have been on big jobs in Texas, where at least half the workers on
the job speak Spanish. Some speak both English and Spanish, but a lot of the workers speak only Spanish.

I quickly discovered a few things:
One, I had a great Spanish vocabulary. I am like a walking Spanish
dictionary. I'd say I've a bigger vocabulary than 80% of the Spanish
speaking guys on the job. Spanish speaking guys often ask me for the most
correct Spanish word for certain things.
Secondly, I discovered I couldn't understand anything spoken in spanish. There is a lot of slang, but that wasn't the problem. When somebody said something, or when I listened to someone talking on a spanish TV program, a spoken sentence or paragraph sounded like one long, hundred sylable word. It all ran together, I pick up a work here or there, it sounded like it always did before I learned any spanish.
And thirdly, when I spoke spanish to anyone, it was as if I were looking words up in the spanish dictionary and talking, slowly, haltingly.

These cds were like the missing piece of my spanish education. I'm not even done with the first set yet, since I am working 7 days a week, 10 or 12 hours a day. But shortly after starting listening to the cds, playing them over a few times, my listening comprehension increase dramatically. This is really a major turning point for me. The more I can understand by listening,the more spanish idioms and slang I learn. Now, turning on the TV and watching a spanish movie is a learning experience for me. Listening to guys talking at work is a learning experience, since I can understand them. I am now conversing much more on the job, with much more confidence.

Again, I believe these cds were the key. What a great product. I wish I had them years ago. -Greg

I've tried a few other Spanish cd's that focus more on grammar, and they have their uses, but it gets boring just repeating words and phrases in isolation. That's why I really like this system--you hear actual native speakers and really get a feel for the language--it's rhythms, idiosyncrasies, intonation, etc. So it gives me more of an appreciation for the language, keeps me interested, and motivates me to keep on learning.

I am glad I discovered Spanish. I am enjoying the very simple style. It forces you to observe the language in it's structure. It's an excellent complement to my textbook.

Before going to Spain, I wanted to become familiar with Spanish. As I taught French to foreign students, I knew what was important. For myself as a complete beginner in Spanish, I looked at several possibilities. I finally selected Smart Spanish as the most likely to get the results I was looking for: constant interaction between me as a student and the teachers, with the ability to repeat and come back to what I had missed, while permitting me to jump ahead. Smart Spanish is by far the best course: it is really inexpensive for what I got from it. When in Barcelona and Zaragoza or San Sebastian I could understand a good deal of what I was listening to even when they spoke so fast with their cigarettes. That made my trip so much more pleasant and I encourage everyone to do the same. This method is the fastest way to understand and even speak Spanish! Smart Spanish is excellent from mornings to never ending nights!

Thank goodness I have had two years of Spanish. Without it this would have been a total waste of time. I don't see how you can learn to speak Spanish from this CD-Rom. I am going to use it to hear the language spoken. I hope I get something out of it. I guess I thought they would have the native speakers acting out or doing something to let you know what they are talking about.

After repeating interesting dialog from interviews with regular people, you are given explanations on vocabulary, grammar and conjugation. It doesn't cover all the grammar as it is not taught systematically. You might want to also get a grammar book to further your knowledge, but with this CD-Rom you learn the grammar that is the most relevant because it is used several times in casual conversations. Little by little, you get used to the speed of the spoken language. I got a lot of confidence using this CD-Rom. I recommend it to everyone who is interested in speaking real Spanish.

This product devotes most of its practices to one particular learning technique, and that is to tune your ear to spanish speaking. It is not comprehensive in grammar. It also has some problems with incorrect and incomplete translations .

Example: The first lesson with William Torres:

1. Incorrect Translation
"Y con dos camaras trabajaba"
William used the Imperfect tense(expresses an action or state of being that was continuous in the past and its completion is not indicated) as in "trabajaba", but the English translation found in this program is in the Preterit tense "I worked with two cameras". He really said "I used to work with two cameras". This program should translate the Spanish exactly how he said it- "I was working or I used to work with two cameras."

2. Incomplete translation
"Hay algunos que tienen mas."
The program translates the above sentence- "Some have more."
Why not complete the translation for the beginners- "There are some that have more". The beginner needs no short cuts in the translation. This sentence is not an idiom, or slang! So why the short cut translation?

Should you buy this program? The answer is Yes! This will tune your ears for sure and make you think. I would give this product 3 1/2 stars if I could.

A simple approach. I liked the concept of learning how to speak before learning written grammar-the whole idea of studying the way a child does. I tried this product and was very satisfied.

Since I moved to CA, I found it very useful to be able to speak Spanish, so I decided to take up one. I already knew basic Spanish from taking some classes but I wanted to practice more conversation and listening skills and I came across this product on amazon.com. After reading the review, I decided to purchase one.
To my great surprise, the beginner CD was pretty high level, and not one of those that make you repeat basic sentences, so that was nice. (If you have no back ground in Spanish what so ever, you may need to consider this point) I purchased the audio versions so I can listen to it in my car on my 30min commute to work everyday. I wanted to be thorough, so I took 1 week for each lesson. And after listening to all the steps, I tried repeating (first the slow version in Step2, second, the normal reading speed in step1, and finally the conversation speed with the guest in step6). So after 7 weeks, I got through all the CDs, and I could almost repeat at the speed of each guest on all the lessons!
Oh, and to my surprise, some phrases or pieces of conversation stuck to my head, and I even had a dream of me speaking Spanish! (you know what they say, if you get really good at speaking the language, you'll start having dream in that language!)
So I'm pretty satisfied with the product. :)
If I would add anything, I'd like it to have the conversation version of these lessons where we can hear dialogues, not only monologues.
Now, I'm thinking of taking the Intermediate and Advanced lessons for the next step.
Oh, and I'd like to add, the author was very nice and helpful when I had some problem with the CD. I liked the fact that the author himself gave me some support.
Thank you Christian!