Customer Reviews

Spanish (Pimsleur Quick and Simple)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Pimsleur family of language courses is probably the best available in the English-speaking world. Unlike most other audio programs, the emphasis is not on mindlessly repeating phrases... but rather on natural conversation. Spanish words and phrases are slowly introduced by the English narrator throughout the conversation, and you then incorporate them into conversation with the Spanish speakers (followed by the "right" response to compare yourself to). This more natural approach makes a huge difference in absorbing and retaining the knowledge.

However, the tried-and-true Pimsleur courses today are owned by the Simon & Schuster corporation... which has made some very corporate-like decisions in marketing them. The classic courses are 16 CD's/cassettes each, three course levels available per language, with all being quite in-depth and quite expensive. Unfortunately, "in-depth and expensive" is not in as high demand as "cheap with just a few phrases to impress your friends". Most people who pick up tapes and CD's at the bookstore are just trying to learn a few phrases so they can have fun with it on some upcoming vacation... they're not trying to gain actual proficiency with a language (and if they are, they're crazy for thinking that's possible with just a handful of lessons!).

Therefore, Simon & Schuster has extended the Pimsleur product line... creating 4-CD and 8-CD sets (in addition to the original 16-CD sets), to market head-to-head against other companies' products in lower price ranges. This 4-CD set is basically just the first four CD's of the original "Spanish I" 16-CD set, and the 8-CD product is just the first eight CD's of that set. There's nothing really new here but the packaging, the company is essentially just trying to squeeze some new money out of an old workhorse.

The problem is that this material wasn't designed to serve as a standalone product, it was designed to be the first four CD's of a 16-CD set. If you're hoping to just learn some travel phrases, you'll probably be a bit disappointed... your needs may be better served by purchasing some other "Repeat after me: Where is the bathroom? ¿Donde esta el baño?" product. If you're more serious and hoping to really gain some proficiency in Spanish, the only real value here is to give you an idea (before you spend allot of money) as to whether or not you want to go all-out and buy the real 16-CD set.

The Pimsleur approach is probably the best out there for learning a foreign language... so I by no means want my mediocre rating here to imply that I wouldn't HIGHLY recommend other Pimsleur products. All I'm saying is that Dr. Pimsleur originally designed courses that were comprehensive programs for serious learners, and that's been twisted around here into a marketing ploy. By itself, this 4-CD sub-set doesn't really seem to do a good job satisfying the needs for anybody.

First a word of caution: because the Pimsleur method is 100% audio, you won't learn any spelling of words. If your goal is to learn to WRITE Spanish, this program won't be very much help to you on its own. Similarly, you won't learn (or have to memorize) any rules of grammar or verb conjugation tables. With the Pimsleur method, you learn simply by listening and speaking. You don't really learn WHY you say things this way in this case and that way in that case. You will learn the grammar more by osmosis than by memorizing rules. Memorizing rules really hampers your fluency because you're constantly thinking about the rule, how it applies to the sentence or phrase at hand, and performing a translation in your head. When you're listening to someone talking at a normal rate, you'll never be able to keep up and you'll need to ask the person to talk slowly and one sentence at a time.

One of the main points of the Pimsleur method is that this step in the learning process (memorizing rules) is unnecessary. It is not how you learned your native language and, when you become orally fluent in any language, you no longer think about these rules you may or may not have learned along the way.

Obviously, it is a great choice for travelers and commuters who want to put that wasted time in traffic or sitting in your hotel to good use. Listening to the tapes/CDs in the car (especially in heavy stop & go traffic) is not quite the best environment because you should be giving your full attention to the recordings, but it still works even in that situation and this is how I used it. However, I did find myself rewinding to parts I missed because I was concentrating on not getting in an accident and I occasionally missed my highway exits while I was engrossed in the tapes.

The Travelers Edition is a great crash course to take before going on a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, but you should ideally be visiting a major city where there is at least SOME English spoken. Don't expect to go waltzing through small towns where no one speaks a lick of English. If you complete all three levels (6 times the number of tapes/CDs in the Travelers Edition), however, you should be able to accomplish that goal and be virtually fluent (orally) and free to travel to remote villages and get around rather well. From that point, you'll mainly want to work on building up your vocabulary as much as possible and, if it's important to you, study the written side of the language (spelling, etc.) that you don't really learn from the Pimsleur method.

I was intrigued by their slogan of "how you learned your native language". It made sense. I didn't pick up an "english" book until 10. So I tried the Spanish. The Basic program I tried had only 4 cassettes and 8 lessons but I will quickly move on to the Comprehensives. Played it in the car, practiced, repeated and they only want you to do 30 minutes at a time! Well, IT WORKED! Used some phrases and sentences on my sister-in-law and she thought I was speaking like a local.

I like the Pimsleur system, it works well, is easy to use. This particular "Quick & Simple" version consists of only 4 tapes, just enough to let you decide you want to learn more Spanish, so you can buy the more complete Spanish I.
If you are going on a trip and want to learn travel Spanish, get the Conversation version by Pimsleur, which has 16 lessons and will do much better.
Some of the reviews for this Quick & Simple version were originally reviews for a longer version that is now discontinued, and they were transfered to this less than filling version. The version that was discontinured was replaced later by the Converstional version.
The Pimsleur system works well, this version is just a light sampling of the language to see if you want to go further.

These CDs are good for people who don't speak any Spanish. I think the purpose of the Quick & Simple program is to get you interested in buying the ... full version. Even though I didn't really benefit from the Quick & Simple version, it did help improve my pronounciation and it did help to improve my speaking ability. This is because you constantly repeat the phrases over and over. You won't learn how to say anything in the past tense; only the present tense is presented. You also don't learn any significant vocabulary. For a beginner, the Quick & Simple program would be very useful. If you know how to speak a little (i.e. if you took one course in high school or college), you won't benefit too much from this.

Learn to count to seven, buy beer and ask for the bathroom. But, mainly, learn if the method works for you. I heard about the Pimsleur Method years ago, but I was afraid to spend all that money on what, for me, would be a sixth attempt to learn Spanish. This 8 lesion set was the perfect introduction. About the price of a hardback book, the Basic sets lets you see for yourself whether you like the method, and whether you have the resolve to do it every day. Also good if you have no desire to learn a language in depth, but would like to be able to say "Hello" in Japanese or Hungarian.

Atlanta traffic gives you plenty of time in the car. After only one week I feel confident that I will soon be fluent in Spanish by using this system. There is no book to use so it is perfect for driving. If you are interested in Spanish this beginning course will get you going.

Being that I have taken 2 year of spanish in high school, I pretty much already knew all these basic words and phrases presented in this intro course. This did not teach me anything new. What it did do was greatly increase my speed of speaking and listening. At least for the words and tenses presented. This is because (i think) that you are shown patterns of speech in such a way that you just "know" what sounds right. When's the last time you said to yourself "she have, uh, has"? you just know that has is the word to use. I finnished these 8 lessens in about two days, but if you are new to spanish expect it to take longer(like a week and a half)

The only complaint i have is it does not come with any script. I think i need to read the script to remember all the vocabulary.

I've made several attempts to pick up Spanish on my own, including some travels in Mexico. After finishing the 8 lessons in this series, I felt more confident using the words I knew because I'd heard how they were used.

One underlying lesson of the tapes is how to sound like a polite, educated visitor.

A second is using the words 'forward and backward'. You don't learn one sentance which demonstrates a word, you hear a word and use it in many different ways... as part of a question, as a statement, about yourself, about others, etc. You also learn different ways to get at the same information.

Today I would feel a lot more comfortable in a restaurant in Mexico than I did last fall, because I would recognize the questions "What would you like?" "Do you want anything?" "What would you like to eat/drink?" (Gratefully, I had patient waiters last fall who could speak English!)