Spanish Plus [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Pimsleur (Author), Pimsleur Language Programs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000 | Series: Pimsleur Language Program (Book 4)

With Pimsleur Language Programs you don't just study a language, you learn it -- the same way you mastered English! And because the technique relies on interactive spoken language training, the Pimsleur Language Programs are totally audio -- no book is needed!

The Pimsleur programs provide a method of self-practice with an expert teacher and native speakers in lessons specially designed to work with the way the mind naturally acquires language information. The various components of language -- vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar -- are all learned together without rote memorization and drills. Using a unique method of memory recall developed by renowned linguist, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, the programs teach listeners to combine words and phrases to express themselves the way native speakers do. By listening and responding to thirty minute recorded lessons, students easily and effectively achieve spoken proficiency.

No other language program or school is as quick, convenient, and effective as the Pimsleur Language Programs.

The Comprehensive Program is the ultimate in spoken language learning. For those who want to become proficient in the language of their choice, the Comprehensive programs go beyond the Basic Programs to offer spoken-language fluency. Using the same simple method of interactive self-practice with native speakers, these comprehensive programs provide a complete language learning course. The Comprehensive Program is available in a wide variety of languages and runs through three levels (thirty lessons each) in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. At the end of a full Comprehensive Program listeners will be conducting complete conversations and be well on their way to mastering the language. The Comprehensive Programs are all available on cassettes and are also on CD in the six languages in which we offer the Basic Program on CD.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Phonemics, and supervised the language laboratory at UCLA. He went on to become Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory that he called Graduated Interval Recall. This program incorporates both of these principles to provide you with the most simple and effective learning method possible.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 10 Lessons edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671045466
• ISBN-13: 978-0671045463
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,989,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, some room for improvement, July 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Spanish Plus (Audio Cassette)

This course is intended to be used after the Pimsleur Spanish III comprehensive course. It consists of 10 audio only lessons, each around 30 minutes. There are no reading lessons. In general, the lessons seemed to be slightly less challenging than the lessons in the earlier courses

The lessons pick up approximately where Spanish III left off, introducing new vocabulary and phrases and reviewing the material covered in the earlier lessons and courses. However, it seems that much of the material presented towards the end of Spanish III is never really reviewed.

An additional complaint I have is that a fair amount of the new vocabulary is pretty specific to the publishing industry, such as "publishing house", "book fair", "author's rights", and so on. It seems there are a lot of other words and phrases that would be much more useful to most people.

Something which is different than the earlier courses is that there are two different sets of spanish speakers. The female speaker in lessons 1-5 seems to have a different, or perhaps stronger, accent than the other spanish speakers. I found her speech somewhat more difficult to follow. But on the other hand, it provided good practice in understanding slightly different pronunciation.

All in all, I found the Pimsleur method to be an extremely effective and painless way of building and retaining a strong and practical foundation in Spanish. I think this Spanish Plus course is a bit less useful than the other courses in this series, but is still worthwhile, and will provide some additional knowledge and practice beyond Spanish III.

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for Pimsleur addicts, May 21, 2002

By 

K. White "erzbet" (Chicago USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spanish Plus (Audio Cassette)

I confess, I am a Pimsleur addict, so I don't regret buying these in CD format. However, I must warn that these lessons were obviously developed for in-house publishing employees. The content is completely centered on the world of publishing, and will add very little new and useful vocabulary for others. Except that you will learn to discuss the novel you are reading with others. It does give you more experience with putting together the grammar you know, and adds a few new general phrases. But, it is not really providing much new material past level three. I wish Pimsleur would develop a true level IV with more grammer and content, or even "vocabulary supplemental" with the past grammar and tenses, but with lots broader conversational content.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars too specialized, September 24, 2002

By 

Randy "randy310" (Russellville, AR. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spanish Plus (Audio Cassette)

Spanish Plus was produced with the same high production quality as the first three levels of Pimsleur spanish, but the reason i can only give it two stars is that it is much too centered around the publishing industry rather than the general conversation paterns of the first three levels. Also i was expecting more generalized coverage of the subjunctive tenses consdering how important they are in spanish as in other romance languages. The future tense could have been introduced also. It can be expressed with the verb "ir" but understanding it will be difficult without practice. In a nutshell, not enough new general material was introduced and too much time spent on a very narrow area. As happy as i was with the levels I, II, and III, i regret purhasing this one.