Customer Reviews

Spanish Verbs 101 [With Listening Guide] (Learn in Your Car) (Spanish Edition)

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

 

 

This is a great CD for those who want to memorize verb tenses. The CD is a little boring, as it is simply one woman who conjugates verbs, and then gives an english translation for each one. Each tense is done in order, then starting with the -ar verbs, then -er verbs then -ir verbs. It is the verbal equivelent of reading the 501 Spanish verbs book outloud! Note: the second person plural form, or the vos form, is not given. This form is mainly used in Spain.

Ex: Hablo - I speak
Hablas - You speak
Habla - He/She/You speak
Hablamos - We speak
Hablan - They speak

They go alphabetically from there. This covers the present, preterite, imperfect, future perfect, and present progressive (I think). There are no phrases, sentences nor context given, only cojugated verbs. This is much better than writing verbs over and over again, and good for learning some new verbs, but take it for what it is. A little maddening to listen to, but a good review if you need some intensive memorization. Better for the more advanced student, who is learning tenses past the present tense. The most annoying part of this CD is that after every conjugation, the english equivalent is given. For example:
"Hablo, I speak, Hablas, you speak" The half english in the forms is really annoying after awhile. The listener does not become immersed in the spanish experience.

As the author I don't pretend to be objective, but allow me to offer a defense to the stucture of the program. Basically I set out to create an audio version of the most popular Spanish book ever written: 501 Spanish Verbs.

Nearly all audio programs attempting to teach you Spanish offer some type of verbs used in sentences or some other context. That was never the goal of the program. In fact, quite the opposite. Part of learning verbs requires memorization - as boring as that may sound. But the program also teaches patterns and encourages the listener to visualize as well - something several of the less than generous reviewers here have failed to mention. I've had hundreds of customers write that my verbs programs have been enormously helpful for them, but I think it's because they didn't expect more from the program than what it offered: a chance to practice and memorize the most important verbs, as well as the patterns related to these verbs, in order to jump start your ability to conjugate new verbs on the fly.

Now the guy who complains about small tidits of humor and suggest there is idle chatter - must be offended quite easily! There is very little chatter indeed - and any tidbits of humor are there because 99% of the students who would use the program find that tidbits of humor make the learning process more fun.

Don't buy this program if you are looking for an immersion experience, or want a presentation of the Spanish language in full context. Rather, if you want verbs and only verbs - and a quick, light way to learn them through audio with a bit of music in between to liven it up - then Spanish Verbs 101 may be for you.

There is one big problem that renders this program worthless (other than just being boring). Namely, it gives you the answer before it asks the question. In all other Spanish tapes and CD's there is an English statement or word followed by the same statement or word in Spanish. That way, you are constantly testing yourself and thinking about the material. This program works in reverse. That is, the Spanish verb form is stated twice, e.g., yo hablo, which is then followed once by the English equivalent, e.g., I speak.

For that reason, there is nothing to think about or try to remember as you go through the program. If you had to think about your answer for even a second before you answered, it would take an awful lot of the monotony out of the program, and you would learn the material a lot faster.

If the author made just this one change and reversed the order of the English and Spanish phrases so the CD's said the English form once, e.g., I speak, followed by the Spanish form twice, e.g., yo hablo, this would have been a very useful and effective program. As it is, the program is pretty worthless.

I would be willing to bet if you injected the author with truth serum that this was a boo-boo made when the CD's were finalized just prior to being put on the shelves. Therefore, perhaps the author could fix it with a second (useful) version, which would be free or discounted in exchange for the current version.

This audio demonstrates a "nuts and bolts' philosophy to spanish verbs. It is based on repetition, to the most common verbs - (the "back bone" of any language) However, it may be disappointing for one who wants more dialogue and examples of sentence structure, but for one who is looking to strengthen their verb skill - this is an awesome CD!!

I am listening to the 3rd CD. It annoys me that they skipped the conjugation for 2nd plural (hablais etc.)
w/o really mentioning anything about it . In addition if you had to count the amount of spoken spanish versus english words it would be 25% spanish 75% english. It's annoying that the meaning is translated for each conjugated verb 6 times!!! I prefer to hear faster spanish conjugation one after another to get the feel of it. repeating /memorizing the end suffixes w/o the verb is also not the way , I prefer to learn . it will head to the garbage bin after I am done this week. Nothing you want to keep.

I am about to buy this for my library, after sampling it from my library's audio holdings. As another reviewer said, it is what it is - the author conjugating Spanish verbs with English translations. It does help, though - I have to review a lot of Spanish by the middle of this fall (after 20 years with no practice) and I listened to Spanish Verbs 101 while doing my normal house cleaning routines. Repeating the conjugations is really helpful and after listening a couple of times I felt like I was comprehending Spanish a little better. I'm going to get the audio edition from Amazon so that I can listen to it constantly, in addition to other Spanish vocabulary review.

If you have no Spanish under your belt whatsoever, you probably won't find this very useful. I have a solid Beginner's Spanish foundation and find these CDs to be super useful for my drives to/from work (35 mins ech way). I got these about a week ago and I'm still on CD #1. Here is how I think you could get the most out of them:

1. Listen to the present tense verbs and follow along with the book before you use them in your car. I haven't done that yet and I'm struggling w/ understanding the pronunciation of a word or two. But if I see it written, they'll click.

2. Don't listen to the CDs straight through or you'll start thinking about what's for lunch or dinner. I'm gonna divide the sections up. Gonna do present tense -AR verbs for a few days. Then present tense -ER for a few days then the -IRs. So I'll have to press rewind when I'm at the end of -AR verbs (for instance) and will listen to all the -AR verbs a number of times in a day. Been listening to the CD straight through but my mind starts to drift. Hopefully dividing sections up will help.

3. Make flash cards of the the sections of verbs you're studying. So tonight I'm gonna make flash cards of just the -AR verbs. I'll probably just have the infinitive of the verb on one side and the translation on the other. I'll leave learning the conjugations to the CD. So I'll study those and then try to "keep up" or "stay ahead" of the CD as I'm listening then repeating the words.

Pros: Exactly what I was looking for. Just wanted something to force me to memorize verbs and conjugations. The booklet it comes with is concise with good info in addition to all conjugations. The illustration exercises at the end leave just a tiny bit to be desired, but that's not what I bought this for. Also I like how there is no Vosotros form (what they use in Spain).

Cons: And this is why I only gave it 4 stars and not 5: the speaker is not native. I really want to give it 3 stars because of this but the concept is just so useful. I initially learned beginners Spanish from CDs with native speakers and on more than 1 occasion a native speaker at a restaurant told me my lack of accent was impressive. I'm guessing repeating verbs after a non-native speaker can only hurt my lack of accent. So that's a bummer. When I'm done with these CDs, I'm definitely going to buy other CDs with a native speaker and be very cognizant of the speech. Minimizing an accent is obviously a personal preference thing.

Overall, glad I bought it and I'm looking forward to completing it.

This is James from James Spanish (the learning Spanish blog). Listening to audio CDs while you are in the car is a great way to let language lessons sink in. Learn in Your Car: Spanish Verbs 101 is a great product for expanding your grasp and understanding of the most commonly needed verbs. The 101 selected verbs are presented in all conjugations, giving a clear and comprehensive guide to all tenses.

The material is not presented in any way that is meant to be entertaining, so it is not the type of audio CD lesson that you will want to listen to over and over again for long periods of time. However, it is a great tool for drilling verbs and learning by rote, that is listening and repeating what you have heard. Translations are given so that you know what each verb means, helping to build your vocabulary.

Learn in Your Car: Spanish Verbs 101 is a great intensive study tool for intermediate and advanced students who are trying to master various tenses and improve their accuracy in the language. A good command of verbs and their conjugations can be the difference between speaking "pidgin Spanish" and being able to speak more fluently. This audio CD goes through the 101 verbs most used in the Spanish language, providing a strong framework for fluency.

Listening to the verbs and their conjugations works well for many students, as it allows you to hear the correct pronunciation as well as get used to hearing the words spoken out loud. As this is a basic CD with few contextual examples, you can take advantage of the convenient audio CD format to create your own custom learning routine while driving. To enhance your learning, you could pause the CD after each verb tense, and repeat it, practicing your Spanish speaking as well as helping the information to sink in. You could also challenge yourself to create a sentence using each of the verb conjugations.

Listening to these CDs repeatedly gives you a strong sense of the pattern that guides conjugations of regular verbs, helping you to find just the right word on the fly while you are speaking Spanish.

Learn In Your Car: Spanish Verbs 101 is a great product for strengthening your command of Spanish verbs without drilling yourself with a text book or completing lots of tedious exercises.

In closing my review of this product, I'd like to share with you the three Amazon products that I have found most helpful in my pursuit to learn Spanish. If you are truly serious about achieving fluency, I'd recommend getting all 3 of them if you can afford it.

1. Lights, Camera, Spanish (Book + DVD): Learn Conversational Spanish by Watching a Romantic Adventure This is actually a 90 minute movie for Spanish-language learners. It gives the option to watch the movie with subtitles but I'd recommend not using them to improve your Spanish. This "movie" also includes a workbook so that you can reinforce the Spanish vocabulary words and phrases from the film. The workbook also has lots of exercises to keep you engaged in the film. But be prepared to hear Chilean accents. Although pleasant to the ear, the accents from Chile are very different from most Latin American accents.

2. Verbarrator Version 1.1 (Windows Version) This software replaces the traditional verb conjugation books and makes learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an interactive and fun activity. This should be a required resource for anyone who wants to improve their ability to conjugate Spanish verbs. Especially anyone who is challenged by the drudgery of learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs and who is looking for a new way to make learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an easy and fun activity

3. Diccionario esencial de la lengua espanola de la Real Academia Espanola (Spanish Edition) If you are really serious about speaking the language fluently, then at some point you will need to replace your Spanish-English dictionary and get a pure Spanish dictionary with both the vocabulary words and the definitions entirely in Spanish. I use this one mainly because it was highly-recommended by a friend from Spain who teaches Spanish. According to him, this is the "standard" among university level Spanish professors.

I usually play this CD while driving since it's the only time that I can force myself to listen to it. I don't think I could listen to it twice, though...I just wish it would be a bit more entertaining. After a while it gets really boring...However if you can resist you can eventually not only memorize the verbs, but also learn how to pronounce them correctly.
Not a bad buy after all, especially helpful if you have hard time falling asleep...

I went to Amazon.com having failed to find an audio aid to rote learning Spanish verbs in the UK. Although I chose the slowest and cheapest postage I was amazed how quickly the CDs arrived (4 days). More to the point I am delighted with the product. I did not want a tricksy show, just a simple repetition of the verbs that I can copy, and that's just what I got. Thank you Amazon.com and Stacey.