Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Cerebellum Corp
• VHS Release Date: April 4, 2000
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305214328
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,075 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the opening jingle, the oddball lyrics "Careful or you're speaking Spanglish, then your grade will cause you anguish" provide a glimpse into the premise of this production from the Standard Deviants. In this, their second trip to the "Salsa-riffic World of Spanish," the energetic young cast performs skits and unleashes some clever and elaborate computer graphics while providing a reliable review course in the Spanish language. Starting with what's billed as "Really Basic Stuff," the cast reviews practical matters such as how to count, talks about what time it is, and discusses the weather. Moving into more advanced material, there are pointers on grammar, with a focus on the rules of particular verbs. It should be noted that the curriculum has been approved by a panel of professors, but the cast members tend to present the material in a relaxed format, which often involves the use of costumes and some bad (and hopefully memorable) jokes. Each major portion of the program is followed by a quiz, which the student can either take or skip, and the entire DVD concludes with an exam titled "La Tormenta." This DVD isn't a substitute for classes in Spanish, but as review material the unorthodox presentation would be helpful to a student. --Robert J. McNamara

Product Description

These Spanish tapes contain Spanish language fundamentals, including regular and irregular verb conjugations, vocabulary, counting, and pronunciations. In addition, learn about conversational concepts such as greetings, goodbyes, and polite conversation. See and learn the Spanish language in action through skits, songs, and mnemonics. Includes such topics as: the numbers 100-120, multiples of 100, multiples of 1,000, multiples of 1,000,000, adjective placement, -ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs, irregular verbs tener and querer, constructing negative sentences, expressing time, date and weather, possessive adjectives. Running time: 1 hr 36 min

"The Standard Deviants are colorful, funny, and easy to understand." --Jennie Hansen, graduate, University of Southern Utah

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only for the basics., July 6, 2002

By 

rolyan63 (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Standard Deviants - Habla Espanol? Beyond the Basics (Learn to Speak Spanish) (DVD)

I found the format of this DVD both distracting and not very effective. There seemed to be more animation than actual learning content. I did learn a few phrases but the DVD fails to combine words and phrases into valuable conversation topics. This DVD is best suited for children, not for adults who actually want to learn to speak Spanish.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like having a tutor to give you that little extra boost., March 6, 2006

By 

Tammy McArdle (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Standard Deviants - Habla Espanol? Beyond the Basics (Learn to Speak Spanish) (DVD)

So a couple reviewers on Amazon actually expected to be able to have entire conversations in Spanish after watching one DVD? Give me a break!

The Standard Deviants have great DVDs on all kinds of subjects and you won't be disappointed as long as you have realistic expectations. None of the Deviants' DVDs will make you an expert on any of the subjects they offer, nor does Cerebellum make any such claim. But they ARE ideal for students of all ages looking for something to supplement their studies. It's much like using a tutor for that little extra help you need while taking a high school or college course.

I do NOT work for Standard Deviants or Cerebellum. My enthusiasm is genuine. I took Spanish in college years ago, but didn't work very hard at it and didn't retain much (I was far more concerned with my social life back then). Now I'm a stay-at-home mother of three, and I recently decided to give it another shot. I've been studying Spanish on my own in my spare time. I have acquired dozens of DVDs, books and software to facilitate this. All have been helpful in their own way, but if you were to ask me to recommend just one product that would teach you everything you need to know to hold a conversation in Spanish, NONE of them would do the trick. Likewise, I wouldn't be able to single out one that was completely useless, either. While some formats and products have been more useful than others, each has had something valuable to offer.

The presentation of the material in all Standard Deviants DVDs is meant to entertain and hold the attention of the viewer. More pretentious types might be turned off by this approach and prefer to stick with the stuffy professor who drones on endlessly in a monotone voice that puts anyone with a personality to sleep. But if you've ever had a problem fully grasping something in class and later someone a little more lively than that stuffy professor explains it to you in plain English, and you have an "ah-ha!" moment, smack your forehead and exclaim, "Duh!" then you might want to give Standard Deviants a try.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Please make more of these., June 26, 2001

By 

Joshua Nacol (Clearwater, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Standard Deviants - Spanish, Part 2 (DVD)

Standard Deviants Spanish, Part 2 is a good way for a beginner to learn a little more vocab, learn the basics of verb conjugations, and some basic conversational Spanish. I feel that there was not very much information on the DVD; but I did gain a good understanding of everything they taught. These lessons are great and I plan to see many more.