Customer Reviews

The Standard Deviants: Spanish, Part 2 [VHS]

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I found the CD TO be very helpful to a beginner like myself.
I like their approach to teaching.
Rev.Donald Tefft K.C., MO.

Still more topics for beginning Spanish students. You will either love or hate this DVD. The crazy antics of the Deviant cast are entertaining. I find it to be very useful for my middle schoolers. Beats listening to me all the time!

The two tapes .... but wait there is more! A high lighter, a cool box and pencil, and a notepad. On the surface these tapes can seem dumb and annoying, but then the next day when I'm sitting in Spanish class - budda bing - the stuff on the tape has lodged in my head. How do they do that!?!?!

I was expecting the full length, more extensive version, but this one was okay for the price.
I would love to hear from the/a seller that the extended, full length VCR tape is available(about four times in duration of time and content of Spanish grammar).
I would like to purchase the following Standard Deviants VCR tapes. Here is the content for each tape I would like to purchase:

Salsarific

Advanced Spanish Salsarific: Building on the Basics

* Review
* Gender
* Masculine
* Feminine
* Definite articles
* Indefinite articles
* Demonstrative adjectives
* Subject pronouns
* Possessive adjectives
* Verbs
* Infinitives
* Conjugation
* Present tense
* Adjectives
* Agreement
* The impersonal "hay"
* Irregular verbs
* Conjugation patterns
* Stem-changing verbs
* The present progressive tense
* The immediate future tense
* Helping verbs
* Present participles
* Irregular present progressives
* Comparisons
* Mas + adjective + que
* Menos + adjective + que
* Tan + adjective + como
* Adverbs
* -mente ending
* Prepositions
* Direct object pronouns
* Indirect object pronouns
* Prepositional pronouns
* The personal a
* Pronoun placement
* Multiple pronouns

VHS Tapes

Salsarific Part 1

* LOTS of vocabulary the number "100"
* Pronunciation
o Vowels
o Tricky consonants
* The Spanish alphabet including
o "ñ"
o "ch"
o "ll"
* Cognates
* Diphthongs
* Written accents
o When to use them
o Why to use them
* Capitalization
o Of proper nouns
o Of names
o Of people's titles
o Of book titles
* Counting from 0 to 99
* Greetings
o Formal
o Informal
* Goodbyes
* Polite conversations
* Punctuation
o Question marks
o Exclamation marks
* The gender of nouns and pronouns
* Definite articles
* Indefinite articles
* Pronouns
o Formal
o Informal
o Singular
o Plural
o Usage in Spain
o Usage in Latin America
* The essential verb "ser"
* Conjugating "ser"
* Using "ser" in sentences
* The essential verb "estar"
* Using "estar" in sentences
VH1 Tapes

Salsarific II

* LOTS of vocabulary the number "100"
o When to use "cien"
o When to use "ciento"
* The numbers 100-120
* Multiples of 100
* Multiples of 1,000
* Multiples of 1,000,000
* Expressing the time
* Expressing the weather
o Using "hacer"
o Using "estar"
* Adjective placement
* Gender and adjectives
* Adjectives that end in consonants
* Practice using adjectives
* Demonstrative adjectives
* -ar verbs
o Conjugation
o Practice sentences
* -er verbs
o Conjugation
o Practice sentences
* -ir verbs
o Conjugation
o Practice sentences
* Irregular verb "tener"
* Uses of "tener"
* The irregular verb "querer"
* Conjugating "querer"
* Uses of "querer"
* Negation words
* Constructing negative sentences
* Possessive adjectives
o Singular forms
o Plural forms
* The seasons
* The months
* The days of the week

VH1 Tapes

Salsarific III

* Modal verbs
* Ir + a + infinitive
* Poder + infinitive
* Querer + infinitive
* Deber + infinitive
* Tener que + infinitive
* The reflexive
* Reflexive pronouns
* Reflexive verbs
* The preterite tense
* Preterite conjugations
* Using the preterite tense
* Irregulars in the preterite
* The imperfect tense
* Using the imperfect tense
* Imperfect conjugations
* Irregulars in the imperfect
* The present perfect tense
* The helping verb haber
* Forming the present perfect
* Past participles
* The subjunctive
* Mood
* Forming the subjunctive
* Irregulars in the subjunctive
* Using the subjunctive
* Verbs and phrases of volition commands
* Formal commands
* Irregular formal commands
* Using object pronouns with command
* Informal commands
* Positive informal commands
* Negative informal command
* Irregular informal command forms
* The future tense
* Building the future tense
* Using the future tense
* Irregulars in the future tense
* Expressing probability

I bought the Standard Deviants series for my husband, a musician, who needs to sing some tunes in Spanish. These DVDs work! You WILL learn Spanish, and quickly. Plus the way the are presented is fun, sometimes corny, but the method makes the lessons stick. The focus of the series is on learning what you actually need to know for everyday real-life communication. It is NOT a long list of vocabulary or simple phrases to memorize. The Standard Deviants clearly explain the elements of the language, and how to use them, to build up the foundation of what you need. Though I wasn't the target of the lessons, I've been learning too just from having them running in the background. My husband and I are having a blast talking to each other and making up our own sentences and conversations, because the lessons teach you HOW to put things together, not just memorize static words and phrases.The Standard Deviants - Habla Espanol? (Learning Spanish)

If you want to learn a language quickly, and actually enjoy it in the process, try the Standard Deviants. Five stars are not enough!

By the way - I discovered they also have DVD lessons in a wide variety of subjects. Need to brush up on the Algebra you forgot? I'm looking forward to trying a lot more of their DVDs.

Spanish is sooo much easier to learn for children when there's a light touch to the more advanced stuff. The language and intonations will expose the children to another voice than the teacher's or the Spanish news channel. It will stimulate and educate.

This tape does teach you some words and phrases but not at all enought to carry a real conversation.