Customer Reviews

Superlearning 2000: New Triple Fast Ways You Can Learn, Earn, and Succeed in the 21st Century

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Before reading this review I will give you some idea of my background so you can judge my review on the basis of my experience. I am a multilingual language teacher and writer with a keen interest in accelerated learning techniques, and have been such for several years. I first became interested in Superlearning several years ago as a possible method for increaing both my own language learning rate, which is considerable, and that of my students. Superleaning looked like something really new and innovative, and, having read the original Superlearning book, I decided to buy several Superlearning products from their website, including the audio course, special learning cassettes and a language course produced by the authors and based on the exact procedures laid out in their books. I wanted to be sure I was doing it properly. I also wish to point out that the products are not cheap by any means, well, not in price anyway. In terms of quality of the materials, recording and presentatiom, I have never encountered anything so cheap and shoddy!

Five years later, and after even more extensive research and experimentation with the system, both personally and in my classes, I can only say that almost all of this system is a sham. It doesn't work. I used a language course produce by them, and found no benefit whatsoever in it. The only benefit I got was to use the course, which I would also like to point out is nothing more than 3 tapes and a very thin and cheaply produced pamphlet of words and phrases and, on occasion the recording did not match the transcript, was to use the tapes without the highly distracting breathing exercises and do it the old-fashioned way. I made my own tapes too, as per the instructiosn in the course, which was a vastly time-consuming process, and had the same lack of result as the "professionally" produced languages tapes by the authors themselves!

There is no doubt that proper relaxation, relaxed breathing, positive suggestions and classical music can have varying degrees of benefit on the students, but the method you will find in ALL the books and programmes produced by Superlearning leaves a great deal to be desired!

I was interested by another reviewer's reference to a researcher from Monash univerity and her work into Lozanov and Superlearning. As I don't think a text link is allowed ina review, you might like to do a web search for "The personal website of Uschi Felix" at Monash University for a lot more information about Superleaning and the validity of some of the claims made before you are tempted to part with your hard earned and get a disappointment.

Having tried to contact Superlearning with questions and complaints, I can only attribute the lack of service and, indeed, acknowledgement I encountered to the fact that they must get a lot of commenst from some very dissatisfied people! I urge you not to buy into this scam. You are being taken for a ride.

To those reviewers who are getting so excited by the promises in the Superlearning products, all I can say is try it and see. Remember - I was just like you a few years ago!

First, if 0 stars were an option, that would be the rating. This book has about 4 pages of good information, the rest is just either advertisements for other related systems or stories about how the system has worked around the globe with "miraculous" results. The first part of the book, I guess is supposed to be dedicated to the theory of the system and the second part is the practical application/explanation portion. But really the whole thing is just a poorly disguised testimonial by the "con-artist authors" as to how great the system is.
I'll save you a little money with a summary.....1. Do a relaxation exercise 2. Put on some 60 bpm classical music 3. read information for 4 secs while breathing in 4. take in no information for 4 secs while breathing out 5. Repeat this cycle over and over until completed.
I honestly can't say enough bad things about this book. Even in the "application" section, where they are supposed to actually teach you how to use the system, all they do is tell you stories about how the system is a worldwide phemomenon. A total waste of paper/trees, sadly I bought it :-(

A lot of sensational ideas contained in this book, not necesarily true. I found this book... almost two years ago... It seemed very exciting to read. . . After reading through the whole thing, I found that it wasn't very helpful except as a reference to other books. Way too many references are given, way too many people mentioned. The last section, part three was maybe the best section. It gives guided visualization and the basic autogenic traing. This can be found on the internet though,(autogenic traing); guided visualization, I noticed, after reading a few other self-help books, are a part of all(or most) self-help books. The reason I give this three stars, and not two is for all the references to books that I would like to buy to read further, and the interesting mind-enhancing machines recommended. This reason is also why I gave it only three and not four, the resources where exhausting, the examples of all the people using these methods became very boring. Story after story after story, but not much on how to or why, except in a later section in the book.
If you have this book, and are thinking about buying SuperMemory by the same authors, don't do it! Almost all the information is a copy. They are almost the same book except for a couple of small sections (maybe a couple of pages), about "water babies" and a very small section at the back (a few pages) refering to a couple of memory tricks, or mnemonics, that can be found anywhere. . . and better ones at that.

I found Superlearning 2000 to provide a wide array of relaxation techniques and advice on classical music. At some points, the authors also discuss using affirmations to prod the unconscious to whatever we seek to achieve. While I found the book to be packed with good advice and well worth the reading, I found two problems: the paperback version is 470+ pages long, and, to paraphrase another reviewer, the authors *really* want to sell you this book and their techniques. Most of the stories they provide are interesting, but at times I felt as if I was stuck in a very long commericial. Some trimming would have helped an already good book.

Actually Mr Schneider is right on the ball! I have researched products by the company "Superlearning" and by Ostrander and Schroeder and I can only say that you are wasting your money on a scam! In the original "Superlearning" book published in 1979, Ostrander and Schroeder make claims that 1000 foreign language words can be learnt in one session by doubtful students with almost full retention of the data. In the very same book, they contadict themselves by talking about how effective learning is connected with a positive attitude. They present their system that doesn't work. Take it from me! In addition, the so-called one day 1000 word experiment was actually conducted over 11 days which, if you read Lozanov's book "Outlines of Suggestopedy and Suggestopedia". Ostrander and Schroeder got it wrong. Furthermore, in their later work they suggest that the same technique is started with only 30 words and you are told that you should repeat the material as many times as it takes until you know it. The ultimate disclaimer, but a far cry from the outlandish claims made by this pair of frauds! In fact, I worked out that, if you follow all the advice, then you will need to expose yourself to the material at least 27 times in order to learn it!!! Oops! That's a far cry from 1000 words in one session with full retention, isn't it! And believe me, that is a conservative estimate! They claim that you can learn everything at once. Research shows that little by little and building on what you know is the correct way to learn effectively. You can see that can't you? I feel very strongly about fraudulent garbage such as this being put onthe market. It is a shame that in the USA people have the right to write what they want to. The claims made are false: they are just sensation. Look athte mistake in quoting from the Lozanov book. Either they made a stupid mistake, which means that they are unprofessional, or they did it for the sensationalism which helps them sell products, which are all, essentially plugging the same time-wasting technique, and that is also unprofessional. Either way, Ostrander and Schroeder are a pair of shysters. There is no "Super" in "Superlearning" and from my own experience and what I have heard from many others, there is no "-learning" either. Finally, to the people who gave this book good reviews, what were you reviewing exactly? If you were reviewing the book, then you will find it to be well written and interesting - it would have to be to make up for the content - or actually the "Superlearning" technique - some of the advice is good, but it's cribbed from other sources like Colin Rose - but if you actually try the technique, then you'll see! Don't read the book, say"that looks great!", be misled by all the so-called "testimonials" like Christian Drapeau who "created a great work upon himself" - they've used that same example in all their books and tapes!, review the usefulness of the book. An obvious aphorism, I know, but "Don't judge a book by its cover!" Don't be fooled by sensation. Go on results.

If you like to listen to fluff, then by all means, buy this tape. You don't get any information on how to execute any of this information, or anything else useful. What you do get is something that is akin to hearing about someone else that is doing really well. You hear it, and it's nice, but YOU want to know how to do it yourself. That is where this tape falls woefully short.

Unlike the majority of the books on this kind of subject I have read, this one contains an incredible amount of practical information that is useful. The first third of the book describes what is possible, the potencials, the blocks, the hangups that enhance or deter us when we learn. The second third contains a HOW-TO manual to create your own unique program to suit your needs including learning languages effortlessly, removing emotional hangups, completely getting rid of stress and tension and embracing the continuously changing world. The last third contain exercises for things like stress management and guided visualization.

Again, this is the best book of it's kind I have seen out of more than a dozen. I can not suggest it strongly enough.

Don't buy this tape! If you are going to spend your money then buy the book "Superlearning" instead. While I am a great fan of mind expanding techniques I would say that this tape is just "interesting" to listen to. It does not tell you the techniques and I only found a little value from it rather than a lot. I already had a copy of "Superlearning" which, incidentally, I found very good, so I thought that I would just get the audio of this one to listen to in the car to brush up on new wrinkles. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with the superlearning technique, I am just saying don't buy this if you want to learn about it!

I read this book when it was first published, and was inspired to try the techniques. I have returned to it many times since then for further inspiration. It is really sad to read reviews declaring that Superlearning is a scam; I would suggest that any tool - and Superlearning is surely no more than a tool - is only as good as the person using it. Or perhaps only as good as their expectations - and their intentions. For myself, I have used the techniques to radically change the way young students learn - students who in fact, had been described as having significant "learning difficulties." They gleefully proved the pessimism wrong. As a mature university student, I tried the techniques on myself, and achieved very real success - in the 90 percentile for a linguistics paper, for example, on one third of the usual study time.
The book needs to be read with an open mind - and the techniques approached with no preconceptions. By all means be analytical - but that means analysing ALL possible reasons for any lack of success; it is so easy to unwittingly introduce variables. My vote is for Superlearning as a significantly empowering technique.

Frankly, there is some good stuff in this. It is a pity that all Ostrander and schroeders stuff is just ripped off from other authors! At the heart of Superlearning is a technique that claims that people can learn 1000 foreign language words in a day with almost 100% recall. Yeah right! In fact, a researcher at Monash university shows how Ostrander and Schroeder's claims are just wild distautions of Georgi Lozanov's book! In 1979 when the original book came out you could sort of forgive the authors for being duped by a so called supertechnique for learning from Communist Europe. But come on girls! You're still plugging the same old stuff. They are releasing more and more tapes and books built around this fraud! How do I know it's a fraud? Try it and see! can S and O "superlearn" 1000 words and remember them? If they can, I'll take this back, but I want to see it firsthand! Also, have you, the readre, ever heard of something called a computer? Of course you have! They have them in almost every school in the States! That is because they work! How many of you have heard of Superlearning? Do you really think that if this really worked then the State Department wouldn't have set it up in every school in the land? Hey! It gets better! In the 1979 original, S and O claim that people could even learn 3000 words in a day! The game's up girls! This is just a money-spinner!