Visual Link Spanish - Level I V.4

by U.S. Institute of Languages, Inc.

Product Features

• Visual Link Spanish teaches you to build complete sentences, ask and answer questions, and truly communicate with Spanish speakers.
• This Spanish course contains a pocket-size conversation manual, 2 computer CD-ROM's and 10 audio CD's.
• CD-ROM's contain 201 interactive lessons including 49 fun
• Also includes and easy training lessons, 28 vocabulary exercises, 38 games, 45 verbal quizzes, 13 written quizzes and 28 pronunciation lessons.
• Choose a Spanish course that has been reviewed and recommended by Dr. David L. Nielson Ph.D.
• Since 1995, this Spanish course has benefited people in 49 states and over 20 countries. It is also taught at Weber State University.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000C08KK
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 7, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #45 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Spanish & Portuguese
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Visual Link® Speaking Method was developed by David S. Clark, director of U.S. Institute of Languages, in 1996. It was then perfected by a team of linguists/Instructors from the Institute. Instead of just learning isolated words, using this method, individuals learn how to form correct, complete sentences by the end of the first audio session. Languages are learned by themes like Basic Needs, Locations, Survival Expressions, and Communication. Within each theme, the language is broken down into groups of words. Words are chosen from each group to form sentences. Its courses have been and are currently being taught at major U.S. corporations, government agencies, as well as at the University level. For the protection of its customers, the U.S.

Product Description

The Visual LinkTM Level I Spanish Course is designed to teach you to speak in complete sentences and help you become fluent in conversational Spanish. This course consists of interactive computer based lessons that use a combination of visual and audio features to interactively teach you Spanish sentence structure in a way that is fun and easy to remember. After learning from the software lessons, you can review each of the 13 sections using the corresponding audio CDs that accompany the course. This course has been taught at the university level for 7 years, has been taught at major U.S. corporations for over 12 years and it has been sold in over 130 countries.

System Requirements
Windows
* Windows XP, Vista, 7
* Available Disk Space: 1.1 GB
* Intel Core Duo 1.8GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor or equivalent
* 512 MB RAM 1 GB Recommended
* 256 MB VRAM 512 Recommended
* CD-ROM drive and speakers
* 1024 x 768 screen resolution or higher

Macintosh
* Mac OSX 10.5 or higher
* Available Disk Space: 1.1 GB
* Intel Core Duo 2.66GHz processor or equivalent
* 512 MB of RAM 2 GB Recommended
* 256 MB VRAM 512 Recommended
* CD-ROM drive and speakers
* 1024 x 768 screen resolution or higher

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent program!, August 23, 2007

By 

I. Feygin "lovejazz" (Englewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual Link Spanish - Level I V.4 (CD-ROM)

This is an absolutely excellent program. Extremely easy and enjoyable to use, and with great results! I tried so many of them, and there is simply nothing else that even comes close! Instead of teaching you useless phrases such as "a lady eats fish under the tree" (a phrase that most likely you will never use), this program actually teaches you how to "assemble" useful, everyday practical phrases that you will be using a lot, from the "blocks" that are easy to understand and easy to remember. Buy it!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visual-Link Spanish - Great Program!, October 14, 2008

By 

Paulie "Meh" (Anytown) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Link Spanish - Level I V.4 (CD-ROM)

This is an excellent program. Visual link provides CDs. You intall two programs to your computer that provide new vocabularly, a visual/aural way to construct new sentences by providing instant sentence structure, so you are speaking Spanish after the very first lesson, and pronouciation of the more difficult constantants/vowels, like the LL in Spanish. I had bought Rocket Spanish which is loadable to an IPOD or MP3 player, but found that only listening (I'm a visual learner) was not helping me understand the grammatical concepts or helping my retention.

Yes, you have to use your computer to review lessons but you have to do that with just about any program, including Rocket Spanish. You get CD's to listen to and a convenient carrying case. Keep those in the car. Each CD corresponds to a lesson. Review the lesson and complete the exercises for reinforcement, then listen in the car to learn aurally. The audio CD's review pronounciation and quiz you on recently learned concepts. I find that when I go back to my Rocket Spanish MP3 lessons that they now make sense because I can visualize the words and have a better understanding of the grammatical structure of Spanish. I find the computer based lessons more accessible than Rocket Spanish. But, the programs complement each other. I suggest ordering the free CD directly from the Visual Link website to get a feel for the program. Chances are you will get an email offer that will reduce the price to around $99 the same as Rocket Spanish. You will then get additional offers for Level II that reduce the cost by 50% ($49.99).

They now have Level II and a complementary on-line program that goes deeper into the grammar, prounciation, and conjugation of Spanish verbs.

As far as the one review stating you have CD's and this is a pain. Just load them onto your computer then upload them to your MP3. I find that simply popping them in to my CD player is great. Each time I start a new lesson, I think there is no way I can remember all this new vocabularly, but by the end of the lesson, I pretty much have everything stored in my memory bank! I really enjoy this program.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great. But limited usage? unclear marketing., July 12, 2010

By 

Amytris Faus "amytris faus" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Link Spanish - Level I V.4 (CD-ROM)

The free d/l of level 1 'basic needs' is wonderful.
Particularly pleasant to (have to) listen to is the voice of 'Maria' (a Mexican speaker of Spanish), and the voice of the unknown guy.
I did learn and remember a lot from that limited test.
However, I then ordered the complete Level 1, and it arrived, and I am dismayed to find that it can only be used on one, or at most two, personal computers.
(if you 'de activate it' on PC #1)
This makes me hesitate to load it, register it,and activate it at all.
my current laptop is using Vista, and I'm also hoping to purchase another PC soon....
Verbally they say that the course 'will work', but the packaging says 'windows XP & Vista'

I wonder how buying a 'used' version could possibly even work out for someone?
AND...in time if I want to use this again, will the company be willing to replace it??(??)
Since it costs almost $100 I do think this is a valid concern.
Yes, the audio CDs will be available to me and my family,
BUT the whole point was the VISUAL-LINK.
So: I dunno.
3 stars for the dismaying surprise, otherwise 5 for the free download portion,
since elementary as it was,I remembered it much better than all the stuff we did in 2 semesters at college last year.