Spanish Plus [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio Cassette)

~ Pimsleur (Author), Pimsleur Language Programs (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With Pimsleur Language Programs you don't just study a language, you learn it -- the same way you mastered English! And because the technique relies on interactive spoken language training, the Pimsleur Language Programs are totally audio -- no book is needed!

The Pimsleur programs provide a method of self-practice with an expert teacher and native speakers in lessons specially designed to work with the way the mind naturally acquires language information. The various components of language -- vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar -- are all learned together without rote memorization and drills. Using a unique method of memory recall developed by renowned linguist, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, the programs teach listeners to combine words and phrases to express themselves the way native speakers do. By listening and responding to thirty minute recorded lessons, students easily and effectively achieve spoken proficiency.

No other language program or school is as quick, convenient, and effective as the Pimsleur Language Programs.

The Comprehensive Program is the ultimate in spoken language learning. For those who want to become proficient in the language of their choice, the Comprehensive programs go beyond the Basic Programs to offer spoken-language fluency. Using the same simple method of interactive self-practice with native speakers, these comprehensive programs provide a complete language learning course. The Comprehensive Program is available in a wide variety of languages and runs through three levels (thirty lessons each) in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. At the end of a full Comprehensive Program listeners will be conducting complete conversations and be well on their way to mastering the language. The Comprehensive Programs are all available on cassettes and are also on CD in the six languages in which we offer the Basic Program on CD.

About the Author

Dr. Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Phonemics, and supervised the language laboratory at UCLA. He went on to become Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory that he called Graduated Interval Recall. This program incorporates both of these principles to provide you with the most simple and effective learning method possible.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 10 Lessons edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671045466
• ISBN-13: 978-0671045463
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,921,197 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, some room for improvement, July 17, 2001

By A Customer

This course is intended to be used after the Pimsleur Spanish III comprehensive course. It consists of 10 audio only lessons, each around 30 minutes. There are no reading lessons. In general, the lessons seemed to be slightly less challenging than the lessons in the earlier courses

The lessons pick up approximately where Spanish III left off, introducing new vocabulary and phrases and reviewing the material covered in the earlier lessons and courses. However, it seems that much of the material presented towards the end of Spanish III is never really reviewed.

An additional complaint I have is that a fair amount of the new vocabulary is pretty specific to the publishing industry, such as "publishing house", "book fair", "author's rights", and so on. It seems there are a lot of other words and phrases that would be much more useful to most people.

Something which is different than the earlier courses is that there are two different sets of spanish speakers. The female speaker in lessons 1-5 seems to have a different, or perhaps stronger, accent than the other spanish speakers. I found her speech somewhat more difficult to follow. But on the other hand, it provided good practice in understanding slightly different pronunciation.

All in all, I found the Pimsleur method to be an extremely effective and painless way of building and retaining a strong and practical foundation in Spanish. I think this Spanish Plus course is a bit less useful than the other courses in this series, but is still worthwhile, and will provide some additional knowledge and practice beyond Spanish III.

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for Pimsleur addicts, May 21, 2002

By	K. White "erzbet" (Chicago USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I confess, I am a Pimsleur addict, so I don't regret buying these in CD format. However, I must warn that these lessons were obviously developed for in-house publishing employees. The content is completely centered on the world of publishing, and will add very little new and useful vocabulary for others. Except that you will learn to discuss the novel you are reading with others. It does give you more experience with putting together the grammar you know, and adds a few new general phrases. But, it is not really providing much new material past level three. I wish Pimsleur would develop a true level IV with more grammer and content, or even "vocabulary supplemental" with the past grammar and tenses, but with lots broader conversational content.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for pimlseur addicts, May 14, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spanish Plus: Learn to Speak and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (The Sound Way to Learn Languages) (Audio CD)

first - see the review for the cassette version of this product for additional info. Now, I am a big Pimsleur fan, own several of their products, think it's the best system to teach spoken language. But, it is obvious to me that Spanish Plus was developed as an in-house product - all of the new vocuabulary and situations are related to publishing. I don't mind that they made an in-house focused product available for sale - I'm enough of a Pimsleur addict to want it. But, they charge the same for it as for the heavy duty courses that really teach you - I, II, III - in Amazon prices about [dollar amount] per CD. I would have felt better paying less - say [dollar amount] per disc since it's obvious that the normal consumer is not its focus. This is nowhere near as educational for the majority of people as the main program. It's fine to run through some new combinations of the words and grammar that you know, but the new content vocabulary is all publishing. What I REALLY want from Pimsleur is a review of the verbs and vocab of I,II,III together with new vocabulary related to broader content. And with a little less repitition of simple things that are already well learned.