Product Details

• Actors: Standard Deviants
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Cerebellum Corp
• VHS Release Date: April 4, 2000
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630521431X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,768 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Educational > Languages > Spanish

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The first hint that this isn't your normal, staid Spanish review course is the subtitle that's flashed across the screen: the "Salsa-riffic World of Spanish." The Standard Deviants, a cast of ebullient young performers who believe no joke is too bad as long as its memorable, bring their talents to a course in introductory Spanish in this video. Lots of flashy graphics keep things lively, but the course material itself is rock solid--it's been approved by an academic panel. Following some basic information on where Spanish is spoken, the real lessons begin with instruction on pronunciation and the Spanish alphabet (which, of course, uses some typographical symbols not used in English). A bit of vocabulary is imparted as the pronunciation lessons progress, and after some pointers on capitalization, simple lessons in practical conversation begin. The video proceeds to the inescapable bane of many language students, conjugating verbs. While this production won't be a substitute for an actual course in Spanish (and the cast specifically points out that it doesn't intend to be), the presentation is consistently energetic, with the lessons easy to remember. Someone who is interested in learning (or reviewing) basic material will no doubt gain from watching it. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spanish-Sesame Street Style, October 5, 2001

By	MuseGlance "MuseGlance" (WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Standard Deviants - Spanish, Part 1 (DVD)

I have taken college Spanish and tried to teach myself off and on, but have been unsuccessful. So since I was working graveyards and could view this on the DVD player on my laptop, I decided to give it a try.

Sock puppets, and insulting words that make for good jokes were the first vocabulary introduced. Loco, stupido, etc. Fast moving colors and lots of different people relaying information kept it entertaining.

By looking at the outline it didn't look like it covered much, but I would say that it covered in it's two hours what a student would be expected to learn in a week on a college campus.

I didn't know everything like I thought I might, so it will be useful to me. But the tests on the DVD don't seem to work half the time. It would show question one...then the answer and then the voice would say question two but wouldn't become visible until I hit the next button and then it would give me the answer as well. (could be a problem with my computer, but don't know)

I think it is a good purchase to stimulate former knowledge and a great introduction if you are looking to start the language.

I rated it four cause I would have liked to see more without having to buy another DVD...and I struggled with the tests working.

Thanks Standard Deviants, you are the only game in town for education on DVD's. I will be replaying this until I have it down. Good Job!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tape for fun learning, July 1, 1999

By A Customer

I love the way the Standard Deviants teach. This video is a fun, step by step way of learning Spanish. I can't forget some of this stuff because of the style.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Same Program Different Titles, December 21, 2005

By	Donald J. McKee (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Standard Deviants - Habla Espanol? (Learning Spanish) (DVD)

Normally I would have given a 5 star rating BUT I first bought Advanced Spanish - Beyond the Basics. I liked it so much I bought Advanced Spanish - Verbs, Spanish 1&2 and ¿Habla Español?. My tape of Advanced Spanish - Verbs is IDENTICAL to Advanced Spanish - Beyong the Basics. In fact it had that as the title for the video when you view the tape. The DVD of ¿Habla Español? is IDENTICAL to the Spanish 1 tape except for some quizzes. I wrote the company with this complaint and got no answer. If you go to their site you will find about 20 Advanced Spanish DVDs that have descriptions that all appear to be the same DVD with different titles. I would definitely not buy Spanish 1. Instead buy the ¿Habla Español? DVD. If you already have Spanish 1, you won't get much from this DVD. Other than this, I would be very careful buying from this company.