Customer Reviews

goSpanish: Learn to Speak, Read, and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before I tell you what I think about the goPimsleur method of learning a language I want to explain what this particular product is and is not. Because even if I didn't like the method, I would still give this product 5 stars.

This particular product isn't a full on "How to become fluent in Spanish" program, it's more of an introduction. But it's not only an introduction to basic Spanish conversation, it's also an introduction to the Pimsleur method of learning a language.

Over the course of my life I've been interested in learning a number of different languages, but if I wanted to learn on my own time it generally seemed to involve a rather hefty financial commitment. A program can *say* they have a lot of success teaching people to speak a particular language, but everybody learns differently and I didn't want to spend a lot of money only to discover I didn't like the teaching method.

So this product is a way to try out the Pimsleur method at a reasonable price. If you discover you like the program, there's a coupon for $100 off the full version. (The "coupon" is on the disk and is actually a promotional code you use to get $100 off an order from the Pimsleur website.)

As for the Pimsleur method itself. I liked it, the way the information was presented worked pretty well for me.

Words and phrases are explained, they are spoken by a male and female voice and words are broken down into parts to be sure you're hearing the pronunciation correctly. (This helps to avoid situations like telling people "I have a man, I want a hamburger.")

As the lesson progresses and you learn more words and phrases, you are occasionally asked about words and phrases you learned earlier in the lesson. This helps to reinforce your memory.

Each lesson is a half hour long and they intend for you to do one lesson per day. (They discourage doing more then one particular lesson per day, which can be a bit of a drawback if you have a lot of driving in your life.)

I think if you're willing to play by their rules (speak out loud, only one lesson per day, don't skip even if you think you already know the lesson, etc.) this is a very effective method for learning conversational Spanish.

In this package you get audio CDs, an mp3 CD, a paperback book, and a PDF booklet. The mp3s are great, because you can put them on your mp3 player. I listened to the CDs in the car on my work commute. The lessons are 30 minutes, and you're supposed to do one per day.

One of the techniques the program uses is Graduated Interval Recall, which means they will keep coming back to a word or phrase after you know it to keep it in your memory. They also use the Principle of Anticipation which gets you involved in conversations, and has you recall answers that you have learned; The narrator will ask you a question, and you will respond. The vocabulary learned is small but sufficient to communicate. The lessons also stress proper pronunciation.

Overall, I was pleased with the results. I would feel more comfortable going to a Spanish speaking country now, knowing the I could communicate enough.

I have been trying to learn Spanish now for the past year, and I thought I would give this a try. While I did learn some helpful phrases, the approach to Spanish study in this Pimsleur product feels unnatural to me. Many free and better programs exist, such as Byki, for those who want to learn simple phrases and conversational Spanish. I would not recommend investing in this product. Subscribe to Spanish magazines, read Spanish books, watch Spanish TV, subscribe to the free podcasts, and use the free resources found online, but save your money. While this is not a bad product, better free resources exist.

I have trouble with audial based teaching of Spanish. I'm extremely visual, and have found that the majority of my students are visual also, so all the CD programs out there aren't worth the hassle for visual and tactile learners. The thing is, there ARE audial learners out there! So, if that is YOU, here is a good one! I tend to recommend a text book that has a CD to go along with it.

But here is a CD lesson that has a book to go along with it. And it is GOOD.

I'm pleased that the book exists, there are no errors that I have seen yet, and it's well-organized and concise. The CD is clear and has a good pace - slow at some points, but better to be too slow than too fast - I bought it in German to help with my desire to be tri-lingual.

I've recommended this book to juniors and seniors in high school all the way to adults. - It's not designed to hold the attention of youngsters, though my own children did repeat and listen to it while I was reviewing it. Other "Listen and Learn" CD's fall short, but this one is on the mark. Lots of repetition, and yes, boring at times, but with a CD-based lesson, the repetition is the only way to absorb it, rather than just memorize (and then forget) it - True learning, you can't forget.

Be sure to read the book along with the CD. They go hand in hand.

Hope this helps!
Sra. Gose
Mother, Teacher, Author
Flip Flop Spanish Series.

Yes, this is the genuine Pimsleur Spanish program. No it isn't a complete course or even close. It is a sample which will give you a good idea if the Pimsleur method is right for you. The complete course--and you weill need the complete course to really benefit from the program--runs about 90 lessons and takes 3 months to complete, containing instruction in all major grammatical forms of the language. The small number of lessons here will not get you far.

Pimsleur's approach is all aural and involves carefully spaced repetition. You will be able to rattle off basic phrases at will and a t lightning speed after finishing the full course. You will have difficulty reading and learning new vocabulary, but nothing comes easy.

Try the 8 lessons. If you are bored out of your mind, do NOT buy the rest of the set. You won't like it. If you think this is fun, then certainly go for it.

I wish that I could learn most things this way - by listening alone. I have about a half hour drive to and from work every day. Sometimes there is something interesting on the radio, but not often. It's good to be able to pop in these CDs to fill the void and expand one's mind at the same time.

These CDs well get you started with the Spanish language rather painlessly. Just listen and engage your mind. Driving isn't always the best time to be listening to educational tapes - especially in heavy traffic. But if you read the intro on how best to use these CDs, that is made clear from the start.

The BEST way to get the most from these lessons is to pick a time when your mind is fresh and you have nothing else that requires your immediately attention.

This CDs will get you started and get you thinking about how to form sentences in Spanish. You will gain a little vocabulary and start to get a feel for words having different forms depending on the subject of the sentence.

I gave it four stars not because it was lacking as a teaching tool. I just wish that it included more content - even if they have to charge more.

Pimsleur creates the best language CDs. Really works on actual speaking and pronunciations and uses full sentences rather than single words such as "dog" "cat" "airplane" etc that Rosetta uses. Great introduction to the Spanish language.

I have formally studied three foreign languages and worked through self-teaching books / tapes for a couple more but have never encountered the Pimsleur method before. I am very impressed. It's unique in two ways that do seem to make it more effective. 1) it's based on response rather than repetition -- from the start, you are learning to formulate your own utterances (albeit very simple ones at first) in the language, rather than just echoing the instructor; moreover, you never know what's coming next, so you actually need to think spontaneously about how to respond. The effect of this is that the learning process requires much more active mental engagement, and engagement of different parts of the brain. 2) it starts off entirely with audio -- this is convenient, obviously, b/c you can work with the course entirely in the car, for example, but it also means you learn pronunciation purely based on sound, rather than being distracted by needing to unlearn English pronunciation of written phonemes. It does include a reading component eventually, but starts you off listening and learning by sound.

This course is short - only eight audio lessons though it contains a longer reading training course. Technically it includes a $100 off coupon for a longer course, but everywhere I've looked the longer course is discounted by more than that anyway, and the coupon's only valid if you buy it for full price off the Pimsleur web site. Still if you want to sample the method or just learn the very basics, this course is probably a good deal.

Pimsleur is an outstanding system at an affordable price; giving the average person the opportunity to learn a language. It is definitely user friendly.

This is an excellent way to learn some Spanish, while trying the Pimsleur method before plunking down some big bucks for a whole course. I'm familiar with Rosetta Stone, the excellent Fluenz software and an older version of the Pimsleur comprehensive course -- and can say this is a worthwhile investment of your time and your money.

Most of us want to learn to speak the new language, and to understand Spanish speakers, rather than write or read. To learn to speak and hear you have to speak and hear. For unless you have a working knowledge of Romance language phonetics, you will pronounce words you read completely wrong if you just read them. My wife is a native Spanish speaker, and on a recent trip to Mexico she praised my pronunciation. It's something that this native Englishman learnt from Pimsleur.

The new course is an incremental improvement on the older version. They use the wider used term `Español' rather than `castellano' now. When to advance to the next CD is clearly explained, as is the pedagogical methodology. The conversations still wring out every combination you can think of from a few words, but you are learning useful verbal language skills right away. There is a careful timetable of introducing new words while reviewing older material (it's called `graduated interval recall'). It is the standard Spanish of a reasonably educated speaker with no special accent. It doesn't have the lisp of the Castilian accent, and will make you understandable to the 500 million something Spanish speakers worldwide. And unlike the older Pimsleur packages, this includes written materials.

So dive in! It's fairly painless and it feels great to be able to be able to connect to new people.