Spanish I - 2nd Rev. Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Comprehensive)

Upon completion of this Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will be able to:

* initiate and maintain face-to-face conversations,

* deal with every day situations -- ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family,

* communicate basic information on informal topics and participate in casual conversations,

* avoid basic cultural errors and handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements,

* satisfy personal needs and limited social demands,

* establish rapport with strangers in foreign countries,

* begin reading and sounding out items with native-like pronunciation.

Having said that, I think it pays to be aware of a few things before making the Big Purchase.

Because the price tag for these CDs is high, you might find it helpful, as I did, to try Pimsleur's "Quick and Simple" set of CDs for Spanish first. Those CDs duplicate (with minor differences) the first 8 lessons of the Spanish I collection. So if you wish to be cautious, that is probably the best way to get started with Pimsleur products, rather than buying the more expensive, more comprehensive products right away. You'll get a sense of whether this is the route you want to go if you want to learn more Spanish.

Whether you start with the Spanish I package, or the Quick and Easy CDs, you will be exposed you to the heart of what makes the Pimsleur method unique and painless. The approach is based on (1) The Principle of Anticipation (a mastery technique that is different than rote recall), (2) Graduated Interval Recall (an approach that provides new stuff to memorize at optimal intervals), (3) Core Vocabulary (an efficient, optimal selection of a small number of key words that you need to know, as opposed to an extensive vocabulary), (4) and "Organic Learning" (learn speech, eg sound, rhythm, intonations, as opposed to a bunch of textbook gramatical rules). I should add that there's something subtly humorous about the content of the CDs, so if you have a sarcastic or wicked sense of humor, you won't be totally bored.

Like many, I found the approach efficient and useful, and I had lots of fun with the CDs as I drove around town blathering away in Spanish.

But it is worth emphasizing that Pimsler is not the only game in town. There are other very high-quality competing approaches (e.g. Platiquemos Spanish), that are generally less expensive. On Platequemos, for instance, the speakers sound like they are from Central and South America, and one gets the impression that they are teaching a version of Spanish that is useful in the Americas.

I think it pays to be aware that with Pimsleur you are learning a very general form of Spanish that does not always play well in some Spanish-speaking counries. In the lessons, for instance, you are quickly instructed to say "Encantado" (pleased to meet you) after meeting someone. When I mentioned this to some Mexican friends, they just laughed and said "you probably won't get killed for saying that, but from know on just say 'mucho gusto' and nobody will get hurt!" A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

The culture-specific meaning of some words is a big issue. Take words like "familia," "confianza," "amigo," "amor," and "tu." We may think we understand the implications of these familiar words, especially after learning a little Spanish, but newcomers are unlikely to understand their deep and subtle meanings within the context of (for example) Mexican culture.

So, I think it pays to learn phrases and code words from a specific culture or country that most strongly interests you (something you'll never get from plodding through the simple and general Pimsleur approach). To this end, there are books that often discuss a specific country's idiomatic expressions or slang. For instance, I've been interested in learning more about Mexico's version of Spanish, as well as its culture. I benefitted greatly from Boye Lafayette De Mente's book, "There's a Word For It In Mexico" (also marketed as "The NTC's Dictionary of Mexican Cultural Code Words"). In the case of Mexican Spanish and culture, Octavio Paz' "The Labyrinth of Solitude" is excellent, too. Travel guides for specific countries, such as the Insight Guides, often provide a few words of slang that are unique to specific regions.

It pays to have a fluent spanish speaker as a co-worker, friend and/or lover while you are learning from the CDs, as they might, on a good day, rescue you from whatever linguistic cliff Pimsleur sends you over. If you don't yet have a Spanish speaking lover, you may need to purchase some additional resourses, e.g. "Wicked Spanish", "The Lover's Dictionary," or "Hot International Phrases" to help you get into/out of trouble. And don't forget to buy every Shakira CD that has ever been recorded!

Don't be fooled by the $$ coupon that comes with the Pimsleur CDs. In my experience, a much better price can be found using Amazon.com.


Good memorization approach   January 10, 2005
 54 out of 59 found this review helpful

I have been using a number of recorded Spanish lessons to learn Spanish on my own, including the Foreign Service Institute course (Mastering Spanish, levels 1 and 2) and lessons from learningspanishlikecrazy.com. One of the best things about the Pimsleur's Spanish series is that it has more interactivity than the other courses I've used. There are many set up situations where you interact back and forth with a recorded speaker. I have found this to be very helpful in practicing for real live speakers. Mastering Spanish, for example, has a lot more single-sentence utterances you copy, but less back-and-forth. (I understand the new Platiquemos tries to correct for this problem.)

Another good point about Pimsleur is that it uses a repetition pattern developed by Dr. Pimsleur that has worked well in helping me memorize the material. They present a word or phrase several times, go on to other things, then go back to that recently-learned phrase again. A bit later, they hit it again. I find this to be very effective in helping me remember the material.

The main drawback is that the tapes are somewhat slow, and overly formal. For example, phrases like "Encantado," "Que le vaya bien," and "Por supuesto" are taught instead of more informal equivalents (such as "Mucho gusto", "Nos vemos", and "Claro"). But whether this is good or bad may depend on what you want to get out of the language: if you're a tourist or in business, you may want to be more formal, so the more formal phrases may work well for you. For everyday communication, however, I've found less formal is better. Some people immediately tutear (use the informal 'tu') with you, and it would be nice to immediately switch into an informal mode of communication with them.

To overcome the formality trap, get a book like "Breaking out of Beginner's Spanish." I cannot say enough good things for this book. It is an indispensible companion to any self-study course, and will get you using words and phrases appropriate to the situation. You might also want to sign up at learningspanishlikecrazy.com, where you have weekly teleconferences with a native speaker.

Finally, this series is clearly very expensive. But, never fear: try your local public libraries before buying one yourself, either as a "try before you buy", or instead of buying. (I always try to borrow materials first before I buy them, so I can evaluate them myself.) I've been through most of the course now, and have borrowed everything from a local library.

In summary, there are drawbacks to the course, but I find its memorization approach to work very well for me.



Boring and Rigid - Behind the Wheel Spanish is Much Better   August 30, 2005
 48 out of 64 found this review helpful

I have read the reviews and I have tried and returned two very expensive and boring Pimsleur courses and kept Behind the Wheel Spanish 1 and 2 for the following reasons:
1. Behind the Wheel is much more entertaining, interesting and effective. You can listen to the CDs all day and never feel bored.
2. Behind the Wheel has multiple tracks instead of Pimsleur's long and boring single track. With Behind the Wheel you can switch tracks at will. With Pimsleur you are forced to listen to the whole darn tedious thing in order to get the memory benefit. The company even tells you to sit through the whole thing. How inflexible.
My questiion is 'What benefit is there to being so rigid?
3. The Spanish speaker's voice on the Behind the Wheel course is magnificent. I have had Spanish speaking friends over to listen to both Pimsleur and Behind the Wheel and everybody says that Luis (from Behind the Wheel) is by far the best. They and I love his voice.
4. There is more vocabulary presented in the Behind the Wheel course than in the Pimsleur courses. Maybe three times more.
5. Behind the Wheel actually teaches you how to make your own sentences really fast.
Not canned. You learn an original format and you choose how to speak. That is priceless and Pimsleur doesn't have it.
6. Pimsleur is so 'Academic'. Like most academic methods, you really feel like you're back in college listening to a professor. With Behind the Wheel you immediately feel that the level of competency is higher than Pimsleur and that the learning techniques are more effective. I personally began speaking in simple sentences after my first half hour with Behind the Wheel Spanish.
7. Men's Health Magazine compared Pimsleur with Behind the Wheel and Rosetta Stone. Their expert reviewer determined that Behind the Wheel is a great value compared to the other two. This means bang for the buck.
Pimsleur in not worth the extra money. They are a big company and have the advertising bucks to promote their inferior product, but Behind the Wheel is what has gotten me the results.




Excellent, but know what you're buying...   December 25, 2003
 46 out of 52 found this review helpful

First, beware of those "abbreviated" sets commonly sold for under $50 at bricks-and-mortar retailers. Those "introductory" versions only include the first few (up to 8 or so, but not all 30) thirty-minute lessons. Such "abbreviated" sets are woefully incomplete and are obviously sold as mere "enticements" to encourage the buyer to (subsequently) shell out the requisite big bucks for the FULL (30-lesson) edition(s).
Moreover, to really begin to achieve fluency at the (so-called) "intermediate-plus" level, you will ALSO need, eventually, to purchase Pimsleur's "Spanish II" and "Spanish III" sets (each of which comprise 30 additional thirty-minute lessons). And EVEN THEN you will be FAR from "fully fluent" in Spanish.
Having said this, let me add that I've tried virtually ALL the available Spanish audio, video, and software products that are "mass marketed," and the Pimsleur series (albeit costly!) is, by far, the best single item of them all. This is because you can really "interact" with realistic dialogues, AND the material is very, very carefully and strategically sequenced. I must add, however, that because the Pimsleur approach teaches you (essentially) NO *written* words, well, if you're like me, you'll find yourself wanting to occasionally "pause" the current CD (or tape, if, like me, you own the cassette version) to go look up a newly introduced word in a Spanish dictionary, just to be sure you've heard the native speaker's intonation correctly and are repeating the proper consonants/vowels. (For this purpose, you could do worse than to employ the "Word Ace" (speaking-dictionary/verb-conjugator) software by Transparent Language, makers of the well-known "Spanish Now!" software "bundles" that often have a "Word Ace" CD included "free"). But even a mere paperback Spanish dictionary could be a useful supplement to the Pimsleur "audio-only" approach. After all, even though it's true that SPOKEN language is "primary", sooner or later you obviously will also need to be able to READ some basic words and expressions.
Finally, as a significant "second-best" program (to the excellent Pimsleur "audio-only" series), The Rosetta Stone software is worthy of your consideration, provided (again) that you opt for the FULL set of discs, not merely an "introductory" disc containing the first few lessons.
In my opinion, almost all OTHER "audio/visual/software" foreign-language-learning products on the market--despite their impressive "bells and whistles"--are *chiefly* useful as "supplemental" (not your "primary") learning media.


False Sense Of Security   January 20, 2007
 46 out of 53 found this review helpful

I went through all three levels of Pimsleur and had it all down pat. Man! I was sure I would be able to go out and just jabber away like gangbusters once I was put into a situation where I had to speak. Well, the first time a native speaker started yapping at me I realized that I really had no clue what the hell I was doing and that three levels of Pimsleur were woefully inadequate. You WILL NOT be able to do anything more than communicate at a very basic level and anything approaching a "real" conversation will not be possible. For that, you will need much, much more.