Latin American Spanish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs Author: Pimsleur | Language: English | ISBN:
0743550455 | Format: PDF
Latin American Spanish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs Description
Spanish is the official language of Spain and 21 Latin American countries, and is an official language of the U.N. Pimsleur's Spanish teaches an educated Latin American Spanish, with speakers from Colombia and Argentina in levels I-III, and from Mexico in level IV.
Spanish, Conversational
•Sixteen 30-minute lessons of spoken Spanish language instruction. These sixteen lessons are the same as the first sixteen lesson of Pimsleur's 30-Unit Comprehensive Program.
•Each lesson includes an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures and includes practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons.
•Essential grammar and vocabulary. Topics include: greetings, numbers, meals, shopping, telling time, scheduling activities, and asking and giving directions.
•No mindless repetition! Converse with native speakers in natural (and useful!) conversations.
•Easy, fast, fun and effective language acquisition.
•Completely Audio - anytime, anywhere. No computer necessary! Unlike expensive software programs which tie learners to a computer, Pimsleur courses are available in CD or mp3 format to meet your needs.
•Receive an instant credit of $150 to trade up from the Conversational to the full Level 1 Comprehensive CD course.
Pimsleur® equals success. Just one 30-minute lesson a day gets you speaking and understanding like no other program.
- Series: Conversational (Book 1)
- Audio CD: 8 pages
- Publisher: Pimsleur; 2nd Edition, Revised, 16 Lessons edition (October 3, 2005)
- Language: English, Spanish
- ISBN-10: 0743550455
- ISBN-13: 978-0743550451
- Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 2.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I disagree with all the glowing reviews, and seriously doubt any of the reviewers started from square one and felt they were prepared to visit a Spanish-speaking country from it alone.
Pimsleur does have a great idea, inspired by the Foreign Service Institute's approach, but the thing is it takes TIME. What's good about the method is you're drilled and drilled and drilled... what you learn here will stay with you a long time.
The flipside (and it's a big one) is that with all that repetition, you learn almost nothing. You'll learn the numbers (up to a hundred), how to tell time, how to order a generic beer (almost every lesson spends considerable time on this), and how to ask where a hotel or restaurant is.
But if the hotel is not "right here" or "over there," (the only possible answers, apparently) you'll have no clue. Forget about "turn left at the intersection and continue for two-and-a-half blocks." You can order a beer, but forget about a salad, the daily special, what the waiter recommends, a steak, some chicken, or tea or a soft drink.
You can go shopping but unless you want to buy "things" you'll come back with nothing. Nada! "Cosas" [things] is the only thing covered! Forget shirts, dresses, pants, maps, guides, film, cameras, books, hats. Forget about buying a plane ticket, a train ticket, asking for help, asking what's playing, finding the beach, a nightclub, a doctor, a cop, or even checking into the hotel that was conveniently "over there."
To get any truly useful survival skills with this approach, these eight disks would need to be followed by at least a hundred others.
I read the reviews for this product and was a bit angered at some of the negative reviews so I wanted to write my own.
Some say this product isn't great, but I really disagree. One said it's only for beginners--YES! If you don't know Spanish, this is a great way to start.
I bought a Pimsleur course for Cantonese years ago before traveling to Hong Kong and I loved it. Even with the limited number of words and phrases I knew, I felt comfortable going into the remotest areas of the New Territories, where no English was spoken and thanks to Pimsleur I could ask for some things and even ask a waitress to take a photo of me and my dad.
The same is true for Spanish. I bought this program because my fiancee is from Ecuador and I seem to be traveling to various Spanish speaking countries a lot now to meet her. I recently went to Panama while in the midst of the Pimsleur lessons.
This was my third trip there and what a difference I felt knowing more Spanish thanks to Pimsleur. I was able to carry on a conversation with the taxi driver, the bartender at my hotel, and people in stores. I went on a tour with some people from other countries including Spain and Venezuela and could speak some to them too!
No, my Spanish is not perfect, but I felt such a sense of power in that I was able to do things I wasn't able to previously. What a tremendous amount of freedom.
This is just an introduction and you'll need to keep studying to learn more and increase your fluency, but the Pimsleur approach has really been the best for me. I have Rosetta Stone, but I got bored with it. I don't like clicking on one word at a time. I want to hear conversations--and Pimsleur give that to me.
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