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This is a new copy of Pimsleur and I'm very pleased with the immediate delivery. Thanks.
Pimsleur is a kinder and gentler way for language dummies (like me) to succeed in gaining a reasonable comfort in a new language.
The present verb tense and the present perfect tense. But don't count on it to teach you much grammar and vocabulary, especially not today's Latin American vocabulary. You will also learn how to say let's go eat. The student only learns two verb tenses. Lessons 1 to 5, will also teach you how to say "I know" and "you know," as well as I have and you have. You also learn how to inquire about a doctor and say "give me his number." The personal "a" is also introduced as well as how to state if a location is near or far, ask one's name and state one's name, ask where does one live, and give directions. The verb gustar is also covered. Direct pronouns are also covered in greater detail.
I am going to eat as opposed to "I will eat.") Lesson 16 to 20 teach you how to say more numbers (from sixty to ninety-nine). Anna Rivera's 1000 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Words (English and Spanish Edition)2.Anna Rivera's 800 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Phrases (English and Spanish Edition)Many of my readers and students have requested that I provide a very thorough, unbiased and accurate review of Pimsleur one. The present perfect tense is also introduced along with numbers in the hundreds. You also learn how to ask how much do things cost and saying "I want" and "you want" and how to ask the same. For one, with 15 hours of recorded audio, Pimsleur Spanish provides the student with very limited grammar and even less vocabulary.
The second reason why I cannot give Pimsleur Spanish 5 stars is because the Spanish is not representative of the Spanish that Latin Americans actually speak or at least not the Latin American Spanish that is spoken today. From lessons 11 to 15, you will learn more numbers (numbers 12 to 59). I will begin my review with an in depth summary of the content. From lessons 6 to 10, you begin to learn numbers from 1 to 11. I say that for two reasons. basic greetings such as good morning, good afternoon, and good night.
The course also comes with a small booklet to give the student an introduction to reading Spanish. To tell you a little about my background, I am the editor of the LearningSpanishProductsReviews site newsletter. Maybe "back in the day" we didn't -- but now we use chao. In fact, I even recommend this product over Rosetta Stone Spanish.
Although it is one of the best Spanish courses that I have ever reviewed, it is not worthy of 5 stars. Lessons 16 to 20 also contrast "estamos" and "somos." Reflexive verbs are also introduced while you learn how to say "I am leaving" and "we are leaving." From lessons 21 to 24, you are introduced to formal commands and learn such commands as "give me a glass of water/wine" and "write it." You are also introduced to demonstrative pronouns for "this, that, and those." The regular "ar" verb is also introduced. The speakers are also all natives with excellent pronunciation. For example, how to say the command "come." But only the formal commands are covered. And how to say "I pay" and "you pay," and "I buy" and "you buy." Pronouns such as "la" and "las" are also introduced and also how to tell time, as well as the substitute future tense (e.g. In lessons 1 through 5 you will learn how to conjugate the verb "entender" in the present tense and say "I understand" and "you understand" in the "usted" form as well as ask the same You will also learn how to say I speak "Castellano" or you speak "Castellano." You will also learn how to inquire about one's health, and ask about one's nationality. The sound quality of the lessons is also excellent.
In addition, I am the author of two learning-Spanish products offered at Amazon.com (USA): 1. Not only is it fun but also quite effective. You also learn how to say "my spouse has" and "we speak," "we eat," and "we want." You will also learn possessive adjectives such as "my," "your" and "our." The irregular verb "poder" and the "para que" structure" are also introduced in the present tense. It is 100% correct to say that phrase but nowadays it is not how one would normally say "I speak Spanish" (unless you were really trying to impress someone). In the first lesson "hablo Castellano" is taught.
I am also a native Spanish speaker and a Spanish instructor. Actually, three if you include the imperative. In my professional opinion, with 15 hours of recorded audio an adult of average intelligence is capable of learning several times as much vocabulary and grammar than what Pimsleur I covers. In the final lesson (#30), the informal word for you is briefly introduced: tu (I have omitted Spanish punctuation marks because they sometimes appear as fuzzy characters on my Amazon reviews).
Pimsleur Spanish has an extremely fun method to learn Spanish. And you'll learn how to say "here" and "there," and inquire about the location of hotels and restaurants. I am still glad to recommend that you buy Pimsleur Level I because of its highly effective and fun teaching method. From lessons 25 to 30, you will learn more commands. Diminutives are also covered.
The same applies to Pimsleur's approach of teaching "encantado" instead of "mucho gusto." And "adios" is taught instead of "chao." Most Latinos today use "chao" or phrases such as "hasta luego" for bye. With that said CHAO.
I had done private lessons with a reputable organization in New York City, but found that the group experience gave me little practice and concentrated more on the grammar. Eventually, the English prompts in the course automatically become Spanish in your head. Pimsleur Spanish is the best self-learning program I have found. The beauty of the Pimsleur method is its subtlety. Now I understand the gist of Spanish broadcast news, even if I don't understand it all. Then there was my car. As the program advances, you acquire the rhythm of real Spanish speech.
I feel much more confident and speak with the Hispanics I know in New York City. I tried Rosetta Stone for a year online--liked some things as the electronic graph for pronunciation, but found the visuals frustrating as they wanted specific vocabulary and the vocabulary and grammar were relatively narrow in scope. Change a few words in the patterned sentence, and you are on your way to speaking Spanish. I have gone through all of the Pimsleur series in my commute back and forth to work and am about to commence on the plus series. Through constant repetition with clear Spanish speakers, the sentences, based on real conversation, continually change with different tenses, pronouns, and new vocabulary. I'm not perfect, but I have the confidence that I will make progress and that the foundation is there for conversational Spanish--thanks to Pimsleur. Progress.
I've tried other Spanish language programs and never stuck with them. Pimsleur was recommended by a friend who was teaching English in Costa Rica. This one is a lot more user friendly. He had learned his Spanish using Pimsleur. I do have to admit that the first 6 or 7 lessons were mostly a review of what I learned on the streets in 16 months in Costa Rica. I'm looking forward to completing the course and moving on to the next one before returning to Costa Rica. Pura Vida.
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