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 enlarge | Author: Pimsleur
Publisher: Pimsleur
Category: Book
List Price: $295.00
Buy New: $224.99
You Save: $70.01 (24%)
New (5) Used (4) from $119.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 997574
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: 2 Revised
Number Of Items: 16
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 13 x 10.5 x 2.2
ISBN: 0743523563
Dewey Decimal Number: 468
EAN: 9780743523561
ASIN: 0743523563
Publication Date: April 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Book ,ALL days Low Price !
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| Customer Reviews:
 Pimsleur Spanish I October 13, 2005
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
I have completed Pimsleur's french course and have just completed four lessons in the Spanish I course. I am delighted with my progress. I have a total one hour daily commute and find this use of my time to be very rewarding. Beats listening to commercials or inane radio DJ chit chat. My only criticism would be too much repetition; somewhat boring, but maybe that is why it is so succesful. I would like to see a written guide to accompany the audio course. I learn better with both. I spend a lot of time in the dictionary or other writen course books to augment this course. It would be nice to have a guide that follows the audio so that you have certainty about what you hearing. Automobile and road noise can trick the ears.
 An Excellent Program if You Have Backup October 10, 2005
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
A couple of years ago I bought Madrigal's Magic Key to learn Spanish, and I posted a review of it that I thought it was fine. But recently I decided that I needed something more, something that would give me correct pronounciation as well as grammar rules and conjugating verbs. After reading many reviews here on amazon.com, I went with Pimsleur, and I'm quite happy that I did. The lessons make sense and the conversations are cheeky and entertaining.
[...]and bought the Quick and Simple program first; I loved it and it worked for me, so I went ahead and invested in the Comprehensive I program (I bought it from amazon.com's New and Used marketplace because otherwise it's far too expensive for me). I've just finished it and I have to say, it's a quality program. As I posted in my Madrigal review, I'm a foreign-language-dummy, and find it exceedingly difficult to learn languages, even one as relatively simple as Spanish. But with Pimsleur I feel I learned a lot in just 30 half-hour lessons, and will definitely buy Levels II and III.
However, it's not a perfect system. I fully admit that if my live-in fiance was not Cuban-American and fluent in Spanish, I might not have stuck with this program. Because he listened to most of my lessons, he knew what I was learning and could ask me questions from my lessons at random, and this helped me immensely. I could also ask him questions if something didn't quite make sense to me; and I admit that once, towards the end of the lessons, I had to reference a certain grammar rule in Madrigal to figure out what the lesson was all about.
Although the program advises doing a lesson a day straight through, I did have to take a day off now and then, and I recently had to take the entire week off. Life is just like that. It didn't seem to have any large, adverse affects on my learning. I did find that when I did do my lessons I had to devote all my attention to them; trying to engage in mindless activity, even just getting up to get a glass of water, while doing the lessons threw me off and made me make silly mistakes.
If you're serious about learning a foreign language, I can think of no better at-home system than Pimsleur; even university classes and private tutoring I've invested in aren't as good as this. But I'd definitely get some backup, such as a grammar book (Madrigal is great). If there is someone close to you who speaks fluent Spanish, then definitely use them as a resource. If Pimselur is all you have, then I really don't think you'll learn as much as you should, but if you're serious about learning and you invest a little extra time (and possibly money) outside the Pimsleur program, you'll be speaking Spanish in no time.
 Boring and Rigid - Behind the Wheel Spanish is Much Better August 30, 2005
47 out of 63 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 introduction to Spanish August 28, 2005
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
As a resident of Florida, I desire very much to become acquainted with the language, histories, and cultures of my Spanish-speaking neighbors and co-workers. I studied French in high school but as of today cannot speak or understand it.
Because of my work schedule, at this time attending night school or living in a Spanish-speaking country is not practical. I am attempting to learn Spanish on my own. I have bought all three levels of Pimsleur and have no regrets. For anyone who may balk at the price, you should consider that the tuition at a university or a community college may exceed the cost of one level of Pimsleur.
Pimsleur is an excellent start for a beginning Spanish student. Pimsleur effectively teaches you the technique of listening to a sentence in English, translating out loud in Spanish, hearing the phrase in Spanish, and repeating it. The pauses between the sentences are long enough to translate out loud in Spanish. You may have to repeat a lesson several times so that you translate accurately and quickly enough during the pauses. However, the lessons are never dull, and the sound in audio CDs is clear and easy to understand.
I use supplemental grammar materials to read and write Spanish and to learn grammar. But the Pimsleur CDs teach you to speak useful and interesting words, sentences, and phrases for real-life situations - ordering in a restaurant, asking for street directions, asking about one's family and health, and discussing the weather. These CDs are never boring.
In addition, if I have an especially busy day and do not have time or energy to do a reading or writing lesson, I can still find 30 minutes in a day to do a Pimsleur lesson.
Even with the three levels of Pimsleur, you will not be fluent in Spanish. I am starting the FSI Spanish series once I complete Pimsleur. I recommend that for those who are serious about achieving fluency Spanish, they take the multitrack approach - watch Univision, listen to Spanish radio, practice speaking with native speakers, etc.
But for those new to Spanish, I wholeheartedly endorse the Pimsleur series.
Spanish, Very Important for Latinos to know, and Speak. July 1, 2005
9 out of 16 found this review helpful
I recommend Pimsleur Spanish to all Hispanic Americans who were born here in this country, legally. The Spanish from Outsiders is the language we hunger to speak fluently as compared to the dumb "Pocho Spanish" we learn from our envious neighbors, or from our dumb peers(men and women) at our local school, etc. This program can help you see the language in a different light. You don't have to be embarrassed of your language, because Spanish is a beautiful language once you learn to speak it well. Also, i recommend that you watch Mexican soap operas (they are also called "Novellas") in order to see more results. Pimsleur spanish 1, 2 and 3 are recommended. Just keep practicing. If you are a Mexican American or Guatemalan American for example (born in this country legally)whose Spanish is fragmented then get this. Last, be sure to find nice caring outsiders who can help you develop your language skills. The constant use of the discs will help you in the long run. Remember, the college teacher nor your neighbors, nor anyone will repeat the material the times you want when learning something but this Pimsleur program will (with its cd's.)Good luck!!
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