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 enlarge | Author: C. Aubert
Publisher: SmartPolyglot
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $29.95
You Save: $5.00 (14%)
New (18) from $29.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 329412
Media: CD-ROM
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 49
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0972947477
EAN: 9780972947473
ASIN: 0972947477
Publication Date: August 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Method unique. Authentic interviews. "A Must!" W. Martin, ex-political editor, Oakland Tribune.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Another Great Learning Tool For Spanish January 19, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
The package of 3 CDs consists of a series of oral texts--conversations or interviews--read with excellent diction by native speakers, slowly, phrase by phrase--as well as in their original form--i.e. with slurring, poor enunciation, rapid bursts and pauses, as conversations actually go. The student is invited to repeat each phrase without attempting to translate and without consulting the visual text in the book. Then, to attempt the naturalistic conversations. As you progress from one conversation to the next, the instructors add explanations for colloquial expressions and grammatical challenges.
The idea is to become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of actual spoken Spanish. As you listen to these oral texts over and over and practice repeating what you hear, the natural intonations of Spanish become more and more comfortable for you. The conversations are not typical tourist Spanish, but are actually quite interesting. A bread baking business in Argentina. The beautiful women of Venezuela. Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy, and other topics.
I have enjoyed these CDs and plan to continue using them. They do require some previous knowledge of Spanish and can't be used in isolation. They also demand a lot of work. I have not experienced the miraculous results reported by some of the reviewers, but I can still recommend this series as another useful tool for adding to your command of Spanish. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Just What I needed September 16, 2007
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
I started studying Spanish 20 years ago when I was a union organizer for the Roofers. I took some college correspondence courses. A few years later I left that job to work as a pipefitter.
When I quit organizing, I decided to continue to study Spanish on my own. I bought all the typical educational tapes, the ones where you repeat a
sentence after the voice on the tape. I started reading Spanish nearly every night, to increase my vocabulary. I read one or two Spanish novels a month, depending on how much time I have.
I recently started to work on big, overtime constructions jobs. The past
year I have been on big jobs in Texas, where at least half the workers on
the job speak Spanish. Some speak both English and Spanish, but a lot of the workers speak only Spanish.
I quickly discovered a few things:
One, I had a great Spanish vocabulary. I am like a walking Spanish
dictionary. I'd say I've a bigger vocabulary than 80% of the Spanish
speaking guys on the job. Spanish speaking guys often ask me for the most
correct Spanish word for certain things.
Secondly, I discovered I couldn't understand anything spoken in spanish. There is a lot of slang, but that wasn't the problem. When somebody said something, or when I listened to someone talking on a spanish TV program, a spoken sentence or paragraph sounded like one long, hundred sylable word. It all ran together, I pick up a work here or there, it sounded like it always did before I learned any spanish.
And thirdly, when I spoke spanish to anyone, it was as if I were looking words up in the spanish dictionary and talking, slowly, haltingly.
These cds were like the missing piece of my spanish education. I'm not even done with the first set yet, since I am working 7 days a week, 10 or 12 hours a day. But shortly after starting listening to the cds, playing them over a few times, my listening comprehension increase dramatically. This is really a major turning point for me. The more I can understand by listening,the more spanish idioms and slang I learn. Now, turning on the TV and watching a spanish movie is a learning experience for me. Listening to guys talking at work is a learning experience, since I can understand them. I am now conversing much more on the job, with much more confidence.
Again, I believe these cds were the key. What a great product. I wish I had them years ago. -Greg
Useful and interesting April 5, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
bought the beginner and the intermediate/advanced versions of this CD set because it's been a while since I practiced Spanish and I originally learned by the textbook method. I really needed both. The method used is so different from the one I was used to that it actually made me work on total different skills, like listening, which I had never done before, and that happened to be extremely useful. This is a step by step repetition process. I have to say that it's helped a lot. Both the beginner and the intermediate/advanced versions have. And the more times you listen the better you get and the easier it gets to understand. The content of the conversations is actually pretty interesting too: The lessons are based on people interviews that are interesting. For the first time since studying a language I've actually learned from the syntax AND the content of the lessons. I made progress, I enjoyed Smart Spanish and I recommend it.
Well done December 26, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
If you want to learn spanish through grammar or other conventional methods, this is not for you. But if you want to be able to converse in Spanish as naturally as the natives, this SmartSpanish course will ease your way to the mastering of the Spanish language. I chose to really follow the instruction to repeat the dialogs several times. The steps, which you may choose to skip, are actually logically built for maximum retaintion. I wholeheartedly recommend SmartSpanish.
best to learn spanish so far November 23, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you are interested in learning Spanish the way it's spoken in Spain as well as in South America, this is the language program for you.
It is an interesting program that if the steps are followed, that is, variations in hearing and repeating the monologs or dialogs with annotated notes on pronounciation or grammar, one can actually begin to understand what is spoken. The monologs/dialogs are spoken by a variety of people in different professions, and from different countries like Spain, Mexico, which makes the CD much more interesting than most language tapes.
I am really glad I purchased Smart Spanish and look daily to studying Spanish. Having had high school Spanish almost 20 years ago I also feel confident that I will be able to finally speak Spanish soon. I will be comfortable with my Spanish understanding and speaking because of Smart Spanish.
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