Pimsleur Spanish Conversational Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-16 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (1) (English and Spanish Edition) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 3, 2005

I've seen some people complain because after learning 3 or 4 dozen phrases that they don't really know very much. Well, you're right. If all you do is this conversational intro, you are not even close to fluent.DUH!This is a teaser for the longer Level 1 set of CDs. When you do get through Level 1, you can travel easily and can carry on simple conversations that will get you to your train on time and let you pay for the hotel, eat meals and get directions. You can even negotiate emergencies like getting sick (It's happened to me too often during international trips - the water IS different). That's HUGE when you're stuck in a country that doesn't speak much English.Confidence is the key. With the Pimsleur approach, you get to where the words just blurt out when you're involved in the conversation. Who's not afraid of saying something dumb or nonsensical when speaking a new foreign language? With Pimsleur, you get used to the back and forth banter of a natural conversation and the words jump to your lips. I was shocked every time I spoke new languages in new countries. They understood me and in some cases, with short conversations, people treated me like a local.When you get done with Level 2, mainly, you're gaining confidence to simply learn new words and expand your conversational areas. By the time you're done with Level 3, there's nothing more you can really learn from academic study for conversation. One needs, at that time, to simply begin living the language and using it on a daily basis. Whether you skype with an international friend, talk daily to a local restaurant owner that speaks the language or live "in country", you'll find that after Level 3, you'll have all the skills and confidence you need to really become totally fluent.This "Conversational" course will show you what you can learn as you go on with the Level ! course. By the time you finish this intro, you'll understand what I mean by "Confidence" and how the words "spring to your lips". Best of Luck!- PS I've learned Spanish, Russian, French and German with Pimsleur. (I took a few lessons of Hindi and Chinese and it was going just as well.)

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. That's why, based on my success with the Cantonese program, I bought the Spanish one.I also like that they don't go over grammar, etc., but just give you conversations. You can figure the grammar out once you are familiar with the sentences. And as you learn new words, you can use the tools you have from this program to create new sentences.I have found that by just having a conversation with those people you meet in Spanish speaking countries and letting them know that your Spanish is not the greatest, they help you. They give you the word you're looking for and you add it to your vocabulary.I will continue with Pimsleur and will probably buy the big collection for further study. I can't recommend this one highly enough.

The Pimsleur is `a way' to learn a language and I have found it a fair way. I bought the Spanish II book.Method.I am terrible linguist. Thus, I need repetition of words and phrases in both pronunciation and use of grammar. The Pimsleur method seems to introduce a word or phrase, repeat it, introduce a new topic, and then continually circle back to the older learning topics, though to a lesser degree throughout the lessons. It is good method since you meet the same subject again and again in the succeeding lessons. It helps people, like me, to remember a topic. If the method studied one topic and move on without the circle back, I would have forgotten the prior topic. In essence, you are building on the older topics and re-learning them again. Due to this method, you will not build a large vocabulary. Thus, like any subject, you have to supplement it with self-study if you wish to have a functional understanding.Production. It is a good product. You have four voices to keep you awake. I have no idea if the pronunciation is good but it is clear and it is probably Castilian. A drawback is that the CD has only two tracks of 30 minutes. If for some reason, you stop the player and the CD must restart (such as in car), you have to start at the beginning. In a way, that this limitation forces you to give the lesson undivided attention for 30 minutes.Support. The product has no written material. I guess it is the Pimsleur method for you to focus on speaking and hearing. This is the hardest part of the language education for me since I like written language better. However, I think there should be a vocabulary card for self-study before the lessons. I built flash cards.