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| Conversational Spanish: Learn to Speak and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's) | 
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| Author: Pimsleur
Publisher: Pimsleur
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $19.50
You Save: $30.45 (61%)
Buy New/Used from $19.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  (29 reviews)
Sales Rank: 9661
Format: Audiobook
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Unknown), English (Published), Spanish (Published)
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 8
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 8 x 2.2
ISBN: 0743550455
Dewey Decimal Number: 468
EAN: 9780743550451
ASIN: 0743550455
Publication Date: October 3, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This Conversational program contains 8 hours of interactive audio-only instruction, effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions.HEAR IT, LEARN IT, SPEAK ITWhat is the Pimsleur difference? The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Spanish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Spanish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding. The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only these pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or thousands words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts. When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed. With Pimsleur you get: - Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
- Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
- The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
- 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.
Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without textbooks, written exercises, or drills. Conversational Spanish includes the 10 lessons from Pimsleur's Basic Spanish plus an additional 6 lessons. The 16 lessons in Conversational Spanish are the same first 16 lessons in the Pimsleur Comprehensive Spanish Level 1.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
Well Worth the Money August 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are already many other detailed and helpful reviews, so I'll keep mine simple. Buying this product for $25-$35 is well worth the money.
No, you're not going to become fluent from $30 software. But they do a pretty good job, albeit at a slow pace. Now because of this slow pace and focus on core vocab and repetition you don't get very far (but you do get somewhere, don't worry).
For this reason I would not recommend this course for someone who already has some Spanish background. This course is truly for a beginner or near beginner.
Pimsleur November 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is very helpful for the student who wants to learn Spanish, and especially helpful for those with pronunciation problems.
 Annoying November 1, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
While the Pimsleur method remains solid, this series accentuates the product's weaknesses. It's very, very basic, so if you know any Spanish you'll be frustrated. It also encourages you to call Spanish by its Castillian name, but avoids Castillian pronunciations (so what's the point? And won't most American customers be going to Mexico, where they don't speak with a Castillian accent?) Moreover, it has the usual assortment of bizarro conversations and statements (I have a lot of pesos at the hotel), including endless practice of saying "I am a Mexican, Ecuadorian" etc. 1. I'm never going to say this. 2. I get the general idea after a few repetitions. The strong suit of Pimsleur is that you learn what you learn very well, with excellent pronunciation. The weak suit is that you don't build a lot of useful vocabulary. I can now say, with near perfect pronunciation, "I speak a little (Mandarin, German, Spanish), but I don't speak it well." But I can't have much of a conversation in any of these languages beyond that.
 The best 30 bucks I spent in months! September 7, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Exactly what I was looking for! I drive to work, roughly 45 minutes each way, and always wanted this time not to be wasted. The length of lessons fits right-in with some 5 minutes to spare in case of an interrupting phone call. The course assume absolutely no off-time studying and no usage of printed material whatsoever. Additionally, being alone in a car, I am the most comfortable about pronouncing sentences aloud, compared to being in a real class (this I remember from my years at University) or at home with my family around (as of now, this would be the only other option).
The pauses after English prompts are just right. On rare occasions when I get destructed and miss a moment to try my Spanish guess, there is always time to repeat the Spanish after the recorded voice before the next English prompt comes in. New words and expressions are naturally mixed in with repeated ones from previous lessons, making ideal byte sizes of new material in every next lesson while keeping you from forgetting what's learned before.
There are 16 lessons in total. Of course, you can not stuck it all in your head in 16 sessions. If I feel that I miss more than 10% of prompts, I jump couple of lessons back. I had to jump to 4 after the first series of 1 to 6, then back to 6 after getting to 8 for the first time and so on. I went over number 12 today and feel confident about moving on to 13.
I was reading the reviews before choosing this course, and one of those complained about this being Latin American Spanish rather than European Spanish. For me this is an advantage: my goal is to be able to communicate with locals and personal during our vacations to places like Mexico or Dominican Republic. I was surprised with how perfectly the program fits the goal. Dialogs concentrate on general courtesy, saying basic things about yourself, finding your way around, social eating and drinking, buying thins, timing, counting... It feels like the material was compiled with somebody exactly like me in mind: the phrase "One beer, please" is introduced as early as Lesson 5, if I remember correctly. I am looking forward to impressing my wife and kids during our next trip.
Pimsleur Conversational Spanish August 27, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
8 CDs no Books. 1/2 hour each lesson. I used it in my car to and from work. Each lesson is a track so you can't stop in the middle of the lesson.
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