World Famous Comics: SmartSpanish Audio CDs Int/Adv - Learning spanish the smart way
SmartSpanish Audio CDs Int/Adv - Learning spanish the smart way
By: C. Aubert Publisher: SmartPolyglot Average Rating: Binding: CD-ROM Label: SmartPolyglot Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 49 Publication Date: August 01, 2005 Release Date: August 01, 2005
Product Description: If this item is written out of stock, please, visit smart-spanish. I am finding the Smart Spanish CDs just as effective and enjoyable as the acclaimed Smart French CDs invented by onetime French diplomat Christian Aubert. I can highly recommend either or both. William Martin, ex-political editor, Oakland Tribune. I'm delighted to discover that the people behind SmartFrench are bringing out SmartSpanish, offering in a different language the same brilliantly simple idea executed with the same commitment to excellence... SmartFrench provided me with the key breakthrough, boosting my confidence quickly, and boosting it so dramatically that I was no longer haunted by anxieties about badly accented pronunciation and speech rhythms. I highly recommend the SmartFrench (and SmartSpanish) approach. No matter what other sources you use in your language learning, the Smart thing to do is give yourself this key to confidence. Ian Jackson, CEO Breathplay, inc, Dallas
Not for the Road It was my intention to purchase a Spanish CD set to be a companion while making long commutes. However, these CDs require the accompaniment of reading the text while listening. While that is certainly useful in ordinary circumstances, it simply wasn't what I was looking for.
When using this CDs at home, I could tell that I was improving. The only challenge is that most users simply do not have a half an hour a day (or more) to spend sitting and following an auditory and literary Spanish guide. For the multi-tasker, this isn't the product for me. For those with time set aside each day for improving their Spanish reading, listening, and speaking skills, this is a good resource.
Parts are very good, many details quite annoying These CDs are set up so you hear a conversation spoken at normal speeds, then it is repeated several times, broken into small pieces so you have an opportunity to repeat it. It is enjoyable to hear real conversations and from that standpoint I'd rate these CDs very highly.
However, the technical details are quite annoying. The sound quality is just dreadful at times. It sounds like they were recording right next to a very busy highway and the roar of the traffic really makes it difficult to hear the words on the CDs. With several of the conversations the people being interviewed are running water or chopping food or working in a kitchen, so there is an enormous amount of background noise that makes it impossible at times to hear the Spanish.
Close to half of the voices on the CD are from Spain and not Latin America, so you hear Spanish with the huge lisp typical of Spain. So the verb hacer sounds like "hather" and there are many words that just leave you scratching your head as to what they mean. Then you look in the little translation book and find it is a word you know, but with the horrible lisp changing c to th, you won't recognize the word. I would have greatly preferred an all Latin American Spanish CD.
The instructor who speaks Spanish from Spain speaks very, very heavily accented English so it is very hard to understand what he is saying at times. It's surprising to me they would not have hired someone with better English. A final annoyance is the translation book they include. Some of the conversations are skipped entirely. Others have translations that are just weird and so literal it is hard to figure out what they really mean.
Since these CD's are less than $20, it is worth it to buy them, but be prepared for many quite amateur features.
Jan Dahlin Geiger Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies
natural method to really speak spanish I found this method excellent. If you know spanish but you have difficulties to follow a conversation, these Cds will help you tremendously. It uses natural conversations, deconstructing them as you repeat sequences. You slowly get used to the flow of the language and gain in speed both in comprehension and delivery. The Beginner level is also appropriate for the Intermediate as the texts are different and the pace is not as fast.
Not that great Well...the English speaking is hard to understand, and the phrases to repeat are very long. Not much of a learning tool imo.
Right on the mark! Spanish courses at an advanced level are somewhat scarce, and the few that I have tried seemed a little too basic. But SmartSpanish Audio CDs Int/Adv is right on the mark.
The course uses repetition (the core of learning) in an entirely different and very effective way. You hear authentic conversations with "real" people from different countries. These are accompanied by a narrator who guides you through each conversation several times, occasionally pausing to explain certain usage or idioms. it's almost like having your personal tutor!
The people at SmartSpanish are also very customer service oriented. I contacted them about my purchase and they responded promptly and in a very courteous manner.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
