Pimsleur Spanish Level 3 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Latin American Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs

by Pimsleur Language Programs and Paul Pimsleur

Book Overview

SPEAK SPANISH TO LEARN SPANISH The Pimsleur Method will have you speaking Spanish in just a few short, easy-to-use lessons. Learn at your own pace, comfortably and conveniently. No books to study. No... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Audio CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743528956
• ISBN13: 9780743528955
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Pimsleur
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 11.5" x 13.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent crash course

First a word of caution: because the Pimsleur method is 100% audio, you won't learn any spelling of words. If your goal is to learn to WRITE Spanish, this program won't be very much help to you on its own. Similarly, you won't learn (or have to memorize) any rules of grammar or verb conjugation tables. With the Pimsleur method, you learn simply by listening and speaking. You don't really learn WHY you say things this way in this case and that way in that case. You will learn the grammar more by osmosis than by memorizing rules. Memorizing rules really hampers your fluency because you're constantly thinking about the rule, how it applies to the sentence or phrase at hand, and performing a translation in your head. When you're listening to someone talking at a normal rate, you'll never be able to keep up and you'll need to ask the person to talk slowly and one sentence at a time.One of the main points of the Pimsleur method is that this step in the learning process (memorizing rules) is unnecessary. It is not how you learned your native language and, when you become orally fluent in any language, you no longer think about these rules you may or may not have learned along the way.Obviously, it is a great choice for travelers and commuters who want to put that wasted time in traffic or sitting in your hotel to good use. Listening to the tapes/CDs in the car (especially in heavy stop & go traffic) is not quite the best environment because you should be giving your full attention to the recordings, but it still works even in that situation and this is how I used it. However, I did find myself rewinding to parts I missed because I was concentrating on not getting in an accident and I occasionally missed my highway exits while I was engrossed in the tapes.The Travelers Edition is a great crash course to take before going on a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, but you should ideally be visiting a major city where there is at least SOME English spoken. Don't expect to go waltzing through small towns where no one speaks a lick of English. If you complete all three levels (6 times the number of tapes/CDs in the Travelers Edition), however, you should be able to accomplish that goal and be virtually fluent (orally) and free to travel to remote villages and get around rather well. From that point, you'll mainly want to work on building up your vocabulary as much as possible and, if it's important to you, study the written side of the language (spelling, etc.) that you don't really learn from the Pimsleur method.

Language for your ears only!

I was intrigued by their slogan of "how you learned your native language". It made sense. I didn't pick up an "english" book until 10. So I tried the Spanish. The Basic program I tried had only 4 cassettes and 8 lessons but I will quickly move on to the Comprehensives. Played it in the car, practiced, repeated and they only want you to do 30 minutes at a time! Well, IT WORKED! Used some phrases and sentences on my sister-in-law and she thought I was speaking like a local.

Great

Very Pleased with series. Purchased "Learn Spanish in your Car" first and hated it. Pimsleur is much much better

From No Spanish to Un Poco Espagnol

Since my wife and her family are all fluent in Spanish, I was motivated to start to learn. These basic CD's were great for listening to in the car on the way to and from work, a great way to turn commuting into quality time. The methods employed constantly reinforce learned material while sprinkling in new vocabulary. I found myself easily learning and having fun! I can't wait to move onto the next set of Pimsleur CD's- Spanish I

The best introduction available

Fantastic series. You begin by listening to a man a woman have a simple conversation. Then you are slowly brought through their dialog and then invited to join in. As the tapes progress the conversations get more and more complex, but what really works with these tapes is that the conversations continue to reinforce what you've already learned. You are not expected to have mastered every piece of the lesson before moving on to the next one. This is a tremendous help because 1. You remember the words through usage and context not rote memorization. 2. Being able to move on quickly helps keep the learning interesting. I found myself becoming more and more involved with the 2 people who speak Spanish on these tapes. Their personalities becoming more and more clear as our conversations become more complex. So overall, I am very happy with this program. My one complaint is that there is only one program in this series. Once the 4 tapes are over that's it, which is too bad.