I don't really want to use this blog as a place to promote commercial learning materials, but I do want to express my pleasure with a series of audio learning materials from Simon and Schuster called Pimsleur. I think I've praised this series before, if not in this blog then in my Italian or French blog.
I've been borrowing the series from my library, and that has worked out pretty well with the Italian and French CD recordings, but because Spanish is the language most studied here in Los Estatdos Unidos, I've found that the sets are almost always already checked out. So, I bit the bullet and went to the Pimsleur website and bought the first five lessons of Level One. This works out well for me, because if you buy the product on Amazon or Audible.com, you're forced to purchase the entire module--costing over $100. The Pimsleur site allow one to buy it in small increments, therefore not breaking the bank. I also like the fact that you download the lessons as MP3's, which makes them easy to copy to a CD or any portable device. I tossed 'em onto my SanDisk very easily.
What I like most about the Pimsleur audio recordings is that they are all audio. I listen to my Spanish recordings during my daily exercise sessions, so I can't be stopping the recording to do some reading or writing. The recordings use a narrator (who speaks in English only when necessary) and a male and female native speaker. You start out by just listening a bit; then you listen and repeat; then you actually join into the conversation. And one of the program's most popular features is that each lesson reinforces the preceding lessons, so you're not allowed to forget what you learned at the outset. This is a scientifically proven method for retaining material you've learned.
I'm not saying that Pimsleur is the best there is--other learners may prefer more visual programs or even traditional textbooks. But for my current needs, it has filled a void. Hopefully, it will make me a little more fluent in Spanish every day.
Hasta más tarde... (I'm hoping this is a valid alternative for Hasta luego :)
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