This series is formatted differently from other beginning language courses, such as those from Living Language and Berlitz. It's not a series of phrases designed for the traveler, but a more complete course for people who have aspirations of fluency. Hence, I'd recommend this course to anyone who was serious about learning the Spanish language, but not to the occasional traveler. Plan on spending several months going over the material.

The early part of the course involves a considerable amount of basic vocabulary. Sentences and phrases come later. Once they do, they build upon each other quickly, so you'll be glad you learned the vocabulary. The advantage of this approach is that when the sentences come, you have a better chance of understanding and remembering them. The downside is that you really have to force yourself thru the early part of the course without any sense that you're getting anywhere.

The material is perfectly suited to anyone with a long commute. What's needed is about 45 minutes per day of uninterrupted listening -- over and over and over and over. You don't even need to listen that hard. It's more like singing along with the radio. Just the constant repetition, with you repeating the words and phrases, is enough to implant the material in your brain. After a while, you'll know the language and not know how you know it.

One great advantage of the presentation over other similar courses is that there is a slight pause between the English speaker and the Spanish translation. This pause allows you to say the Spanish word or phrase before the Spanish speaker, if you know it. This seemingly insignificant detail is actually critical for learning. Other courses put the Spanish translation immediately after the English speaker, without a pause, and you never really build the kind of recall that you need. Another advantage of the course is that it presents both Spanish and Latin American versions of words and phrases, when there is a difference.

Your Spanish, that is!

I started learning Spanish about 8 1/2 weeks ago using another set of CDs and a book as well as this set, but I have gradually switched over to using this set of CDs alone and am currently working on the 8th of the 9 CDs.

This set works for me, because:

1) It is great for developing your accent. Constant repetition developes the right muscles in your mouth, tongue and lips for speaking Spanish. At first I really struggled with certain sounds, but by striving to mimic the speaker, I have really come a long way. Pronouncing words and phrases correctly and fluently is incredibly important if you want to speak decent Spanish, and this is one of the biggest strengths of this course. You start off just trying to get each word right, then getting whole phrases and sentences exactly as spoken, with all the accents in the right place, 'r's trilled, and vowels elided as required.

2) Constant repetition of the pattern sentences helps to reprogram your brain in Spanish without any real effort on your part. Sometimes I will drive for long distances repeating every phrase 3 times while my brain is elsewhere, but find that later in the day those same phrases are running through my brain and that I am wanting to speak to English speakers in Spanish, which shows that the program is definitely doing its job.

3) I find myself making up original Spanish sentences in my head, based on the pattern sentences.

All these changes have occurred in the last few weeks, without any effort on my part and without me devoting any special time to the projects, except time when driving, walking, or lying in bed with a Walkman type CD player. Now I am over the worst bumps in starting to learn Spanish. I know the 30 most common verbs, even if not fluent in all their tenses, I know the 20 or 30 most common prepositions, how to use reflexive verbs, the numbers, the days of the week, the months, the seasons of the year, the weather, lots of nouns and adjectives, the use of many idioms with the verb 'tenir', the mysteries of the verb 'haber' , several ways to say 'excuse me', and, most important of all, how to ask someone to speak more slowly, or "mas despacio", as we Hispanophones like to say.

The materials are extremely well organized, though you do not need to know this, and new concepts and vocabulary are introduced in a logical order a teaspoonful at a time, so that you never feel you are learning vocabulary or grammar, yet you are speaking Spanish, so you must be digesting something.

( I realised how well organized the materials were when I foolishly skipped Level 2 discs II and III to go to Level 3 disc I and found I was struggling with new material overload.)

I am not sure that there is any correct or incorrect way to use these discs, but my method is to play each disc 10-12 times, first just listening a few times and repeating in my head, but not aloud, then listening and repeating, and finally giving the translation in Spanish before hearing the Spanish version. When I am heartily sick of a disc, whether or not I know everything on it, I move on to the next disc. When I have completed all, I will go back, revise, and reinforce my knowledge of all the materials--at least that is the plan.

I really recommend this course. You have to put in the work of repeating phrases, but that is about it. After that you can just open your mouth and let the Spanish flow.

Obviously the course will not give you every word or phrase you need, but you can use an online translator to make up the sentences you really feel you want and you will have enough knowledge by now to know if the translation program has got it right, and to be able to edit any errors or misunderstandings.

*** Addendum 2/24/04

Soon after writing the above, after about 9 weeks with the CDs, I made my first trip to a Spanish speaking country with wonderful results. Mostly I avoided being around English speaking people and initially I was pretty tongue tied, but by the end of three days I was starting conversations with strangers, ordering meals without reference to the menu, and had learned almost enough Spanish to get a job as a soap opera writer in Spanish. By the time I left I did not want to stop speaking Spanish and in fact continued on the plane and in the airport in Miami. I was even thinking and dreaming in Spanish, for goodness sake.

Since my return I have had conversations with Spanish speaking people I have met, and it is amazing how friendly they become when you are trying to speak their language, however badly.

Don't get the impression that I am now miraculously fluent in Spanish. My Spanish is still pathetically bad, but I am still working with the CDs as I drive and improving all the time.

Maybe there are other better courses for learning Spanish, but all I can say is that this one has hit the spot for me.

This is very poorly put together. Much too much chit chatting (in English). No real lessons. Have to listen to too much chatter and the sound has very poor quality...like he was talking into a tape recorder.

If you are serious about learning Spanish, this will help you. However, it moves too fast to be your ONLY method of learning. You also need a beginning book or beginning class. This helps you listen for understanding and pronunciation. It starts with words and short phrases and moves quickly to longer sentences. Each lesson builds on the ones before, with concepts adding quickly. You hear it first in English, then there is a pause and you try to say it in Spanish. Then you hear it twice in Spanish, with a pause each time for you to attempt it. You learn much faster if you do try to pronounce it, as they recommend. Cut it off in heavy traffic, it requires concentration! I've been using it for a year, and have completed 2 of the 3 levels. My comprehension and pronunciation have improved tremendously as a result!

This is definitely not for beginners. It does not "teach" you any basics. I've listened to the first tape ~6 times and I've learned about 10 words. I would not recommend this to anyone.