SmartSpanish CDs Beginner - The smart way to learn spanish
SmartSpanish CDs Beginner - The smart way to learn 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
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great product!!
Since I moved to CA, I found it very useful to be able to speak Spanish, so I decided to take up one. I already knew basic Spanish from taking some classes but I wanted to practice more conversation and listening skills and I came across this product on amazon.com. After reading the review, I decided to purchase one.
To my great surprise, the beginner CD was pretty high level, and not one of those that make you repeat basic sentences, so that was nice. (If you have no back ground in Spanish what so ever, you may need to consider this point) I purchased the audio versions so I can listen to it in my car on my 30min commute to work everyday. I wanted to be thorough, so I took 1 week for each lesson. And after listening to all the steps, I tried repeating (first the slow version in Step2, second, the normal reading speed in step1, and finally the conversation speed with the guest in step6). So after 7 weeks, I got through all the CDs, and I could almost repeat at the speed of each guest on all the lessons!
Oh, and to my surprise, some phrases or pieces of conversation stuck to my head, and I even had a dream of me speaking Spanish! (you know what they say, if you get really good at speaking the language, you’ll start having dream in that language!)
So I’m pretty satisfied with the product. 
If I would add anything, I’d like it to have the conversation version of these lessons where we can hear dialogues, not only monologues.
Now, I’m thinking of taking the Intermediate and Advanced lessons for the next step.
Oh, and I’d like to add, the author was very nice and helpful when I had some problem with the CD. I liked the fact that the author himself gave me some support.
Thank you Christian!
5 Stars A fun way to understand Spanish
This product does exactly what it claims to do, teach you in an easy, interactive way to understand spoken spanish. It’s so easy to use and this means that I can spend all my energy learning spanish, not learning to use the program. I opened it up today and in 2 hours had completed the first lesson and reviewed some extras! I love it and I plan on using every last bit of it.
5 Stars Spanish that comes alive in your mind
This is the best product that I have ever used to learn a language. As the conversation is spoken on the CD, you follow along in the book and are able to see the words that you repeat with the speaker. As time goes on, when you are not even listening to the CD, you see the whole converation come to life in your mind. A picture of the words, how they sound, and what they mean all come together. This is with very little effort. It is a very relaxing and rewarding way to learn the language.
5 Stars Spanish Immersion
This program is highly effective and its aim is NOT to teach each vocabulary word in Spanish. Based on my experience with this product; it assumes the the listener has at least some of the basic vocabulary down. After that, this program accomplishes what few other language programs do: it builds listening comprehension through repeating passages a few times while you participate in pronouncing the words that you hear.
The program is structured in 6 steps per lesson with each lesson being based on an interview of a native spanish speaker talking as if a normal native would (eg: using “umm” or “uh”).
Step 1: You HEAR the interview from the program narrator
Step 2: You repeat the interview in segments
Step 3: You repeat the interview with the aid of the script
Step 4: Your repeat the interview with key explanations
Step 5: You are given 2 useful phrases to work on in conversation
Step 6: You hear the actual interview from the native speaker.
In this way the layout of the material programs your mind to automatically learn grammatical skills as well as context without opening a book to study rules. You will instinctively learn how the words work together to convey meaning. I was discouraged at times when I didn’t know all the vocabulary, just some bits and pieces. But this is to be expected to attain proficiency in learning any language. I simply looked up some words / phrases that I didn’t understand before starting a lesson. After setting up a routine; I found that my listening comprehension skills as well as my handle of the language was much more fluid and harmonious rather than sounding like, well, a beginner. Some people struggle and then ’something clicks’ and all the sudden…they reached a new level. This program is the equivalent to having that ‘click’ in order to jump your spanish to new heights.
1 Stars Not very convenient if you don’t already know the language
I think they take a lot for granted in this CD. Like the fact that you should already know some of this language. Not very convenient for me.
Filed under: Learn Spanish Product Reviews