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 FSI Language Courses Forum : Learning Languages : Spanish
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Remedial
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Quote Remedial Replybullet Topic: Newbie Question: Pimsleur or FSI Basic Spanish
    Posted: 06 November 2007 at 8:57am
Here's my background: Okay, I "was" fluent in Spanish back in 1999-2000 because that was when I was taking a very intensive Spanish course in college.  For example, we were not allowed to speak English "at all" in the class and there was a lot of reading exercises involved.  But, after graduating, I had no one to converse with so I quickly lost my fluency. 

Which leads me to where I am today.  My vocabulary is very depleted and I can pick up bits and pieces of "most" Spanish conversations around me, but the convos are normally going too fast for me to digest it all.  Also, my conjugation skills are very amateur.  I'm the guy saying "tiene" rather than "tengo".
 
I am able to formulate decent sentences and communicate what I need to get across (in Spanish that is very laughable).  So, I'm trying to decide which of these would be the best venue for me to use to get back up to speed.  FSI Basic Spanish seems like the best option because it is "free" and can be found in bits and pieces online.  I also like the fact that it "appears" to have an accompanying text.

But, Pimsleur seems to be highly rated and well reviewed.  I read a customer review by the editor of the LearningSpanishProductsReviews website on amazon.com for the Spanish I - 2nd Rev. Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Spanish with Pimsleur Language Programs by Pimsleur where he breaks the program down by lesson and most of the stuff he listed I already knew.  But that's just based off of his brief synopsis.  The review is the second one on the page linked below.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Understand-Pimsleur-Language-Comprehensive/dp/0743523571/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8368078-2872163?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194360853&sr=8-1

So, I guess I really just need something that I can use to brush up on my basics and help me with my conjugation and vocabulary. 

Which of these courses would you guys recommend?   Or maybe some other program/text/method may be appropriate? 

Let me know.  Thanks.
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Tora
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Quote Tora Replybullet Posted: 07 November 2007 at 4:34am
This forum is pretty quiet so I'll take a shot at answering this question while you wait for a more authoritative response. I'm a spanish beginner and am currently taking an evening class in spanish. I also have pimsleur spanish and listen to that from time to time.

A while back I also studied Japanese and used pimsleur in association with various other textbooks / CDs.

Here are my thoughts about Pimsleur
- Good for listening to in car, or while commuting
- Plenty of repetition so the phrases do tend to sink in
- Good audio quality
- Expensive
- Grammar is not really covered explicitly
- Reading and writing not covered to any great degree
- Vocabulary is quite limited even at the advanced levels.

Note also that Spanish I is extremely basic, you should probably start with Spanish II or even Spanish III.

If I was learning a language I definitely would not depend on pimsleur, but it is useful if you use it in association with more traditional materials.

Based on your background I would be inclined not to spend money on Pimsleur unless you could listen to a sample first, as I really think it won't be that much help as a vocabulary builder or as help on conjugation, and it may be too basic for your requirements.

Try the FSI courses and see how you go. Although one problem with the FSI courses is the audio quality is quite poor, and I find that an annoying drawback for beginners. Also I live in a country with few spanish speakers so I can't get a friend or neighbor to help.

A few years back when I was learning Japanese, I studied the Japanese for Busy People Books and used Pimsleur for additional practice in the car. But using pimsleur by itself would have been a nightmare, because you would've ended up with no idea how to construct proper sentences or that certain words were the same verb but just different conjugations.

Well maybe some others will have experiences to share.

There is also platiquemos (sp?) an updated version of Spanish Basic which seems to be quite good.
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Alew
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Quote Alew Replybullet Posted: 13 November 2007 at 6:55pm
I'd recommend FSI--maybe even Programmatic.  Pimsleur is too slow for someone who's studied Spanish before and won't really take you to a very high level at all.  It has almost no discussion of conjugations/rules, but rather teaches "tengo" and "tiene" as separate vocab words.  If you want to start over, Pimsleur may be best.  Otherwise, FSI or even Michel Thomas (for a softer reintroduction) may be best.
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Ricardito
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Quote Ricardito Replybullet Posted: 14 November 2007 at 3:23pm
I am just getting started in trying to figure out how to download the FSI program, but I can comment on Pimsleur.
 
In a word:   EXCELLENT!
 
I have used many learning techniques to study Spanish.  Pimsleur was the best.
 
Second best:   Learn Spanish in Your Car.
 
Of course, to be really fluent you would need a "live" teacher somewhere along the line and a lot of practice.LOL
 
Buena suerte.
 
Ricardito
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tehrahk
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Quote tehrahk Replybullet Posted: 21 November 2007 at 12:38pm

I've did a few chapters in FSI Programmatic Spanish and I love the overlearning method, I've become faster at forming more complex sentence from their drilling. Overlearn.

Pimsleur is good, even great, but I would only use it as a supplement. Never as a core study program. I borrowed it from the library and it helped me again with quick formation although one is unable to develop a firm grasp and understanding of indirect/direct pronouns, conjugation. I always felt I had a loose understanding of what I was saying.
 
I was able to bring myself from no experience to Business/ High Intermediate/ in 18 months. Still a long time but I also had to attend school full time. I have passed the DELE Intermedio exam.


Edited by tehrahk - 21 November 2007 at 12:45pm
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Plato the Young
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Quote Plato the Young Replybullet Posted: 04 January 2008 at 9:05pm
Forget Pimsleur. It's a nice 'soft' introduction to Spanish but WAY overpriced for the basic material it gives you. If I were you, I'd get "Learning Spanish Like Crazy" (both Levels 1 & 2) which go for cheaper and teach you all the material in Pimsleur and then some!

Michel Thomas is a nightmare. First of all, his accent is terrible! If you want to learn a language, the best approach is to get something where you have native speakers and Michel Thomas is definitely NOT it! If you already have these two programs (Pimsleur & Michel) then use them as supplements I guess but if you don't, don't waste your money on them.

I would recommend (my personal opinion):

1. Platiquemos - extremely comprehensive, based on FSI material, not really for the casual learner as it has about 55 units with 55 hours of audio and hundreds of pages of text, this has the equivalent of what you'd learn in 2+ years of high school Spanish and will get you as close to fluency as you can get without going to a country where Spanish is spoken; can be downloaded off their website.

2. Learning Spanish Like Crazy - very comprehensive as well (though not as comprehensive as Platiquemos), one of the first programs I had for studying Spanish, highly recommended, cheaper if you download it off their website.

With the above 2, you'll have more than enough material to learn Spanish to a pretty high level. I really don't think you can go much further than them without going to an immersion school.

¡Buena suerte con el español amigo!
Cheerio!

Plato the Younger
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jostfa18
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Quote jostfa18 Replybullet Posted: 20 February 2008 at 10:42am
bueno, te aconsejo que compres o desgarges Pimsleur porque las lecciones de Pimsleur entrenan el oido y enseñan hablar sin pensarlo. Para mi, me funcionó bien y junto con el Spanish FSI curso podía aprender suficiente a hablar y a comunicarme en argentina donde vivo ahora.
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