Learn Spanish - Refresher Spanish: Lessons 1-25

Advanced Spanish #3

By: Innovative Language Learning

Narrated by: SpanishPod101.com

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Start speaking Spanish in minutes, and grasp the language, culture, and customs in just minutes more with Refresher - Spanish, a completely new way to learn Spanish with ease! Refresher - Spanish will have you speaking with proper pronunciation from the very first lesson and arm you with cultural insight and other information to utterly shock and amaze your Spanish and Mexican friends.

Why are the audio lessons so effective?

• Short and to the point
• 25 eight-minute lessons make them the perfect length
• Syllable-by-syllable breakdown of each word and phrase so that you can say every word and phrase instantly
• Repeat after the professional teacher section so that you can practice proper pronunciation
• Quick cultural tips in each lesson will help you navigate your way even better
• Above all, a fun and relaxed approach to grasping a lot of information quickly and easily
• Effortlessly learn from a bi-lingual and bi-cultural host as they guide you through the pitfalls and pleasures of Spain and Mexico and Spanish

You see, unlike other audiobooks, we actually teach Spanish and Spanish and Mexican culture. With each lesson, you will master a target phrase and key vocabulary. This is a complete lesson taught by a professional, bi-lingual teacher! Listen to the preview now! This is NOT a vocabulary audiobook with just words and their translations. These 25 short and effective audio lessons will allow you to:

• Speak Spanish within minutes of your first lesson
• Understand the culture, customs, and people of Spain and Mexico
• Order the food you want in restaurants
• Travel in taxis, trains, buses, and cars with confidence
• Master manners, etiquette, and customs
• Learn surprise phrases and tips that will leave your guests wondering where you learned them

This audiobook comes with downloadable lesson notes totaling over 100+ pages. Start speaking Spanish now!

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2011 Innovative Language Learning, LLC (P)2011 Innovative Language Learning, LLC

A Mixed Bag

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I’m not sure for what level Spanish speaker the lessons were intended. (Though it is considered an advanced review.)This is a great book to hear casual banter that you would hear day to day between Spanish speakers. It’s an excellent colloquial break from the formal and serious content in most language textbooks.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I loved that there were two narrators that spoke clearly in both English and Spanish. The example dialogue was witty with informal quips.

Any additional comments?

I want to love this book- it has so much potential, but I found it to be very frustrating. The format: full speed colloquial dialogue with little context followed a by a full speed rereading in Spanish with a slow loose English explanation. There is no slow reading. Then the narrators explain the dialogue concepts in Spanish, but if your Spanish wasn’t advanced enough to understand the dialogue than the explanation may help only a little. Next they review vocabulary: about 5 beginner level Spanish words. If this refresher is for advanced speakers, these words will be remedial and you would have already needed to know them in order to understand what was spoken in the example dialogue and the dialogue explanation.Each chapter includes a grammar lesson, but generally there is no example in English first, so if your grammar is rusty, it may be helpful to review the terminology before beginning this book. Lastly, the pdf has no index or hyperlinks and it’s difficult to use if you aren’t following the lessons in order. You need to scroll through 137 pages to find the corresponding notes. It would probably be helpful to use a pdf editor to renumber the pages and create your own index.
I would have rated this book as one of the best if there had been:
1. A brief introduction to the grammar lesson in English ex. The past perfect tense is English would be, “Before I had time to turn around he had escaped.”
2. A bit more context for the example dialogue or offer a little more explanation afterward in English before moving on.
4. A slow reading of the example dialogue
5. Introduce the vocabulary words and phrases before the example dialogue
6. Add hyperlinks and an index to the pdf for quick reference
7. Edit the podcast recordings so that the chapters flow as a book rather than individual podcasts. Omit the “welcome to spanish 101” at the beginning of every chapter as well as the closing dialogue that directs podcasts listeners to purchase more products from their website.

Not that helpful

It’s just way too fast and all in Spanish. So unless you already know it you can’t really learn from it, which kind of defeats the purpose.