VocabuLearn

Swedish, Level 1

By: Penton Overseas Inc.

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 3 hrs

Publisher's summary

VocabuLearn is the only audio language learning system designed to teach the way you learn best...concentrating on vocabulary and helpful expressions. This three-hour program contains over 1,500 commonly-used words and expressions - the building blocks of language. This audio flash-card system will have you communicating effectively in the shortest time possible. Recommended by educators world-wide, VocabuLearn is prepared by professional instructors and recorded by dialect-free native speakers, giving you the authentic pronunciation of each word. VocabuLearn is ideal for those studying foreign languages. It can also help you prepare for more enjoyable trips to foreign countries...and can even improve your job and business opportunities. Best of all, you can listen to VocabuLearn anywhere...in your car, at home, or on a portable digital audio player - wherever you are. No textbook is required!

(P) and ©1989 Penton Overseas, Inc.

Better than most!

I didn't learn Swedish until I was an adult, and then I could only attend evening classes once or twice a week. As a learning tool combined with formal education, this series is a real help. I used to listen to the tapes in between classes, especially while commuting to my adult education center, and on the way back home. In the car, when I got tired of radio or other music, I'd stick this cassette in the player. It really helped me in my studies of the language, and I wish there were a Level Three.

Excruciatingly Horrible

Compared to other language learning audio CDs I've used in the past (French and German -- different publishers) this one is horrible. There's no introduction --it just starts out with random phrases in English/Swedish then switches to Swedish/English so you have to remember what iteration you are on to make any sense of the translation. Also, you only get one chance to hear the phrase. I assume this is what they meant by "flash-card" system. This along with the randomness of the phrases it is excruciatingly irritating study. You definitely should have an accompanying booklet since individual words are tough to discern.

In my opinion it's not possible to learn even rudimentary Swedish with this product.

Not easy to understand

The phrases did not seem to have any particular pattern. Not used in context. Probably great if you have some understanding of Swedish and need reinforcement. On its own, it did not work for me.

Not good pedagogy

If you want already have some basic knowledge of Swedish and just want to hear Swedish phrases and try to get the pronunciation down, this is a good listen. This could be improved by providing a list of phrases somewhere so that one can also see the letters and spelling (otherwise, when you see a word, you have no idea which pronunciation you should use or how it relates to something you heard in the book). However, repeating words and attempting to memorize them just isn't helpful for learning basic Swedish. It's context independent, so except for a few terms, like please and thank you, you won't know which situations make sense for which words. And given a lack of situation, you won't necessarily remember any of it, since learning takes place in contexts. This could be improved, for example, by having a narrator describe a situation in which you might use these terms, like "you are in a restaurant ordering herring" or the likie. Finally, some of the words are ones that you won't imagine ever using under any circumstances.

What fun!

I'm not a big fan of learning immersion-style, but I loved the witty phrases used in this audiobook and I could tell immediately that the lessons had been carefully constructed to reinforce learning basic constructions. Even though this won't be my only method of learning Swedish, it's a great supplement to textbook learning.