Complete Spanish: The Basics

Be aware that this book doesn't come with the CDs - the description certainly sounded as if it should. Disappointing as that is a huge component of the living language program.

After having reviewed many Spanish Courses on tape and DVD, this one combines a really good book plus male and femals speakers. You would make a good choice in buying this item.

The condition of this product was EXCELLENT. It has provided me with a very viable means of upgrading my conversational Spanish. I do wish the Dictionary and Coursework Books had been full size. This was not clear, in the product description. I DO NOT regret making the purchase. Shipping time was minimal.

Arrived in good time. Was in better condition that I expected. The CD really helped with pronouncing the words.

Great for beginners or for anyone wanting to review and improve their Spanish. Great price!

This is a great value product for a beginner. With a coursebook, 3 cd's or cassettes and a dictionary, the beginner will have an easy time settling in to the new language, and there is ample vocabulary and phrases to keep them moving forward. For a package so complete the price is outstanding. The coursebook eases the learner into the language with several lessons on pronunciation, the alphabet, the vocabulary that is most useful (like numbers) or that is easy to remember or associate with (like days of the week, months of the year etc), and lots of cognates. The course then gets into common sayings, dialogues, greetings and useful phrases before slowly tackling the grammar. Each of the 40 lessons has a few exercises that put to use the vocabulary, phrases and grammar covered in the lesson. Verb conjugations, tenses, word order and other rules of grammar and syntax are all demonstrated in small batches throughout the course. Never in great depth (hence the word Basic in the title) but everything that is essential in everyday speech (hence the word Complete). The audio portion contained on the 3 cd's are coordinated with the coursebook. Bold text vocabulary and phrases in the coursebook are pronounced on the cd's. The early lessons are heavy in audio as the student needs to hear the sounds of the language to begin to develop their pronunciation skills. The third part of this package is the dictionary, invaluable during and after finishing the course. The learner can begin to use vocabulary most relevant to their own needs, and apply them with the basic knowledge gained from the course. The combination of a basic but able coursebook designed for the beginner, the all-important audio, and the dictionary for continued self-study make this a very well-rounded course for the beginner. The low price is simply unequalled. This package has better value than a comparably priced Teach Yourself course, and is more complete than Pimsleur Quick and Simple or Instant Conversation. This course will give someone a good foundation with the right tools to build upon, if worked through to the end diligently. In my opinion it is the best value course for a beginner in it's price range.