SmartSpanish Audio CDs Int/Adv - Learning spanish the smart way

If you want to learn spanish through grammar or other conventional methods, this is not for you. But if you want to be able to converse in Spanish as naturally as the natives, this SmartSpanish course will ease your way to the mastering of the Spanish language. I chose to really follow the instruction to repeat the dialogs several times. The steps, which you may choose to skip, are actually logically built for maximum retaintion. I wholeheartedly recommend SmartSpanish.

If you are interested in learning Spanish the way it's spoken in Spain as well as in South America, this is the language program for you.
It is an interesting program that if the steps are followed, that is, variations in hearing and repeating the monologs or dialogs with annotated notes on pronounciation or grammar, one can actually begin to understand what is spoken. The monologs/dialogs are spoken by a variety of people in different professions, and from different countries like Spain, Mexico, which makes the CD much more interesting than most language tapes.
I am really glad I purchased Smart Spanish and look daily to studying Spanish. Having had high school Spanish almost 20 years ago I also feel confident that I will be able to finally speak Spanish soon. I will be comfortable with my Spanish understanding and speaking because of Smart Spanish.

Thanks to these CDs, I have developed an ability to listen to Spanish at real speed. It has given me a lot of confidence. It's a must have, especially if you already study Spanish or if you have studied Spanish and you can't have a regular conversation.

Well...the English speaking is hard to understand, and the phrases to repeat are very long. Not much of a learning tool imo.

These CDs are set up so you hear a conversation spoken at normal speeds, then it is repeated several times, broken into small pieces so you have an opportunity to repeat it. It is enjoyable to hear real conversations and from that standpoint I'd rate these CDs very highly.

However, the technical details are quite annoying. The sound quality is just dreadful at times. It sounds like they were recording right next to a very busy highway and the roar of the traffic really makes it difficult to hear the words on the CDs. With several of the conversations the people being interviewed are running water or chopping food or working in a kitchen, so there is an enormous amount of background noise that makes it impossible at times to hear the Spanish.

Close to half of the voices on the CD are from Spain and not Latin America, so you hear Spanish with the huge lisp typical of Spain. So the verb hacer sounds like "hather" and there are many words that just leave you scratching your head as to what they mean. Then you look in the little translation book and find it is a word you know, but with the horrible lisp changing c to th, you won't recognize the word. I would have greatly preferred an all Latin American Spanish CD.

The instructor who speaks Spanish from Spain speaks very, very heavily accented English so it is very hard to understand what he is saying at times. It's surprising to me they would not have hired someone with better English. A final annoyance is the translation book they include. Some of the conversations are skipped entirely. Others have translations that are just weird and so literal it is hard to figure out what they really mean.

Since these CD's are less than $20, it is worth it to buy them, but be prepared for many quite amateur features.

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It was my intention to purchase a Spanish CD set to be a companion while making long commutes. However, these CDs require the accompaniment of reading the text while listening. While that is certainly useful in ordinary circumstances, it simply wasn't what I was looking for.

When using this CDs at home, I could tell that I was improving. The only challenge is that most users simply do not have a half an hour a day (or more) to spend sitting and following an auditory and literary Spanish guide. For the multi-tasker, this isn't the product for me. For those with time set aside each day for improving their Spanish reading, listening, and speaking skills, this is a good resource.

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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