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Rating: 
Summary: Listen 'N Learn to Lisp
Review: After borrowing this book from our public library, I have struggled first through the textbook and then started listening to the tapes while commuting. Of course, in the first days, I understood only about 10%, however, this has finally increased to about 95%. The recodings have a real life quality, both in terms of speed and content. I like this course very much and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand spoken Spanish. The explanations of grammar are only minimal, however, you can combine this with any other textbook that gives a more thorough background in the Spanish grammar. The great value of this course is its emphasis on listening comprehension of the real spoken Spanish.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent way to develop listening comprehension
Review: After borrowing this book from our public library, I have struggled first through the textbook and then started listening to the tapes while commuting. Of course, in the first days, I understood only about 10%, however, this has finally increased to about 95%. The recodings have a real life quality, both in terms of speed and content. I like this course very much and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand spoken Spanish. The explanations of grammar are only minimal, however, you can combine this with any other textbook that gives a more thorough background in the Spanish grammar. The great value of this course is its emphasis on listening comprehension of the real spoken Spanish.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful for the beginner
Review: Although I would have preferred a faster moving and more advanced tape, this Spanish instructional tape helped me strengthen my Spanish speaking and especially my listening skills. A great tool for a novice who is trying to learn Spanish, yet it also helped me, a student who has completed three years of Spanish, to better pronunciate my words.
Rating:
Summary: Immersion is the Best Way to Learn
Review: First some context. I own and use "Just Listen and Learn Spanish" and also "Just Listen and Learn Spanish Plus." I listen to these tapes while commuting, and read the text during my lunch hour or at home. At the same time I am using a grammar text "Spanish Now" to learn grammar. Listening in my car means I can't follow the directions to stop and do a reading or written exercise. I'm a bit out of sync with the design of the course.Second a statement on immersion. I don't understand most of what I hear. That's how I learned English. That's how I learned French when I lived in an French home. It doesn't mean I'm not learning. Why "Just Listen and Learn Spanish" fills the bill. The tape is 90% Spanish with enough English guidance to keep a general orientation. It ranges from scripted dialogs those not fluent in Spanish to radio programs. You have to tolerate the fact that not everything is translated and you mostly don't understand. But what a pleasure when you go back to something that a few weeks earlier you understood practically none of and you now get 85-90%. This is after less than three months of studying Spanish.
Rating:
Summary: Listen 'N Learn to Lisp
Review: This is a passable, if somewhat dated (1982), CD if you are intending to learn Andalusian spanish. If you are planning to use your spanish elsewhere in the world, such as Mexico, or South America, this CD is of questionable value. It is made with live recordings of Andalusians speaking their dialect. Unfortunately, they often make grammatical mistakes, and the dialect is unusual. The speakers often lisp "es" and "ze" sounds, ("Gracias" becomes "Grathia" and "Gonzales" becomes Gonthaleth"). The dropping of the final sylabants needlessly complicates the learning process. The prerecorded local color in the background often forms noise that obscures the dialogue in the recordings. Finally the CD is recorded without intervening skip marks, complicating the rehearing of dialogue, without listening to the whole chapter again. I think that there are far better products out there.
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