Learning Spanish the Smart Way

This didn't make Spanish easy to learn, but it made it possible. It's nice to hear native speakers when attempting to learn a new language and this software accomplishes that. And, at about 1/20th the cost of some more well known software programs that do basically the same thing.

I bought this last week and finally popped it into my iMac today. In order to view the videos it said my browser needed the Real Player plugin. The plugin that was included did not work with Safari or Chrome or Firefox. The only browser this software is compatible with is Internet Explorer. To my disgust I downloaded IE for Mac on to my machine, but even still, the Real Player plugin was undetected. I'm sure if I were more proficient with outdated products like Real Player and IE, I could dig into the advanced preferences and make it work, but I'm not. I'm a Mac user, and I prefer technology that actually works.

Not so great

This product devotes most of its practices to one particular learning technique, and that is to tune your ear to spanish speaking. It is not comprehensive in grammar. It also has some problems with incorrect and incomplete translations .Example: The first lesson with William Torres:1. Incorrect Translation"Y con dos camaras trabajaba"William used the Imperfect tense(expresses an action or state of being that was continuous in the past and its completion is not indicated) as in "trabajaba", but the English translation found in this program is in the Preterit tense "I worked with two cameras". He really said "I used to work with two cameras". This program should translate the Spanish exactly how he said it- "I was working or I used to work with two cameras."2. Incomplete translation"Hay algunos que tienen mas."The program translates the above sentence- "Some have more."Why not complete the translation for the beginners- "There are some that have more". The beginner needs no short cuts in the translation. This sentence is not an idiom, or slang! So why the short cut translation?Should you buy this program? The answer is Yes! This will tune your ears for sure and make you think. I would give this product 3 1/2 stars if I could.

Not for beginners, but this is the missing piece of my self-taught Spanish education that I have been looking for! I have found other software to be too easy; this one is quite challenging in a good way. I highly recommend it if you already have a foundation in vocabulary and grammar in Spanish.

A simple approach. I liked the concept of learning how to speak before learning written grammar-the whole idea of studying the way a child does. I tried this product and was very satisfied.

Do not purchase this. It is one exercise, over and over again. It hardly improves Spanish skills at all because there is no variety in the teaching methods and activities. It's just translation exercises.

Something was wrong with the CD. It didn't work. Called Customer Service and they immediately gave me a refund without me asking. Fantastic, honest company. Will buy again from this company.

Advanced Learning to make other courses usable.Content is good. Would improve with better video and start up instructions. Interviews not all translated.