Includes 4 audio CDs (3h 20m) and a 474 page course book. This pack aims to take users from scratch to having a solid base in Spanish within six months, and to feel comfortable with the language in as little as three months. In only half an hour a day users will move ahead naturally until they are at ease with all the basic structures needed for communication and become familiar with the basic words and grammar of Spanish. The method comprises two phases: the passive phase, in which users simply repeat what they hear and read, and the active phase, in which users begin to create sentences and imagine themselves in a variety of everyday situations.

Customer Rating:
Summary: May not be best program for novice
Comment: I like the program. It really throws you into the deep end of the pool. I just think it throws too much at you at the beggining which may discourage the novice. I reccomend Michel Thomas Spanish Deluxe for the complete beginner. After doing Michel Thomas Advance going to Assimil is probably a good next step.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Assimilate Spanish Effortlessly
Comment: Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language - the program has 109 lessons on 478 pages and 4 CDs with approximately 3 and half hours of audio entirely in Spanish.

Each lesson contains short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of Spanish even more enjoyable and fun.

Note: The tapes / CDs that accompany the book are spoken with Castillan pronounciation - Spanish spoken in Spain - not in Latin American.

Once you're done with this book, you can continue onto the next volume - "Using Spanish".

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Assimilate Spanish Effortlessly
Comment: Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language - the program has 109 lessons on 478 pages and 4 CDs with approximately 3 and half hours of audio entirely in Spanish.

Each lesson contains short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of Spanish even more enjoyable and fun.

Note: The tapes / CDs that accompany the book are spoken with Castillan pronounciation - Spanish spoken in Spain - not in Latin American.

Once you're done with this book, you can continue onto the next volume - "Using Spanish".

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun, Informative, and Well-Designed Courses
Comment: I don't think you really can learn a foreign language on your own. But as far as these self-studying tools are concerned, Assimil's Spanish with Ease shows that they have put in the thought and effort to design the courses. It is well worth the extra money (compared to other self-taught Spanish books.)

Let me first tell you what this is not. It's not a phrase book for tourists and is not a comprehensive Spanish grammar course, and it doesn't give you a free dictionary. And you need to sit down and read the book to learn (I simply don't buy the "All-Audio" model by Living Learning.) But if you are serious about learning Spanish on your own (i.e. actually going through all the lessons), Assimil is a very effective tool.

For example, the book is printed in Spanish on odd-numbered pages and corresponding English on even-numbered pages so that people could refrain from "cheating" by looking up the English. The lessons are mostly interesting dialogues that could arise in daily life. It provides informative footnotes that explain idiomatic usages. It gives a pretty detailed grammatical appendix (including some irregular verbs) and variations of regional usages in a dozen Spanish-speaking countries. It also have very fun cartoons to go with the lessons. The accented syllables are boldfaced.

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