Travel, live, and retire in Mexico!

with
Rosana Hart

Pimsleur Spanish I: A Review

I ordered this CD set for the library where I was director not long ago, and it was very popular for learning Spanish. I listened to part of it, and if I ever go to China, I may get the basic Pimsleur tapes first! My Spanish is somewhat beyond the basic level, but even so I picked up quite a few tips by going through the first lessons in my car.

Pimsleur Spanish is very interactive with phrases being on the CD, then you say them, and so on. It refers back to vocabulary you've learned, to reinforce it. The way the lessons are structured is based on research by Dr. Paul Pimsleur into how we remember. It is totally an audio program, with the idea that since that is how children learn a language, it's a good way for adults learning an additional language. Being a very visual person myself, I really like to see things as well.

The Pimsleur approach teaches a rather formal version of Spanish, but you can remedy that in part with a book I love, Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish. Pimsleur's strengths are in getting you talking, and you will want to add more vocabulary tailored to your own interests.

The links on this page takes you to Pimsleur's Spanish I CD set. There are also sets for Spanish II and III, and you can see them on the Amazon page this link takes you to. These items are certainly a bit of an investment, so if you go to Amazon, also look at the used prices. If you buy these, you could sell them later yourself. (You can try your local library before Amazon too.)

There are other programs that compete with Pimsleur, and I think that Rocket Spanish and Platiquemos Español are particularly good. Both can be downloaded too!