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Newest Spanish With Ease Version? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5253 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 17 of 23 24 January 2011 at 2:34am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
ripped off is the wrong term. Feeling "just downright awful" would have been a better choice. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Hardheim Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5202 days ago 34 posts - 78 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, French | Message 18 of 23 24 January 2011 at 5:06am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Well, if you want to be guaranteed the very latest, then, yes you'll likely pay full price. But, if you do enough searches on this website, there seems to be really knowledgable people that use the Assimil product that thinks each successive version becomes a little more dumbed down. I can guarantee you, that if you pick up the last version and learn it, you will be at least as well off as buying the very latest. Very little has actually changed in the Spanish language over the last 10 years. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6382 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 19 of 23 24 January 2011 at 9:41am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
It seems you did pretty well. $30 isn't such a bad price for the text. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5253 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 20 of 23 24 January 2011 at 12:46pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Well right now they are going for $30 on the assimil site. So I broke even. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Artek Triglot Newbie Poland Joined 5033 days ago 6 posts - 13 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Spanish Studies: French | Message 21 of 23 21 February 2011 at 2:17am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Back to the point. The main difference between the slightly older version "Buenos dias Pablo. Ana, que tal estas?" and the most recent one "Buenos dias, una tapa de tortilla, por favor" is that the latter is much more focused and pragmatic. The vocabulary is a bit smaller but far more practical and 'visit-to-Spain-oriented" than in the former edition (in which it sometimes seemed like the author got carried away wanting to vent his literary frustrations). In my humble opinion it's still a pretty good course. On the cover it boasts B2 European level, which is BS. However, it is the case with most beginner courses so I won't hold it against the Assimil guys. Another thing is that the audio is available in mp3, which is great, and a direction all publishers should follow.(They won't win with piracy anyway so, why make life more difficult for legal buyers and serious language learners who want to have audio in this comfortable format). Sadlly, both the above mentioned courses can't beat the 50/60s version in its divine thoroughness with explanations rich in synonyms and alternative ways of saying a given thing. (Not many courses tell you explicitly that you can drop "el" or "la" in a given expresion, or give you four different ways -in one place- of how to say "every day" in Spanish. Oh God, how much easier our life would be with more courses like the old Assimils...)
PS. Sorry. One more thing. In case anyone from Assimil actually happens to read this. Come on guys, I know that the first couple of lessons must be recorded more slowly but what you did with the latest edition is an abomination. Some of us may be beginners but we are not idiots!!! And do something with your website. I (which means that potentially thousands of other customers as well) haven't been able to access it with both my browsers for like months now. Ok, I'm done. Edited by Artek on 21 February 2011 at 2:40am 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5563 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 22 of 23 21 February 2011 at 2:37pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Agreed. It's very odd. It's so stilted, I think it actually makes it harder to understand sometimes. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Footnoted Newbie United States Joined 4860 days ago 35 posts - 42 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 23 of 23 20 August 2011 at 7:14am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Does anyone else with the Spanish with Ease book have a problem with the print? Compared to my New French with Ease, the font in my S-W-E edition is small (the exercise sections incredibly so) and faintly printed (on flimsy paper no less), making the text a challenge to read at times. Plus the emphasized syllable contains a darkened letter, which I find distracting--it makes it hard for me to just see the word itself. Incidentally my edition has a white semihard cover, a red ribbon, with ISBN 978-2-7005-0131-5. Oh and it opens with the lines Buenos Dias Paco -- Ana que tal estas. Edited by Footnoted on 20 August 2011 at 7:20am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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