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What’s in Pimsleur Spanish 4 & 5? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| jfhst18 Newbie Costa Rica Joined 5093 days ago 12 posts - 12 votes | Message 1 of 11 13 March 2015 at 12:59am | IP Logged |
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I happen to enjoy the Pimsleur method a lot, so I'll probably get them at some point. I've
been through 1-3 many times. But I can not find anywhere on the whole Internet any kind of detailed review of what the heck is in these new(er) courses. Do they incorporate the subjunctive...stuff like that. I got Spanish Plus and I share the consensus that it's kind of an unhelpful rehash, so I don't totally trust the people who make them to push forward into the new usages and would love to have a review from someone who's listened. Or a link to such a review. Edited by jfhst18 on 13 March 2015 at 1:01am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 2 of 11 13 March 2015 at 1:34am | IP Logged |
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I've done Pimsleur IV for French (twice) and Spanish, and am on lesson 6 of Italian
IV. I like it a lot. The topics are a bit more relevant than Phases I through III, and the grammar feels more natural. You'll now have to use a mix of past, imperfect, and subjunctive in any given response. The dialogues themselves revolve around topics such as travel, marriage and divorce, using the internet, talking about books and art, fixing up a country house, and expressing horror at the fashion choices of your friends. I didn't mind repeating the French Phase IV course, whereas I was really bored with Phase III and don't ever want to listen to it again. I've downloaded Phase V French, but probably won't start it for another few weeks. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7221 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 3 of 11 13 March 2015 at 1:59am | IP Logged |
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@kanewai, The question posed by the OP was in reference to Spanish 4 and 5. Is that the one you addressed in your post? I interpreted it, as your experience with French 4 more, than Spanish 4. I read the Spanish 4 reviews on Amazon.com and a noticeable complaint was the lack of the subjunctive. French 4 on the other hand had many positive reviews. Spanish 5 with two five star reviews at this point, were vague and IMO useless on Amazon.com. One reviewer actually wrote down instead of it's worth it, used the word pene instead of pena. For some reason he has not changed it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 4 of 11 13 March 2015 at 11:37pm | IP Logged |
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alang, the Phase IV have followed very similar paths for each of the languages. The experience I described was the same for Spanish, French, and Italian.
I'm skeptical of a lot of the negative reviews on Amazon - for some reason Pimsleur attracts a lot of blatantly false posts. To give one example: the first page has three reviews stating that Phase IV Spanish focuses on the present and rarely uses the past. I just skimmed through the recordings again: the past and imperfect are the primary tenses used in most of the dialogues. To be fair: a lot of the five-star reviews are also questionable. Pimsleur isn't a perfect system by far. I don't want to sound like a total fan-boy! I use it a lot because it's one of the easiest to use on my commute, but definitely have a love/hate relationship with the course. However, I would say that this level is a significant improvement over the earlier levels. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7221 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 5 of 11 14 March 2015 at 6:12am | IP Logged |
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Thanks kanewai. I really like the Pimsleur method, but when I read some of the reviews without any details on Amazon.com, I immediately think it is a false review to bring the rating up or down depending on the motive. The 5 star review I mentioned about the reviewer for Spanish 5 who did not write pena, I believe his/ her review IMO is a fake. I tend to trust the members on this forum more, as languages learners who are willing to go through the program. Pimsleur customer service, I don't trust, due to conflicting information and finding out it was just downright wrong. Like the lady who told me before, there was no Spanish 4. She questioned herself when I told her, it was on the Amazon.com website. Later she said Spanish plus is in Spanish 4, but not in order. I also did not believe her about that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jfhst18 Newbie Costa Rica Joined 5093 days ago 12 posts - 12 votes | Message 6 of 11 14 March 2015 at 10:48am | IP Logged |
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Kanewai...thanks for taking the time to post your experience with Pimsleur 4 & %.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5783 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 7 of 11 14 March 2015 at 2:14pm | IP Logged |
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Regarding Spanish 4 and 5. For reasons that aren't really relevant I had to temporarily
ditch my German and return to Spanish this last 5 months (which made me very sad) and I considered doing Spanish 4 as a kind of neat way to bring me back up to speed after 2 years of no Spanish. I found a copy of Spanish 4 online and started it but didn't get far. It's way too easy and I agree with the poor Amazon reviews. Recently Spanish 5 became available online and I had a listen to random 1 minute samples of the last few lessons. It seems much better and I definitely heard the imperfect subjunctive covered. I may even actually do it for the fluency practice. Also I think it depends on your level. I really enjoyed Spanish III many, many years ago when I had a low level and found IV too easy and boring a few months ago (I estimate my current level as a low B2). Depending on your level, IV might be good for you (and equally someone with a C1 or C2 level might find 5 too boring). Edited by Random review on 14 March 2015 at 2:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5375 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 8 of 11 15 March 2015 at 9:18pm | IP Logged |
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You can listen to a five minute sample of Pimsleur Spanish Phase 5 on audible.
Edit: the link is actually to phase 4. Edited by James29 on 15 March 2015 at 9:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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