I like things with lots of exercises and keys, plus concise explanations of grammar that isn't too technical. I printed out "Shaquille O'Neal," "National Basketball Association," and "Futbol Americano." Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. My first real experience with the language was in a classroom setting, and, unfortunately, the class was terrible. Actual Spanish language instruction and cultural discussions were merely an aside that the instructor literally spent fifteen minutes discussing: five of those minutes were the instructor's actual instruction, and the other ten consisted of us filling out a worksheet. I've been studying Spanish since the Spring of 2016. I also like that each chapter includes a conversation to put the vocabulary into context. All are welcome, whether beginner or polyglot. Professor Arguelles reviewed the Living Language series too and broadly liked it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWIheSDaw0. Thr normal price is reported to be $125. Don't be afraid of the Spain accent haha. Press J to jump to the feed. The closest that we actually got to Latin American countries was to discuss the "dangers of communism" in Latin America; the rest of the class was merely about modern politics in the United States, specifically whom we should vote for in the 2016 election. I completely understand that these courses are in no way a replacement for a real native speaker. If I bought Pimsleur, I would probably purchase it from the used section on Amazon. I just find myself really frustrated by the lack of quality Greek materials and I want to give it a try. Remember to provide enough context, read the sidebar/wiki, and use the search function. This allows me to learn the vocabulary behind the topics I'm interested in so that, hopefully, I can start listening to podcasts about them and keep taking in the content I actually care about. I am using Assimil and have for the past 4 months. Awesome, thanks for the info! I have more than beginner level in all the languages I want to use it for except Polish. Transcripts: iKnow Programs. If you have something to share or a question about the Spanish language, ask and we'll help the best we can! But I hear it is good albeit very expensive. If I were going to pick on one thing, I'd say that like many language courses, the first few lessons (the Essential level) is primarily focused on making simple declarative statements like "The keys are on the table", or "I have a gift for you." Cool, thanks! No need to buy both. I actually loved them, and I recommend them highly. It's free and available on Soundcloud and Youtube. Press J to jump to the feed. Assimil vs Living Language. I live in the US, but I'm comfortable using this resource and would simply remove the "θ" sound from my speech. Thanks for the reply! As of June 30, 2018, live e-Tutoring has been discontinued. For example, right now, I'm reading Spanish articles that are like 8-year-old boy level. I don't know about the current series, but the old Ultimate series, at least for German, is pretty amazing for serious self-study students or as a college-level like supplement. The instructor was a native Spanish speaker, but seemed to have no passion for Spanish at all. TLDR: Is Assimil Spanish With Ease a good investment, or should I go with programs like Living Language Complete Spanish or a used Pimsleur in good condition? I'm also aware that the course uses the European Spanish accent. Also, do you know of any Latin American focused programs that are comparable to Assimil and affordable? Also, I will gladly take you up on that study offer. This is a subreddit for anybody interested in the pursuit of languages. A subreddit for anyone interested in Spanish. I suppose that's possible if you're doing one lesson per day, but if you really want this stuff to sink in you'll also need lots of review and practice. I'm considering it for my next options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWIheSDaw0. And PM if you need a study buddy. Oh and add "Language Transfer: Complete Spanish" to your list. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Spanish. I found it on Amazon.com on sale for around $55.00. Returning to my purpose for posting, I'm interested in the Assimil course Spanish With Ease . If you want to learn Spanish, Living Language will help you achieve your goal. It's the 2nd best language resource I have used and will use it with all the future languages I intend to study. The instructor was a native Spanish speaker, but seemed to have no passion for Spanish at all. Lots of American students use Assimil without picking it up. Despite the books being labeled Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced, it's a beginner's course. They have two types of audio, including a pure native Assimil-like "at home" version and an "on-the go" version, very well paced, multiple consistent actors who almost all sound native, very carefully structured, very clear text, language and cultural note sections, good short bidirectional exercises with a separate per-chapter answer key, etc. I've tried lots of programs so I might give this a try myself :-), New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the languagelearning community. I can give you some tips on the book as well :). Check back soon, as we add more free language learning downloads all the time. Instead of discussing culture and history in the Latin world, we merely became a glorified politics class. Language Transfer and I are well acquainted; I absolutely love the method and have already used the Arabic course. I did it after the basic course, so I kinda just breezed through it. I’m now using it for Spanish. Over a longer timeline, you'll need to know this stuff, but phrases like that aren't immediately useful for travel or language exchanges. I simply want to know if this product is worth purchasing, in your opinion, especially in comparison to programs like Pimsleur and Living Language . So yeah, go for it. I wish that I were kidding, but I ended up wasting a considerable amount of money on that class, and I'm still angry about it to this day. Afterwords I was able to read Harry Potter with a dictionary. There will be vocabulary lists for which you'll have to make up your own exercises or just memorize, but the program does make an effort to show you how to connect those words into sentences. I also had Ultimate German. That was also good. They do a pretty good job of explaining why things are they way they are, e.g., the German case system, and the built-in exercises allow the student to apply the knowledge right away. ... Grammar and culture notes to give you the most complete picture of the language; Learn more about our Comprehensive Courses or try a Free Lesson. Any honest feedback is appreciated, as well as alternatives that are either cheaper or more geared toward Latin American Spanish, but comparable to Assimil. I've heard good things about Assimil in the past, and this would be my first course with this company. Thinking of trying it for Greek :-D. I tried it for German, and I'd say it's as good as any paperback program. The only thing that made the class salvageable was that I was able to make a connection with a Spanish speaker who volunteered to tutor me. I used Complete course: Basics, and I found it was an excellent breakdown of basic grammar, as well as a nice primer.