Spanish: Levels 1, 2 & 3 (Learn in Your Car)

This course consists of nine CD's - three for each of the three parts of the course. There are also three small booklets, one for each part, each covering three of the CD's. The CD content consists of a very bored American woman reciting English words or phrases, followed by a pause, followed by a native speaker reciting the Spanish equivalent, at speed, twice. And that's it. There is no explanation whatsoever for the grammar being covered. Each "lesson" also starts and ends with an excruciating electronic tone that is annoying and headache-inducing. This all makes for a very "cold" teaching method - there is no empathy for the student and I was left feeling very much on my own.

If you try to use this course in your car exclusively, i.e. without referring to the accompanying booklets, it will be of very limited use. The native speaker goes so fast and merges words together. Granted, this would happen in real speech, but for a student who hasn't encountered the words before, it is virtually impossible to split each phrase into its constituent words, let alone remember them.

Fortunately, the unpromising-looking booklets are actually fairly useful. Firstly, they list all of the phrases on the CD's, in both languages. This is vital given the break-neck speed at which the native speaker talks. More importantly, though, unlike the CD's, the booklets give fairly good explanations of the grammar used in the phrases.

A complete beginner would find this course difficult and disheartening. It is presented in a dry, cold manner that is enough to turn anyone off. However, it is quite useful as an ongoing method of testing your language knowledge as it develops, because some of the vocabulary and grammar is more advanced than beginner level. The subjunctive mood is covered, for example, as well as most of the tenses.

Worst points - a cold, bored American woman reciting the English phrases in the most monotonous voice imaginable, and a native Spanish speaker whose rapid delivery makes no concessions to the beginner. There is no grammar or other explanation whatsoever on the CD's. If the word "you" is used in a phrase, sometimes the English speaker says "familiar, singular" or whatever, and sometimes they don't bother - leaving you to guess how to translate in the pause. The accompanying booklets have a number of errors too. It is as if the course has been thrown together in a hurry with poor quality control and little thought for the student. More than this, some of the phrases make me think that the writers were having a joke at the student's expense - for example, I hope I will never have to say "They killed her one month ago", and I will certainly never dare to say "You used to be skinny"!

Best points - the course can prove a useful revision resource for testing a growing vocabulary, and I use it in this way.

Overall, this course is not suitable for the beginner, because the audio presentation is depressing, has no explanations for anything, and has a Spanish speaker who talks very fast. It is, however, useful as a revision tool for existing students.