Book Description
At last a Spanish CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak Spanish in a minimum of time and effort. The course also comes complete with a complete 207 page illustrated text with tapescript, same page answer keys and English translations for home review. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel Spanish For Your Car' takes the learner form basic to intermediate level Spanish without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these tapes in English while a trained professional native Latin American Spanish speaker teaches you Spanish the way it is really spoken.
Behind The Wheel Spanish For Your Car is the ideal way to learn Spanish while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the tapes. Use your commute time to effectively learn Spanish with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in Spanish within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
Great Product.......2007-10-09
Like most of the other reviewers have stated, this is a great product. You get 8 discs and a book that goes along with the lessons. I listen in my going to and from work, then review the workbook at night.
review cd.......2007-10-01
I spend a lot of time in my car and now I can do someting productive while I sit in traffic.
Behind the Wheel Spanish.......2007-09-30
This is a detailed product that has made it easier for me to learn Spanish than what I have experienced through either formal classes or other products. I would recommend it to my friends.
Fun and Powerful.......2007-07-15
This course is a powerhouse course for learning spanish. So much useful vocabulary and conversational skills are covered in this course it is mind blowing. Mark's strategy is to use variable repetition to build a solid base on which to learn spanish and that magic is working on me. Mark has a solid sense of which words, phrases, sentence structures etc. are most used by english and spanish speaking folks alike, and he pounds them home till they become second nature.
It's all here, not just sentence building, but how to say the time, the days of the week, count into the millions, talk about the weather and a million other daily kinds of stuff humans around the world talk about or use in thier language on a daily basis.
Mark has made an excellent tool for learning Spanish available, it is now up me, the learner, to decide how far and how fast I want to utilize it.
In such a short while I am speaking in rudimentary ways to my Spanish friends, and they are stunned at my progress knowing that -truly- the extent of my Spanish was "adios" before beginning this course.
I hope that helps some of you decide.
all the best
Extremely Helpful.......2007-07-09
I am engaged to a Spanish man, who's entire family speaks Spanish most of the time. Using this program has really helped me get started on learning the language. Now when I am at family gatherings, I find myself understanding the gist of the conversations going on. I haven't finished the program yet, but I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn Spanish and has a long commute to work or spends a lot of time on the road.
Book Description
At last a Mandarin CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak Mandarin Chinese in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel Chinese For Your Car' takes the learner from basic to intermediate level Mandarin without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these tapes in English while 2 trained professional native Mandarin speakers teach you Chinese the way it is really spoken! Behind The Wheel Chinese For Your Car is the ideal way to learn Mandarin Chinese while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn Chinese with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in Mandarin within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it. The product has superb clarity of voices and exudes a spontaneity which makes learning Chinese fun. You'll be thrilled with the fast and easy to learn design of the course, beginning with the immediate gratification you feel when you conclude your first one half hour session with the CDs speaking sentences in Mandarin that Chinese speakers understand 10 minutes later on the street. You'll be amazed at the 'natural' way you just seem to pick up Chinese without having to learn grammar or reviewing. No need to go back. It's all 'built in' the course. Just imagine the thrill of being able to express what you really feel in Mandarin in 100 different ways because you know own a Chinese linguistic blueprint, a template that you can manipulate over and over again in different and personal ways while increasing your fluency in Mandarin. What' s more, you will also learn to speak in the past, present and future along with idioms all in the same course.
Customer Reviews:
Learn to speak Chinese.......2007-10-19
This product was a good deal. It is fairly a complete package to obtain a comfortable level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese. It is more for those desiring to learn to speak the entire language than those who wish to learn a few phrases for a quick trip to China. Very good for those with long commutes.
Excellent Supplement.......2007-05-16
The most important thing to remember when purchasing this pack is that these CDs are for beginners, NOT novice speakers. People who have had some training with Chinese in the classroom or self-study may be able to pick up and use this CD pack, but the information is presented too rapidly (and there is too much presented at once) to be good for initial acquisition.
I would give it 5 stars, but there is no clear advertising about this product. If I had some information about the rapid pace and the target audience, I probably would not have purchased this set. It will, however, be a useful set once I've mastered some basic phrases.
Excellent! CD 1 and Beyond.......2006-06-16
The 'good' doesn't stop with CD1. It's just beginning.
I notice no difference between the approach used in 'Behind the Wheel Chinese/Mandarin' and other Behind the Wheel courses I have used.
CD 2 and beyond evolve sentence building, tenses, expressions,
and tons of vocabulary that they teach you how to assemble.
Great course.
Good for listening comprehension and practice.......2006-05-06
This audio set is very useful for getting an idea of how things are pronounced natively, and some slight variations on those pronunciations. However, it would not be a good idea to start here, as it relies heavily on memory. However, a good accompanying set to any books and courses.
Meant to be listened to, not to replace study while not driving.
Great Course - Multi-Track - 2 Native Speakers.......2006-03-24
I tried Pimsleur's Chinese (Mandarin) (Instant Conversation) and returned it because it didn't have multi-tracks, they presented too little vocabulary and the the course was 'rigid'.
I prefer the method in Behind the Wheel Chinese because there are multi-tracks
(very important for in-car language learning), a good memory technique and great original sentence formation exercises that get you speaking Mandarin from the get-go.
Book Description
At last the second level CD course for Behind the Wheel Spanish which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak advanced level Spanish in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel Spanish 2 For Your Car' takes the learner from low intermediate level to advanced level Spanish without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these multi-track CDs in English while 2 trained professional native Spanish speakers teach you Spanish the way it is really spoken. One voice is male and the other is female for added instructional value.
Behind The Wheel Spanish 2 For Your Car is the ideal way to continue to learn Spanish while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn level 2 Spanish with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking more advanced Spanish within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it. This product has superb clarity of voices and exudes a spontaneity which makes learning Level 2 Spanish fast, easy and fun.
Customer Reviews:
Nice follow up to Behind the Wheel Spanish I.......2007-06-27
Behind the Wheel Spanish I blew me away. I'm an intermediate to advanced Spanish speaker with a big gringo accent. The Level I was so amazing that this Level II program didn't impress as much. Still, the practical application of this program is solid. The variety of words and verb conjugations presented is outstanding. Overall this program is still definitely a 5 star rating.
Best Spanish Learning Program Ever!.......2007-05-17
This is an awesome product! I have both Behind the Wheel Spanish I and II and they have helped me learn so much Spanish! I am so much more confident to speak Spanish with native Spanish speakers because of these c.d.'s. They're interesting and the simple way they explain Spanish grammar and sentence structure is amazing. I teach English as Second Language and I'm learning how to teach English better using their simple and effective approach!
Works pretty well.......2007-01-12
For the most part, this was beginning/intermediate. The male voice was great, but the female voice sometimes spoke to fast and didn't enunciate and I couldn't understand, not even if I went back. I've picked up a great deal, however, and the repetition is necessary.
CDs are great.......2007-01-09
The only problem I have had with these tapes is that the seem to have a skip or something and I didn't notice it until I got to it (the 3rd or 4th CD in the set). By then it was really too late to return them. However, for the most part I don't have a lot of problems with them and I do like the lessons.
Excellent Vocabulary Builder for the Intermediate to Low Advanced Student.......2006-04-02
As the editor of the Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews) site, one of my responsibilities is to review learning-Spanish resources that are listed on Amazon. I am also a native Spanish speaker and a professional private Spanish instructor.
Like Learn In Your Car Spanish, Behind the Wheel Spanish 2 is a course that allows the user to learn while driving or performing another activity. However, I undoubtedly prefer this course over Learn In Your Car Spanish for several reasons. First of all, each CD begins with a 'pronunciation guide" to assist the student in proper pronunciation. Secondly, the CDs also have numerous short stories or short dialogs that are read by a native speaker. By listening to these short stories or short dialogs, the student is able to quickly improve her listening comprehension. Thirdly, the narrator instructed the native speaker to explain to the student when words varied from one country to another. One example, the native speaker told the word for "bus station" as it is said in most of Latin America as well as Mexico.
Lastly, the native speakers vary the speed of their speech. You will hear the native speakers speak at a pace slightly slower than normal speech so that you can emulate the native speaker and develop proper pronunciation. But you will also hear the native speakers speak at normal speed to improve your listening comprehension and to also prepare you for actual conversation.
Another positive point to this course is that you will learn a huge amount of vocabulary. If you are an intermediate to low advanced student and you are looking to expand your vocabulary, Behind the Wheel Spanish Level 2 will leave you quite pleased with the vocabulary that you have learned.
Book Description
Repetition of excerpts of complete conversations
French language rules explained in a simple way
CDs with booklet containing actual transcripts of French natives with the translations
Color-coding shows what is and what is not pronounced in spoken French
"This is a "Must" for learning how the French REALLY talk!"
William Martin, retired political editor, The Oakland Tribune
"I've tried them all and this one is it!"
Joe Hogan, CBS
"When I heard my first lesson I honestly felt betrayed by my other programs --why didn't they simply tell the truth about French pronunciation like SmartFrench does?"
Patricia J. Gust, Attorney, Los Angeles, CA
For Americans, learning a foreign language is typically a very frustrating experience. After spending countless hours in a classroom environment, most find that they are still unable to comprehend "real world" French as it is naturally spoken between native French people.
To learn a language one has to develop speaking as well as understanding skills. What to do first is a matter of choice. To learn a few sentences to get by is good but to understand what's coming back to you is also important. SmartFrench will develop your listening skills, which will raise your confidence to speak naturally (Just learning basic sentences will make you sound too "proper"). For better progress, this process of speaking and understanding should be done simultaneously and the sooner the better, right at the beginner level. If you go to France soon, SmartFrench will help you tremendously. Some people think that developing understanding skills should be a part of the beginner level training and some don't. For those who think it is, we have designed a beginner level. A beginner is naturally not expected to be able to understand dialogs at real speed right away, but with a little patience, you will soon feel more and more confident about your ability to "talk" French just by learning how to recognize the "rhythm" of the language and its predictable patterns.
We are so confident in your success using our revolutionary educational method, we stand behind this product with a full 30 day money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied, simply return the product to SmartFrench in its original packaging for a full refund.
"I have three other French language courses, and I've learned more from this one than I have the others put together."
Cynthia Stull, Washington, DC, writes contracts for the National Cancer Institute, for the AIDS programs around the world
"No matter what other sources you use in your language learning, the Smart thing to do is give yourself this key to confidence."
Ian Jackson, CEO, Breathplay, Dallas
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful and innovative with great results.......2007-10-03
Great course! The progress I have made just after two weeks of studying is incredible. Last time I studied French was 10 years ago in college. I retained some grammar and a small vocabulary. Three months ago, I renewed my interest in improving my French. I have learned a lot of new words and phrases on my own. However, comprehension was the elusive part which to me was the MOST important. After researching all available learning courses (took me two weeks of reading and going to various stores), I had finally found "Smart French." After exploring the website and listening to the demo, I was convinced this was a great product.
I have been studying the CDs for the past 2 weeks and I cannot believe the change in my listening and comprehension! My biggest frustration has always been the inability to separate the words and phrases in spoken French. Now, I can listen and discern TF1 news reports and interviews (I can actually understand what Thierry Henry is saying!). On top of that, my speech has changed - my French has acquired a melody and tone to it that surprised even my French speaking friends. I spend 2 hrs a day listening and repeating; to the point that I can feel the muscles in my face being `trained' to move in a different way. No other French class had such results for me. The phonetics I was taught in college sound primitive and crude in comparison to the way I am learning to speak now.
If you want to learn 10-20 "plastic" phrases so you can find a bathroom in Paris - buy a $5 phrasebook and don't waste your time and money. If you don't want to spend time, work hard and dedicate yourself to learning - hire an interpreter.
Learning a foreign language is 10% talent and 90% work. You still have to learn words, phrases and grammar but you don't need expensive CDs for that. Purchase some books and a dictionary, and study, study, study. Any idiot can do that.
"Smart French" has what you cannot get from books - live language - spoken by French people (from France). Not a 100 pre-packaged phrases in Canadian, North African or American accents which many other products use.
There was a comment regarding the sound quality which is completely without merit. There's nothing wrong with the microphone. The teaching part is recorded with crisp studio sound and the actual conversation reflects the natural sound. What you are hearing is exactly what you hear when you are speaking to people in real life - it is very important to learn to understand people in a natural environment.
Those who leave bad reviews are looking for some sort of magic - maybe watched `Matrix' too many times. Foreign languages are learned through studying; not downloaded into the brain while you sleep.
I recommend "Smart French" to everyone, advanced as well as beginners. A very basic knowledge of French would help the beginner student to better appreciate this course but it's never too early to study with "Smart French."
Smart French Isn't so Smart.......2007-09-17
Attention French learners. Smart French isn't so 'smart'. With this course you guess, you struggle, and very little is taught in the way of vocabulary. Overall, a poor product for the average French learner.
As a teacher of French both in Haiti and in the States, I can attest to the fact that the best course on the market for clear, fast and easy French is
Behind the Wheel French (8 CD Course) (Behind the Wheel).
Please bear in mind that this same course is available with the CDs and includes a fabulous book for the same price Behind the Wheel French 1 Revised/Complete Illustrated Text & CD Script/Answer Keys/8 One Hour Audio CDs
Bonne Chance!!!
Great french help, but not always computer accessible.......2007-07-16
The CD's in itself are pretty nice. They make you read and re-read the text and tell you how to pronounce spoken french compared to written french.
But if you want to try to convert the CD's into mp3 to put them on an mp3-player or such (like me), then I have to warn you that CD 3 is tricky and not readable with every computer system. Linux and Mac worked fine, my personal Windows system wouldn't recognize the data on the CD. I am assuming there is something on the CD to keep you from reproducing the entire set.
Real French for Non-native Speakers.......2007-05-19
As other reviewers have noted, this CD reveals the way French is actually spoken. I just returned from 3 weeks in France and the tape helped immensely; when speaking French I tend to separate words and phrases but one needs to speak in seamless sentences and this CD demonstrates that. It is definitely for intermediate/advanced students as I think beginners would find it overwhelming. Highly recommended.
develop an ear for french.......2007-04-22
I thought these cds were excellent in helping a student of french develop an ear for the french language. The emphasis on correct pronunciation and intonation are outstanding. By listening to these cds I was made aware of problems I have with my pronunciation. By hearing the correct way to pronounce a sound and repeating it many times in different words and phrases is great practice. Merci!
Product Description
Now you can take the foreign out of language and avoid the pain and frustration usually associated with language learning. Finally, you can learn to speak, understand and even read and write the real authentic language of Italy just like the natives with a minimum of time and effort, all in the comfort of your car or home. At last a beginning level Italian CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak beginning to intermediate level Italian in a minimum of time and effort. The course also comes complete with a complete 226 page illustrated text with audioscript, same page answer keys and English translations for home review. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, Behind the Wheel Italian 1 Revised takes you, the learner from basic to intermediate level Italian without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these tapes in English while a trained professional native Italian speaker teaches you Italian the way it is really spoken. Behind the Wheel Italian 1 Revised is the ideal way to learn Italian while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn French with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in Italian within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
Worth it.......2007-07-24
First off the CD's are not stamped as I expected, they're burned. As in they were not produced in a Factory in mass production style but instead on a one-off basis on someone's personal computer. That is not in itself a bad thing but when the CD player in my car won't play them because of it then it gets annoying. Not sure if they are burned CD-R or +R but the point is the CD player in my car won't play them, and I own a newer car so this is frustrating. Solution: I ripped the CD's to my hard drive, then converted them back to CD audio files and burned them onto another CD. CR-R format. My car plays my recreations just fine.
As to the content it seems to be a good program, although the lessons seem to me to be a little out of order. Still I am actually learning Italian.
They're worth the money, but if you're not computer savvy enough to rip the CD's and then burn new ones I would avoid this set if I were you.
Great Course.......2007-05-30
I learned to speak Spanish in just two weeks with Behind the Wheel Spanish.
I am now experiencing great success with Behind the Wheel Italian. Same great method. Very easy to use and you learn to speak fast.
An enjoyable experience.......2007-04-11
Like many other Amazon reviewers I greatly enjoy Mark Frobose's courses, and this one is no exception. The quality of audio is excellent, the native speaker has a steady, clear, and pleasant voice and gives both slow and "normal speed" pronunciation. Some minor problems include the absence of tracks (1 disc = 1 track), which makes it more difficult to go back to a particular material. Also, the beginning of the first lesson deals briefly with reading and cannot be easily understood if you are truly "behind the wheel". Even though I've just started with the course, I'm already looking forward getting the second (intermediate) part by the same author!
Great Text, Even Greater CDs.......2007-04-10
As with other 'Behind the Wheel' language products I have used, I like the entire package.
I have found the text included in Behind the Wheel Italian Revised to be extremely helpful in learning tenses, showing basic to advanced sentence construction. The same page answer keys to the exercises on each page along with the helpful diagrams make learning Italian a breeze.
Now, on to the CDs. Words cannot describe how effective they are. I have tried many and these are the fastest and easiest on the market.
Exceptional.......2007-03-12
After reading some of the comments from reviews of some of the more popular language-learning systems by the students (mainly that the phrases were not accurate for true Italian speakers) I tried to find one that used a native Italian speaker. As I have not been to Italy and do not know any native Italians, I cannot say with certainty that this program is accurate, but the instructor seems to be an accomplished speaker in the romance languages and his "interpreter" sounds like a native speaker.
I find the course easy to use. The CDs are very clear and build upon what has already been learned. The accompanying book is helpful, but at times a bit confusing. It appears the author simply took the material from the Spanish study and transposed it to this book (because some of the phrases are still in Spanish). I believe this to be a result of bad editing, and not lack of expertise by the instructor. However, it would lend more credence to the study to fix these few flaws in the book. Proofreading is a good thing - believe me I know. I used to work for a newspaper and you can get some very amusing or very embarrassing errors if you don't proofread carefully.
Overall, I like this program. It's easy to use and understand, and it starts the learner out with simple phrases instead of conjugating verbs as some of the other books do. The instructor explains sentence structure and grammar as he goes, but it is integrated into the lessons where one would actually use it immediately. Therefore, it is easier to understand and remember. I have used three different language-learning systems, and this seems to be the best of the three. I would definitely recommend it.
Book Description
Behind The Wheel French is the ideal way to learn to speak French while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn to speak a new language with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first sentences in your new language within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it. At last, a French CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak and understand authentic conversational French in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel' courses take the learner from basic to intermediate speaking and comprehension level without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. A native speaker of French teaches you her language the way it's really spoken while a trained accentless American instructor explains it all in clear English so you always understand everything you're learning. Most language learners spend over 50% of their time looking up meanings instead of learning the language. With Behind the Wheel courses the language learning process is speeded up by giving you immediate answers to exercises, clear English translations, dynamic sentence building techniques, and high frequency vocabulary that teach you the language naturally like you learned English as a child. Behind The Wheel Courses are the ideal way to learn any language while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn to speak a new language with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in your new language within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
"Behind the Wheel French" with the companion book "Language Dynamics French" is all you need to get started........2007-10-12
The "Behind The Wheel French" system is great, but make sure you buy the 2006 edition of "Behind the Wheel French 1 Revised/Complete Illustrated Text & CD Script/Answer Keys/8 One Hour Audio CDs (Audio CD)". See the review of this 2006 set by J. Rhoda "Amazon lover" (Beantown MA.
It's the combination of the CDs with the book that really works. I tried Pimsleur, which is very limited and comparatively expensive.
Love it.......2007-01-05
I really enjoyed it. The best thing for learning language when you are driving. Excellent!!!
Great Product!.......2006-08-27
It is an excellent product for those who decide to start up learning how to speak French. It will definetely make your commute to work more enjoyable.
This course is the best I've tried........2006-08-21
I've tried several others, but this is the best course I have found. I don't seem to want to gravitate back to the others, such as what's-his-name, Michel Thomas, is it?. (Maybe I should for some contrast.)
I was looking for a way to get back some of the time I was spending while making the same repeated 30-minute drive back and forth to the same place and so I start one of the CDs and listen and repeat while driving along. (OK, so that is what the course is for, all right?) If my mind drifts while listening, so what? There is always next time. I have had no trouble missing the cows standing in the roads around here while using the CDs.
Once I have gained the vocabulary and practiced the phrases a few times, I find that the short response time given after the English word or phrase, mentioned as a complaint by some other reviewers, becomes an advantage because more practice can be packed into less time spent, and things move right along without boring empty pauses. (I think some people want it all up front. More power to them if they can get it.)
I am reaching the point where I have some of the CDs practically memorized. This is a beginning only, but a good one as I can feel it all beginning to come together after several months now.
On the Cds, Mark comes off something as a jerk (who hasn't thought of his teachers as at least somewhat jerky?) and who therefore makes the perfect foil for the smoky-voiced, smooth, and relentless Céline. (Her voice reminds me somewhat of that of Crystal Gayle, the country singer of a few years back.) I really enjoy hearing her.
Notice how pricey the set remains, even when used. I think others have found the same thing as I.
deceptively effective.......2006-07-30
This couse moves along at a pretty good clip and gives you very little time to respond, but by merely stopping your cd player before the correct answer is given and taking your best shot, coupled with several repetitions and reviews, one can learn an awful lot of French with this product. It looks cheap and when I received it I was disappointed by it's appearance, but I was wrong thinking that this was an inferior product.
My only criticism is that Frobose's pronunciation of certain words were different than those of Celine, the native speaker.
Product Description
Finally, a multi-level multi-track CD course for Behind the Wheel Spanish which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak beginning to advanced level Spanish quickly and easily and with a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Spanish Behind the Wheel Complete' takes you, the learner from beginning to advanced level Spanish without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these multi-track CDs in English while a variety of male and female trained professional native Spanish speakers teach you Spanish the way it is really spoken. Native Spanish speakers judge the overall quality of your Spanish by your ability to correctly speak in the past, present and future tenses as well as by your ability to use common everyday expressions. The problem with most methods is that they use a long and tedious GRAMMATICAL APPROACH to teaching you the subjunctive and other complex forms of the Spanish language and most never even get around to teaching common folk expressions. Language Dynamics once again takes the foreign out of language and teaches you to use the most simple to the most complex language structures and expressions NATURALLY, QUICKLY and EASILY while at home, in the gym,shopping or simply behind the wheel in the security and comfort of your own car. No formal grammar is presented and you learn to speak authentic Spanish the way the natives speak it. You learn naturally like you learned English as a child. 'Spanish Behind the Wheel Complete' is the ideal way to master the Spanish language while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn beginning to advanced level Spanish with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking authentic Spanish within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
Not as great as it could be.......2007-10-17
After using the Penton "Learn In your Car" and reading reviews of BTW I really was expecting more. Very disappointed with the time they allow you to repeat. Almost none sometimes. There also does not seem to be a learning plan--such as basics on to a little more advance and so on. By disc 6 they get all kinds of involved with the present subjunctive and I do not really think they have covered the simple parts of the language yet. Let's face it those of us starting out need the basics first and then move on. I would not recommend this but now that I own it I will use it and gain something from it. If you really are interested in learning go to Central America and do a week or two of immersion study. [...]
Very happy with purchase.......2007-05-19
I know quite a bit of spanish, but this is a great way to get up to speed in a "brainless" way. I put it on every morning on the way to work and get my spanish lesson for the day in a no-stress way. It also gives you something to focus on other than traffic!
Excellent Course and Production.......2007-03-25
From the crystal clear voices to the multi-track system, this three level course is a joy to use and is fabulously effective.
My course covers levels 1 through 3 and does so in a most entertaining and pleasant fashion.
I already have a book from the Behind the Wheel 1 course, even though the tapescript doesn't follow this course.
My opinion is that you truly get a lot of 'bang for the buck' with this course because you get a substantial amount of instruction in all three levels.
Additionally, this course is an original. I say this because I own and am currently using all the Behind the Wheel Spanish courses I can find.
I love them and am learning to quickly speak Spanish fluently thanks to them.
One bit of advice.
If you truly want to learn all the details of the language in depth and avoid redundancy, then I do recommend you buy all three levels of Behind the Wheel Spanish.
If, however, you wish to have an integrated format with all three levels at once (without a book, mind you) and get a break in the overall cost,
then this course is definitely for you.
This is going to take some time.......2007-03-24
I think learning Spanish or any language with a busy 40-year old brain will take some time. Most of my Spanish practice is from Spanish Behind the Wheel during my commute (30 miles in a car each way). Within the first three tracks I have 400 sentences which I can make by learning "I like", "I want", "I'm going to" and then a set of infinitives such as "to speak", "to work", "to travel". The weaknesses are in the production. The tracks do not break on lessons or in any logical place so going back to review the months of the year is somewhere in the middle of other things. The instuctor sometimes sounds like he's reading off a sheet. I really doesn't detract from the learning but it is a little funny. My next steps? take what I'm hearing in the car and practice - with people, flashcards, etc. It will take a bit more than just Spanish Behind the Wheel to become good but it's further along than I've gotten before because the time is there. I'm going to be in that car, going to and from work, five days a week, and I may as well use part of that time to accomplish something I've wanted to do for a long time!
My First Try.......2007-03-11
I've been saying I wanted to learn Spanish for a long time. I finally did some research on what CD programs were good for learning while driving. Behind the Wheel Spanish got some good reviews so I bought it.
I listen to the CDs every chance I get when in my car and I run it on my PC at work playing in the background. At first, it seemed overwhelming. I didn't think I was picking it up. But I stuck with it. I'd listen to the CD and constantly replay parts repeatedly. After a couple weeks I started seeing progress and realized I was absorbing the lessons. I'm up to the sixth CD currently. I've been using them for over 4 months, so it does take some effort on the part of the learner.
I don't have Spanish speakers to interact with so I'm sure that slows my learning.
I also didn't get the book that I thought was part of the program with the package from Amazon. So I bought an English/Spanish travel dictionary that is very helpful.
If I had any criticism it would be the tracks on the CD don't seem to match any particular spot in the lesson so backing up tracks to replay a section is a little difficult.
This is a good program. I'd like to find a good conversational Spanish program to move onto next.
Book Description
Behind The Wheel Portuguese is the ideal way to learn authentic spoken Portuguese while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn to speak a new language with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first sentences in your new language within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it. At last, a foreign language CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak and understand conversational Portuguese in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel Portuguese' takes the learner from basic to high intermediate speaking and comprehension level without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. A native speaker of Portuguese teaches you her language the way it's really spoken while a trained accentless American instructor explains it all in clear English so you always understand everything you're learning. Most language learners spend over 50% of their time looking up meanings instead of learning the language. With Behind the Wheel courses the language learning process is speeded up by giving you immediate answers to exercises, clear English translations, dynamic sentence building techniques, and high frequency vocabulary that teach you to speak Portuguese naturally, like you learned English as a child.
Customer Reviews:
The Best Language Program I've Ever Had.......2007-07-18
Someone who speaks only Portuguese became a frequent, important part of my life recently, so I wanted to learn to communicate with her in Portuguese. The only free time I have is long periods of driving in my car, so "Behind the Wheel Portuguese" is ideal. I am learning quickly and painlessly. I have tried several other language tapes and CDs before going to other countries, but none of them had the English translation, so I learned nothing! They had workbooks that went with them, which I could not use while driving. I like this program and the way it is taught so much that I sent, also, for "Behind the Wheel French" and "Behind the Wheel Spanish!" Those were the two foreign languages with which I had the most familiarity, and as long as I am learning a completely unfamiliar language, Portuguese, I plan to brush up on the ones I have studied before. I recommend this product highly.
Overall pretty helpful, but does have some minor flaws.......2007-07-03
I have wanted to learn Portuguese for a long time, but didn't know the right way to tackle it. I searched high and low on amazon.com, which took a long time. The language books in general are not well sorted nor easily accessible.
My purchase consisted of Behind the Wheel Portuguese and the Essential Portuguese Grammar (Prista). As a team they work well together. The only recommendation is to look up pronounciation before even touching the cds/book. (Prounounciation is key in Portuguese!!!)
Behind the Wheel Portuguese is pretty good so far. I speak semi-fluent spanish and have a good grasp of the other romantic languages, which is definitely a benefit.
The downside to this product is the layout. It started with simple phrases, but then progressed into harder, more complex phrases (some of which will not be useful unless you want to sound completely crazy)
i.e. It's July and it's very hot too, but it doesn't matter.
My name is Teresa and I'm with my umbrella in the rain.
The translator was very fast and did not anunciate enough to fully comprehend the first time (but this can be solved by listening to the track again, which I highly recommend).
Without knowning the pronounciation or the spelling, it's sometimes hard to decipher what she is saying.
You might be wondering why I gave this product four stars even though I have outlined the flaws.
1) Pretty decent price for 10 cds (compared to other language helpers like Plimseur)
2) Even though the packaging isn't spectacular, it doesn't need to be. It is the material that matters.
3) The cds are easy to listen to and portable. (You could even change it it into MP3 format so you could label them...)
4) In conjunction with other grammar books, previous knowledge, online help, the Behind the Wheel Portuguese is extremely helpful.
I hope this helps anyone who is curious to learn a new language!
Don't be afraid to at least try, it'll be worth it in the end.
If you want to learn how to speak portuguese, buy this product!.......2007-05-21
I bought Teach yourself brasilian portuguese and I was NOT impressed. I didn't learn anything. The book was hard to follow and it just sucked.
I ordered Behind the Wheel Portuguese after I read what other people said about it on here... they weren't lying about it being a good product.
I listen to the Cds before bed every night and I wake up with new vocabulary each day. So Buy this if you really want to learn. It's totally worth the money.
Awesome- A Real Keeper.......2006-04-15
After getting ripped off by Living Language, Berlitz and Learn in Your Car Portuguese, this is an awesome breath of fresh air.
No baloney here. They really get you speaking Portuguese right away, and enjoying it.
My suggestion (to eliminate all doubts) is to buy 2 or 3 courses, use them and compare with Behind the Wheel Portuguese.
I sent the others back.
Great Course/Great Price/Great Results.......2006-04-15
As I have stated in earlier reviews for other Language Dynamics products, these courses are the best on the market for getting you to speak a language fast and without the hassle.
I have compared Behind the Wheel Portuguese with a number of the competitors products and nothing even comes close to the quality of the voices, the clarity, the quality of the production and above all, the results that I am getting.
Portuguese is not an easy language to pronounce but Behind the Wheel Portuguese along with the native female Brazilian speaker
really helps you to zero in on the pronunciation and the sentence structure of the language.
The amount of communication I have acquired from using this course for just a few weeks is unreal.
Behind the Wheel products (and I have used quite a few) don't play at teaching you to speak another language.
They're dead serious about getting you or anyone, regardless of thier natural talent, background or experience to speak another language fast.
This course is exceptional because it is educated Brazilian Portuguese that even includes idioms, converations, and sentence building techniques.
Don't waste your money on the others. I recommend you try this one and save yourself a lot of disappointed. Get the best first.
Book Description
At last an Arabic CD course which requires no reading and which teaches you to actually speak universal Arabic in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel Arabic For Your Car' takes the learner form basic to intermediate level Arabic without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. An expert English speaking instructor talks you through these multi-track CDs in English while a trained professional native Arabic speaker teaches you Arabic the way it is really spoken.
Behind The Wheel Arabic For Your Car is the ideal way to learn universal Arabic while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn Arabic with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words and sentences in Arabic within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
Unbelieveably Good!.......2005-02-13
I received Behnd the Wheel Arabic for Christmas. We live in a small university town and have a variety of 'ethnic' neighbors, among them Chinese and Arabic speaking.
The native speaker's (Muhammad) voice is stunningly clear and his accent is easy to copy. The easy going learning style on the CDs and the rapid and dynamic 'sentence building' techniques are far beyond anything I have ever heard in other language courses, and I have heard quite a few.
My neighbor Adiso is so confident in my newly acquired Arabic that he says that I can now go to the Middle East and get along fine with what I know after 5 or so weeks.
I was so impressed with the speed with which I was able to speak complete sentences in Arabic after just a few days with Behind the Wheel Arabic, that I ran down to my local bookstore and bought Behind the Wheel Chinese as well.
This course is an unbelieveably good bargain because it works where all else fails.
Book Description
Behind The Wheel Courses are the ideal way to learn any language while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn to speak a new language with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in your new language within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
At last, foreign language CD courses which require no reading and which teach you to actually speak and understand a foreign language in a minimum of time and effort. Designed by the experts at Language Dynamics, 'Behind The Wheel' courses take the learner from basic to intermediate speaking and comprehension level without the guesswork and pain usually associated with language learning. A native speaker of the language you're learning teaches you the language the way it's really spoken while a trained accentless American instructor explains it all in clear English so you always understand everything you're learning.
Most language learners spend over 50% of their time looking up meanings instead of learning the language. With Behind the Wheel courses the language learning process is speeded up by giving you immediate answers to exercises, clear English translations, dynamic sentence building techniques, and high frequency vocabulary that teach you the language naturally like you learned English as a child.
Behind The Wheel Courses are the ideal way to learn any language while you drive because there is no confusion, no reading, no looking up meanings, and no guessing. It's all on the CDs. Use your commute time to effectively learn to speak a new language with this delightful course whose method will have you speaking your first words in your new language within minutes of receiving your course, and enjoying it.
Customer Reviews:
Nice idea but a lot of important errors.......2007-09-18
I really like the approach this person has toward learning a lanugage, as it often mimicks how we try to speak when we get to a foreign country. You think, "How do you say, 'Where is the bathroom,'" then translate it in your head, and then say the proper translation. At least that's how it goes very early on in language learning and practice. This learning approach is really useful for learning through repetition some very useful phrases.
The problem is that, like someone else said in one of these reviews, there are a *lot* of mistakes, which I only found out after having tried a more sophisticated (and expensive) learning program. "Ich mochte tanzen" is not "I like to dance," but "I would like to dance," and there is a big difference! Telling everyone what you generally like to do is not the same as saying what you want to do right now, and could lead to a lot of confusion to German listeners. There are several other errors too, but that's an example of a big one because it comes up a lot on the CD.
You can also tell that the CDs were produced very quickly. But I don't mind the low production value, especially because the series is so cheap, but I do care about accuracy. Inaccuracy is a really bad flaw. I wish there was a CD out there with the same learning format, but that you can trust!
A change of pace..........2007-08-10
I have been studying German for a long time, and bought this tape series in the hope that it would go beyond the basic vocabulary and sentence structure and help me practice conversational German. I was both pleased and disappointed with the tapes. I was disappointed in that there wasn't any kind of introduction on the tapes (I haven't looked at the printed booklet) to let the learner know what to expect, and I don't care for the way most words and sentences are repeated twice in English and then twice in German. The tapes seemed somewhat random in structure, since there wasn't an introduction that discussed how the material would progress, and a lot of sections were repeated. The repetition is good for learning, but in places, the material that was repeated seemed not particularly useful. On the positive side, I really liked the emphasis on learning, and repeating, the modal verbs (können, möchten, werden, wollen) and their conjugations, since I have never really learned those well.
I like the conversational tone of the tapes, but it might be grating to some people. It would be nice if the narrator had a better understanding of German pronunciation. The native German speaker who gives us all the words in German is great, but the American narrating the tapes makes a few pronunciation mistakes that are not corrected, and that bothered me a bit.
I am glad that I bought the tape series, since it concentrates on different vocabulary than a lot of the other tapes I have, and it definitely is helping me with those modal verbs. However, I was really hoping that it would be a more intermediate/advanced German series than one geared to beginners.
Solid Material.......2006-03-23
Ive been using this product for awhile now to help with my attempt to learn german. My pronunciation has gotten much better. This is by listning to the German speaker on the CD. The guy who does this can not pronounce German to save his life. Fortunatley, he rarely does speak German on the CD.
I would recommend this product. It may be harder to follow if you are just starting out, but with practice I'm sure this could help out alot. For those who have taken some German and don't want to loose it, this is a great way to keep it fresh.
Wonderful Teaching Tool!.......2006-02-04
I am very pleased with this CD set. I have had the CDs for only a few weeks and have already learned many useful words and phrases. I am absolutely amazed.
Recommended Buy!.......2005-10-20
If you want to learn a lot of practical German fast and enjoy the process, I recommend you buy 'Behind the Wheel German'.
I consider myself a bit of a language 'aficionado'. My hobby is to go around to bookstores and to surf the internet finding great deals on foreign language courses.
I travel frequently for business and pleasure and have a great deal of contact with speakers of languages other than English.
I have tried many methods including but not limited to Pimsleur, Living Language, Rosetta Stone, Berlitz and Learn in Your Car and I have NOTHING negative to say about any of them. All have their place. All are good courses in their own right.
That said, I now go on to say that I have tried one particular method and courses in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Arabic, and Mandarin Chinese that I DO consider to be the BEST. It is Language Dynamics. My reasons for this excellent opinion are as follows:
1. This is clearly a niche or non-traditional approach. It didn't go through a traditional test
with a publishing company which probably would have wiped out most of its charm and effectiveness.
2. The creators of these products clearly had one thing in mind when they created them.
Simplicity. They saw things through the eyes of the 'language learner' and not the 'language teacher'. In other words, it is obvious that the producers emphathize with their students, know their fears, understand their needs.
3. Since the students confusion and fear was foremost in their minds, they intentionally developed products that compensated for those fears, encouraged, gave tips, provided review and English. All sorts of help coming at you from all sides.
Since you feel supported from all sides, since the instruction is clear and in English then in the foreign language with a native speaker, you learn quickly.
The part I most like about this approach which is present in every course I have tried is the simple sentence building. I mean, even in Chinese I learned how to speak meaningful and original sentences right away. As anyone can tell you, this is not an easy feat to accomplish and Language Dynamics did it. That's why they are the best.
Books:
- Chicken Boy
- Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel
- Coping with Difficult People: The Proven-Effective Battle Plan That Has Helped Millions Deal with the Troublemakers in Their Lives at Home and at Work
- CREATIVE LICENSE, THE: GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO BE THE ARTIST YOU TRULY ARE
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
- Dance upon the Air (Three Sisters Island Trilogy)
- Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1)
- Designed to Sell: Make any home the hottest property on the block with expert advice from the popular HGTV series
- Divided in Death (In Death)
- Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters: 100 Great Drawings Analyzed, Figure Drawing Fundamentals Defined
Books Index
Books Home
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Spanish
| Instruction
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)
Easy Spanish Phrase Book: Over 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use (Dover Easy Phrase)
Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
Behind the Wheel Spanish II / 8 Multi-Track CDs /Complete 250 Page Illustrated Text / English Translations / Answer Keys & Tapescrip
Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns And Prepositions
