Book Description

Exciting songs in both English and Spanish teach the alphabet, counting to 10, days of the week, months of the year, weather and seasons, colors, food, clothing and family members. Music accompaniment tracks are included to make class performances a snap! Includes lyrics/activities book. ... Read more

Book Description

Canciones Tematicas para Aprender Idiomas is a delightful collection of songs and activities in Spanish teaching salutations, rooms of the house, pets, meals, food and cutlery, transportation, communication, parts of the body, clothing, the weather and prepositions. The lyric book includes over a dozen activities and exercises which may be reproduced by the classroom teacher. A complement of nine instrumental tracks allows students to become performers, boosting literacy skills and making performances fun, karoke style. Please note that the entire recording and lyric/activity book is in Spanish. This immersion approach to learning has been proven to work best. The singers are native speakers and have fabulous voices. Timid learners may wish to also purchase the publisher's English version (Thematic Songs for Learning Language) for reference purposes. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

a phrase book, no grammar
The two tapes are about 50 minutes each. Divided into general expression ( Salutations), personal needs ( shopping, hotel, restaurants....) tine and numbers, communications (@ customs, post office...), transportation, emergency, and finally polite expression.
The tapes will state the English phrase first then repeated in French twice with enough pause to allow the listener to repeat them. The book has three columns: English, pronunciation, French.
I believe this arrangement is very helpful. sometimes I get bored with remembering all the food @ restaurants. As the first reviewer said there is no grammar, this book is to learn phrases. I knew French, and I liked those tapes as they helped me to recall some expressions and practice them.

Wait! This has a lot of value.
The previous reviewer doesn't seem to think this set has value, but it does. Actually, I don't have the french, I have a different language from this series. I have many books and cassettes for the other language I study and from those I primarily learn the language. But I love the language 30 cassette and booklet for reviewing. As my pronounciation and listening skills improve, I periodically pop in the tapes to see how I'm doing. When I started I always had to look in the book as I went. Now I can keep my eyes closed more and more, and peek less and less. For this purpose it is perfect that it is a ton of vocabulary, little by little, not interactive conversation, as the other reviewer complained. Anyway, I am going to buy the french now to supplement a course I'll be taking soon...

Poor. Not very helpful at all.
Language/30 "Learn French Today" teaches you nothing about basic grammar, and instead provides the listener with a phrasebook you could buy in a travel shop. Instead of learning how to say "I would like" and "She likes" and "they are bringing me this" etc. etc., all it teaches you are questions. "I would like to see the menu" and "can you direct me to the toilet?" are such phrases that you would learn upon listening to the two tapes provided, and such is the dynamic nature of the French language that there is a multitude of grammatical aspects to the language. One cannot pick up French just by listening to questions.

So in short - don't buy these language tapes 'cos they're a waste of money and time. If you want to learn the language, take a class. That works.

But still, je ne parle pas bien Francais!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not a bad value, but a bit tedious
This set is a decent value. For your money, you get a fairly broad range of phrases and vocabulary. However, the organization of information assumes that you can keep interest listening to a bunch of discrete phrases repeated one after the other with no conversations or anything remotely natural. If you can, in fact, maintain interest while listening to these tapes repeatedly, then you'll do well with this set. If, on the other hand, you need something more dynamic, you might do well to look elsewhere.

QUICK START TO FARSI!
The course consists of two audio tapes and a small booklet containing many everyday words and phrases.

The tapes contain a recording of a native speaker reading out loud all the words and phrases. The recordings are clear and each word or phrase is repeated twice, with a pause giving the student time to repeat and practice for himself.

This course is excellent for beginners (such as myself). There are no grammar explanations, but the many useful sentences are presented with alternate words in italic, so you can figure out which words you can change to alter the meaning (e.g. I want an apple / banana / pear...).

By the end of the course, be prepared to know complete sentences WITHOUT necessarily understanding what each word in the sentence means or how it go there. Nevertheless, Iranians are very impressed when I utter the sentences from this course to them.

The reason I give this course 4/5 stars is that it is not up-to-date. The course I have, which I purchased in 1995, was printed in 1974 - five years before the islamic revolution in Iran! So the section about social etiquette could use changes... but hey, this is a language course, and teach the language it does.

Listen to it while on the airplane
The tutorial teaches the basic phrases and vocabulary used in everyday spoken Persian. I listened to it while on the airplane and I learned enough Persian to deal with customs, hail a cab, and check into a hotel. It comes with a booklet full of polite phrases you can use to impress the locals. I highly recommend it.

Usefull help to get by in Iran
Tapes are good and clear, each word or phrase is repeated twice and then the pupil can repeat it. Book is reasonably laid out, with phrases written in Farsi as well, so local people can use it to ask you questions or tell you things.

However some of the phrases are difficult and less useful. The book also does not give a lot of help when constructing your own sentences.

But it is cheap, and gets you off to a good start ... Read more

Reviews (1)

the best tool for learning japanies
if you want to learn japanies this is great i thought myself and my kids japanies and now we just booked a trip to japan for this summer hopeing to learn more hope that you all have as much sucess as i did. ... Read more

Book Description

What a great way to learn Italian when you and your children are on the road! Developed by the experts at Living Language®, this book and cassette program includes 16 easy, fun, and effective language games centered around things you typically see while driving. Engaging songs, rhymes, and activities teach basic Italian words and phrases effortlessly. No previous knowledge of Italian is required.

Each kit includes:
 ¸  Activity book with 16 games and activities
 ¸  60-minute cassette with Italian words, phrases, songs, rhymes, and more!
 ¸  40 play & learn stickers ... Read more

Book Description

One of the oldest and best ways to teach kids languages, updated for the 21st century

Grownups have been using simple songs to teach young children the rudiments of languages since long before people danced sur le pont d'Avignon. Now the Let's Sing and Learn series, CD Editions brings that tried-and-true method up-to-date for today's modern kid. Each book/CD set contains collection of 20 original songs that combine catchy melodies with simple, cleverly-disguised lessoning vocabulary and expression.

Written by accomplished songwriter-linguists, the songs cover a variety of subjects, including greetings, colors, counting, the alphabet, the days of the month, relationships, and more. And most importantly, the songs are easy to learn and fun to sing, making them the perfect medium for introducing children, ages three to six, to the words, accents, and rhythms of other languages.

Each book/CD set includes:

• 20 original tunes covering an array of everyday subjects
• A CD recording of the songs that provides a model of proper pronunciation and rhythm
• Simple musical scores that parents and teachers can use to accompany young learners
• English translations for each song and suggested actions

Reviews (1)

Punchy, concise, straight to the point, well thought out
After trying two other self-help courses, this course was a refreshing change in what I previously had seen. The course is just as advertised. Don't expect to become a Russian "expert" by this course, BUT you will be able to pick up many very useful phrases and words, rapidly.

If I were to custom order a course with the phrases I would like to have, this course would be it! Other courses I have tried teach you 'very useful' things like "I watch Russian TV", or "I speak Russian", or "my mother makes mushroom soup" early in the course, most of these are not very useful because I don't speak Russian very well, and I do not watch Russian TV, and my mother does not make mushroom soup. These other courses take a more academic approach, and will get you a greater level of expertise -- after a (much longer)while. In one other course I tried, the numbers don't show up until much later in the book (page 100), and numbers are basic to getting along.

If you are going into Russia, the Ukraine or other Former Soviet Union countries on an intermittent basis, and you don't intend to live there for extended periods, this course is just what Doctor Zhivago ordered! Well, heck, even if you are staying a while, this course is great, because it will enable you become functional in a very short time. You will be able to get food and drink, read common signs, such as rest room signs (so that you do not enter the rest room of the opposite pursuasion!), and also read the exit, entry or no smoking signs, get directions, make polite comments, such as "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" in a very short time.

The course is short, 6 lessons with phonetic spelling of the Russian, which is especially helpful because some of the words and phrases are real tongue-twisters. (Try "Molodoia Chilovek" 5 times fast!) The tapes are well done by professional people and they are easy to follow. The tapes give plenty of pauses for your practice.

If you want to become funcional in Russian in a very short time, this course is just the ticket. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a unique introductory survey of the main regional and social varieties of English spoken in the British Isles. In the book, the authors discuss accent and dialect in the broader framework of language variation, including phonetic, phonological, grammatical, lexical, historical and stylistic differences. This is followed by a survey of the speech of twelve different areas of the British Isles. The cassette which accompanies the book consists of edited interviews (all transcribed in the book) with speakers from each of the different areas.

The third edition has been thoroughly revised and includes an entirely new chapter on Received Pronunciation. The cassette now includes recordings of three different varieties of RP speech. Entirely new sections, with corresponding recordings, have been added on Lowland Scots, Devon and Dublin speech. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is not a set.
If you notice the Editorial review, it states "in the book" and "the tape which accompanies the book", so I thought I was getting both a tape and a book -- and I was in a hurry. I was surprised to receive only the tape (especially for $29.00). It has some good, if not always very understandable, native speakers of various dialects of Great Britain on it -- and without the transcriptions it is hard to grasp all the changes. I guess now I'll order the book and wait three weeks for that. It is a good resource for samples of some of the regional dialects not easily found in the major dialect source books.

Great intro and birds-eye view.
OK, first the good points about the book. It's superbly organised, providing word lists at the beginning of every chaptre, which gives you a great idea of how different accents compare on identical sets of words. The intro about different styles and registers of Received Pronunciation, including grammatical points, is also of great help to understand how accents may differ. The tape is a must, and the dialogues in it are great, since they were recorded in a very spontaneous manner. OK, so, the sound's quality is not the best around, but you get spontaneous dialogues (and therefore more natural dialectal pronunciations) in exchange. The only problem I'd see is that is that stylistic varieties are not covered more in depth. J.C. Wells' "English Accents: An Introduction" and "English Accents: The Brittish Isles" offer a lot more information, cover more nuances of accent, and are in general more complete that this book. Anyhow, it's still quite a good buy if you're interested in regional varieties of English in the Brittish Isles. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Perfect for the Early Spanish Learner!
Received this when both my children where under age 2. They are now 3 and 4 and still enjoy listening to it! It is great for the car. The songs are perfect for building simple vocabulary of numbers, colors, family members and the alphabet. I let my daughters' preschool borrow it and they have since ordered it for their Spanish program. I have found some tapes to contain too much Spanish that the kids don't understand what is being communicated. This is perfect for the young beginner.

Only for absolute beginners
I was disappointed with this set, purchasing after reading other reviews. It was very simplistic, containing very little spanish and was very boring. It didn't hold the attention of my 3 and 5 year olds. Too much english , not enough spanish and dull songs. Avoid, much better spanish introductory tapes available for children.

Great for in the car
I bought this book and cassette to help my preschoolers and we really enjoy it. The spanish content is spoken or sung very clearly which seems to be a big advantage over other tapes we have used. My 4 and 5 year olds both love it, and it is also very pleasant listening for adults.

Excellent for beginners!
This is a great book for beginners, and the audio tape is more helpful than I had anticipated! I am homeschooling and do not speak Spanish, but my 10 year old wanted to learn. She is already putting sentences together from this book, and audio tape alone!! ... Read more

Book Description

From ordering birre or piwo (beer) to asking for directions to the cetru or centrum (town center) learn basic East European words and phrases easily and quickly. This popular series helps ensure a more enjoyable, successful, and rewarding trip.Practice pronunciation and listening comprehension before you leave, then take the bookalong for an optimal travel experience. Contains Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech,Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and Slovene. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A terrible learning tool
The adult singers on this CD are not native speakers of French, and have very heavy American accents. As noted in other reviews, the songs aren't translated literally - in the case of "twinkle twinkle little star," the English translation bears very little resemblance to what the French says. The children singers are very difficult to hear; I think they're native speakers, but the non-native adults sing loudly over them so your child doesn't get any benefit from them.

If you wan to learn bad French, this is the CD for you.

Ok to listen to but not a very good french tutorial.
Some of the songs are useful, but most do not translate literally which could be a problem if you are trying to learn French. (for example in France apparently you come from Alabama with banjo under your arm). Another song is completely different wording, just sung to the same tune as Twinkle twinkle little star. The book that comes with the tape does tell you that is is different but has no literal translation.

My thought was to play the tape during long car trips with my kids (6 and 3). They don't complain but most of the songs are hard to understand, Especially the songs sung by children. They most certainly haven't learned much French as a result of listening to the tape. A couple of the songs are fun/catchy, one in particular is stuck in my head and I wish it would go away, but all in all I was disappointed.

Teach Me French is an Awesome Learning Tool
I have found, Teach Me French, a Musical Journey Through the Day to be an awesome learning tool because the tape includes songs about the alphabet and the numbers.A lyric book is also enclosed with the English and French words of each song.I have found Teach Me French especially helpfulbecause familiar songs such as "Head, Shoulders, Knees, andToes," and "The More We Get Together" are sung in French andEnglish.This cassette and book is great for homes, but also great forschools where students can make their first contact with the Frenchlanguage a positive one. ... Read more

Book Description

German Business Situations is a handy reference and learning text for all those who use or need spoken German for business. It is suitable for self-study or class use. Over 40 spoken situations are simply presented, including: basic phone calls; leaving messages; making presentations; comparing, enquiring, and booking; and selling techniques. With full English translations and brief usage notes, this guide will help the user communicate confidently in a broad range of everyday situations. ... Read more