by seinok
I've been using the Dutch cd and I have to say, I am extremely happy with the way the content is structured and presented by the teachers (two native speaker ladies), and I have picked the basics up really quickly.
I think it is a very good, effective and motivating start if you want to study a language by yourself, and makes the use of any further materials, grammar books, vocab etc. a lot easier to process than without these basics.
Cons:
The two students. Why do I need to listen to some people constantly make mistakes? If it was just the occasional error, but there is one word repeated quite a few dozen times (doen = to do) that both students pronounce incorrectly every single time, up to the end of the advanced course! Why couldn't they just stop the recording, and continued once they got it right? I actually started pronouncing it like that myself, how could I not have?
Since then I have spent many precious hours trying to edit out the students. Would it not have been better for everybody if they had just recorded it without them?
Out of curiousity, I listened to the Spanish one a little, and I can safely say, I would not be able to listen to that course for more than an hour. It's not just his accent, I just cannot stand his voice.
Also, the Advanced course is of course clearly not advanced. The title should be more accurate in case anyone thinks they can become advanced speakers in 15 hours.
If they re-recorded his own cds with a new teacher (and without the students!), I would be more likely to buy them.
(By the way, if somebody has already cut the students out from the advanced course, please let me know, I've still got that to do.)