Living Language Ultimate Spanish Beginner-Intermediate

I'm refreshing and expanding the Spanish I learned in high school and college. Ultimate Spanish is simply one of the best Spanish texts I've used. The text is designed to be used with CDs but the whole package is expensive. I borrow the set from my library ONLY for the CDs. Now that I have my own text, I can highlight sections, write in the margins and continue to use the book, even when I don't have access to the CDs. This makes learning easier and less expensive. The text can be used without the CDs but, having the use of the CDs is best. This is a great learning program. I'm delighted to have my own text and grateful to the library for the CDs.

This is one of the best Spanish courses on the market. One of the big complaints about series like Teach Yourself and Colloquial is that there's simply too much English on the CDs. Not so with Ultimate Spanish - the four CDs meant to be used with the book are in Spanish only. The other six CDs - the four on-the-go discs, vocabulary, and travel phrases - have English on them, but they're meant to be used alone. The set also comes with a flashcard CD-ROM which, while I wouldn't buy it by itself, will prove useful for some people - plus any extra practice is never a bad thing.I recommend using Ultimate Spanish alongside books like Easy Spanish Reader and the Practice Makes Perfect Spanish workbooks.

I learned Spanish (as a native-born American English speaker) nearly 50 years ago from two Spanish text books that were both written several years before that. When I recently had occasion to re-learn Spanish, I looked for a text that would be up-to-date, including terminology from the computer age, as well as current usage. Ultimate Spanish Beginner/Intermediate does a good job of that, and includes 10 CDs that demonstrate the pronunciation of many common words and sentences. It also includes many cultural notes and lectures that explain conditions in many Spanish speaking countries. The challenge any Spanish textbook would have, including this one, is adequately covering terminology from the many different Spanish speaking countries. (Think of trying to include the many variations in terminology and usage in English from England, the United States, Australia, and the many other countries where English is spoken by many of the citizens.) The same challenge exists in trying to portray proper pronunciation from many different countries. (Again, think of the many variations in pronunciation of English words, even just within the United States, let alone in other countries.) Ultimate Spanish does a good job of at least portraying the fact that one may expect to find variations in usage and pronunciation among the various countries.I have found Ultimate Spanish very useful for my purposes and have enjoyed using it. The reasons I did not give it 5 stars are that I felt the CDs could have been somewhat more inclusive (more vocabulary, more sentence examples), and the text has a few (not many) fairly obvious editorial errors.

I had a similar book in College which I liked very much. Unfortunately when I moved from one state to another I had to leave many things behind including that one. I tried very hard to replace it but I could not remember the name. I was reading the reviews for Spanish book which someone had a taken a picture from one of the pages. It looked so much like what I had. I ordered it and when it arrived the package was very secure. The book was way over what I expected. The Spanish readings first and the English version just below it and the vocabulary in the next page is great. I am not much into the grammar but the fact that you have included in the tax book is wonderful. I am highly satisfied with my purchase and recommend it for anyone that need a gook easy Spanish book to start learning a new language .

When I bought this book I did not know that it came with (or I should have ordered) discs to accompany the text. Needless to say, not having them makes the text less effective. On the positive side, the book is full of information and easy to understand. I am using pimsleur audible books while diving to work and supplementing them with this book. Not ideal, but it is working.

So glad I found this book. It’s broken down into easy lessons and has a quiz at the end of each one. Exactly what I was looking for.

This book makes Spanish grammar easy to comprehend. Its concise and to the point. Very good for a quick review and to learn the concepts. I am glad I purchased it.

I've been doing about one chapter every day or every other day. That's plenty of information to absorb. Sometimes I go back and redo chapters. I'm about halfway and the level of each chapter is perfect for a beginner like me. Get a good English/Spanish dictionary to use with it.

This test is designed to be used in conjunction with recordings. I was hoping for something more elementary with more verb conjugation and less dialogue oriented, preferably starting out with alphabet pronunciation, then graduating to vocabulary and verb conjugation.

Good book for beginners.

My Spanish teacher uses a few different books but I really like this one....it is very easy to understand and has translations and answers for each lesson in the appropriate chapter, so one does not have to be searching 'somewhere' in the back of the book. The conversations are short and relevant to life.

Been using this on and off...I chose it rather than my Spanish tutor (unusual).. She isn't so keen on it, but we have decided its a good enough companion really to alongside other teaching materials.. Its a little bit South American for me.. but nevertheless does an OK job...

Could have been better. I consider my Spanish skills to be quite good. My listening skills are great, I understand nearly everything (Spanish movies and series!!! Many of them!!!). Nevertheless, my writing and speaking skills are quite poor so I wanted to start learning it properly, from scratch. This book is often offering unnecessarily complicated explanations. I found myself more than once not understanding the explanation but when reading the Spanish text I would understand right away what it actually meant. And that was because I knew a bit of Spanish. I imagine that for a beginner would not be that easy. I don't think I'd recommend. Sorry