Amazon.com

The 2-disc set The Standard Deviants - Spanish Parts 1 & 2contains:

The Standard Deviants - Spanish, Part 1
The first hint that this isn't your normal, staid Spanish review course is the subtitle that's flashed across the screen: the "Salsa-riffic World of Spanish." The Standard Deviants, a cast of ebullient young performers who believe no joke is too bad as long as its memorable, bring their talents to a course in introductory Spanish in this video. Lots of flashy graphics keep things lively, but the course material itself is rock solid--it's been approved by an academic panel. Following some basic information on where Spanish is spoken, the real lessons begin with instruction on pronunciation and the Spanish alphabet (which, of course, uses some typographical symbols not used in English). A bit of vocabulary is imparted as the pronunciation lessons progress, and after some pointers on capitalization, simple lessons in practical conversation begin. The video proceeds to the inescapable bane of many language students, conjugating verbs. While this production won't be a substitute for an actual course in Spanish (and the cast specifically points out that it doesn't intend to be), the presentation is consistently energetic, with the lessons easy to remember. Someone who is interested in learning (or reviewing) basic material will no doubt gain from watching it. --Robert J. McNamara

The Standard Deviants - Spanish, Part 2
In the opening jingle, the oddball lyrics "Careful or you're speaking Spanglish, then your grade will cause you anguish" provide a glimpse into the premise of this production from the Standard Deviants. In this, their second trip to the "Salsa-riffic World of Spanish," the energetic young cast performs skits and unleashes some clever and elaborate computer graphics while providing a reliable review course in the Spanish language. Starting with what's billed as "Really Basic Stuff," the cast reviews practical matters such as how to count, talks about what time it is, and discusses the weather. Moving into more advanced material, there are pointers on grammar, with a focus on the rules of particular verbs. It should be noted that the curriculum has been approved by a panel of professors, but the cast members tend to present the material in a relaxed format, which often involves the use of costumes and some bad (and hopefully memorable) jokes. Each major portion of the program is followed by a quiz, which the student can either take or skip, and the entire DVD concludes with an exam titled "La Tormenta." This DVD isn't a substitute for classes in Spanish, but as review material the unorthodox presentation would be helpful to a student. --Robert J. McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Breath of fresh air
I was struggling with Spanish, but these DVD's rock. They really slowed it down for me, and it was useful hearing other English speakers and Spanish speakers do it at the same time. Besides, the video parts are really funny. It's like Saturday Night Live decided to teach Spanish.

Bad instruction
The DVD could be a great medium to teach spanish basics, but this is just plain silly. Even as a beginner, I spotted mistakes like in incorrectly accenting "esta". Who knows how they chose the vocabulary -- some words are presented that you really wouldn't ever use. They start to teach ser and estar, and then go into why it's OK to leave out the subject pronouns. Aside from my specific gripes, it's all too silly, aiming for a 4th or 5th grade slapsick level. DVD is 99% english (and even most of that is unneeded and a waste of time) and 1% spanish. Perhaps people would enjoy the silly images, but I'm sure that there's no spanish language teaching here.

Phenomenal stuff
If you need to learn spanish and have no clue what you are doing, these Standard Deviants shows are for you. The Standard Deviants are made up of a group of young, fun guys and gals who explain the ins and outs of spanish. I was particularly pleased with the sections on the alphabet, ser and estar. I am following this up with a purchase of the advanced box set, but disappointed to see they dont make that on DVD.

A fun way to learn - it's true!
I recently picked up the Standard Deviants Spanish 1&2 on a lark. I took Spanish in High School (far too long ago for me to remember anything, not that I was all that good at it anyway). I thought the tapes covered the basics in a way that kept my attention, without being too juvenile or silly. Unlike the previous reviewer, I LIKED the use of English and Spanish... it helped me pair the words and their meaning more easily. I fscholl had been more like this, I probably would've paid more attention (and remembered more today)!

not so salsa-riffic
I'm not impressed with these videos. I've been a Spanish teacher for 17 years so I've seen lots of materials. There's too much boring narration in English... "Pato means Duck...Abogado means Lawyer..." Why have video if they're not going to use it? Just show us the picture and say the word in Spanish!

Ok, and here are some more gripes...the Spanish that is heard in the video is often spoken with a less-than-authentic accent. The written Spanish had errors within the first two minutes of the video. And worst sin of all..mixing Spanish and English in the same sentence! and why spend all that time on capitalization rules? in the very first lesson?

All in all it's pretty boring and repetitive in a way that's really not very effective. I was disappointed. Hoped to use the videos for beginning students, but I doubt very much that I'll subject anyone to them. I haven't even mentioned the dopey stereotypes..but I should have been ready for them given the title of the video. Sorry I put out the dough for this one. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Great start for English Sign Language
I think this video is so great. Anthony Natale is funny and I do not dread having to watch it again as I am learning. I am glad in the introduction it is explained Anthony Natale does not teach ASL but signs as he speaks. (Obviously this is confusing for some people). This is not the video to learn ASL but to learn enough vocabulary to be comfortable enough to sign to an ASL signer or any hearing impaired person who signs. It also gives some great insight into the deaf world and encourages everyone to not be afraid to try to meet or talk to a deaf individual. I highly recommend this video as a person embarks on learning to sign, whether it be ASL or English. English sign is growing in popularity because it is easier to learn. This teaches you enough sign to begin signing English Sign Language. If you are interested in learning ASL exclusively, this is not the video for you. They do not teach any ASL grammar. Signing along with English sentence structure is NOT ASL. Great source of vocabulary words for all signers and those interested in learning to sign.

Great for the beginner!
I have always wanted to learn the basics of sign language and after reading all the positive reviews for this particular video decided to give it a shot. I watched it with my 8 year old son and since then we have been practicing signing and having a great time in the process. I have to point out it is very helpful for anyone new to signing to have a video to learn from and not a book... many of the signs involve motion, which is difficult to depict in books without some confusion. We have been surprised at the ease with which we have picked up so many of the basic signs, and this video was well worth the cost. It is well put together, easy to understand, and excellent for a beginner with a little time on his/her hands, so to speak.

signing to get along
I got this dvd because I have always been interested in signlanguage and baby sign. This dvd really gives you a nice base for learning to sign or just to get by if you should happen to meet someone who is deaf. I used to work retail and it really came in handy being able to communicate with a deaf customer who stopped in. I also use it to teach my children. (It really came in handy, when I lost my voice due to a cold) You may want to skip some parts however depending on the age of the child. (like asking for a date, or one sign that done wrong means a totally different thing)I loved it because it shows real life situations instead of a classroom like setting like most videos. It is a great teaching tool, or just as a review, if you are out of practice. I really enjoyed this dvd expecially being able to go to any scene with the dvd version.

THIS WAS GREAT - AND HELPFULL! WHAT A BARGIN.
I bought this at first as a gift to my sister, but very fast
as i watched her watch it, i found out how interesting it is.
the tape shows you very clearly the bsaics of ASL, and as long as you have a little time to devote on watching it you will "Catch it" really fast.

When did i figure this tape is great:
i was at a McDonalds in manhatten (where i live) on 14th and 7th ave, and a person, who gave out cards claiming he can't hear and asks for money.
i asked him a simple question (how are you) by ASL, and he understood and replayed!

any way, if you are interested in ASL (American sign lang)
buy this - also makes a great great gift!

he "talks" too fast with his hands
he does phrases when I need basic nouns,verbs,connectives. single words,then expressions. why can't he walk along pointing out things,like in the film JOHNNY BELINDA? there're subtle nuances &facial expressions to signing that he doesn't address. it's hard a for a beginner to keep up,and I don't see any other videos that look easier,from their descriptions. so,having just lost my hearing suddenly,at age 39,I'm still lost,an island floating away from being able to "hear" people speak to me. ... Read more

Description

Do you have a little bit of background with the Spanish language, but want to build on that foundation? Then !Estes el programa para ti! (Translation: This is the program for you!) First, the award-winning Standard Deviants will review the basics of Spanish, like gender, agreement, conjugation all the stuff you should already know. Then they ll go over irregular verbs, new verb constructions, making comparisons, adverbs, prepositions, direct and indirect object pronouns, and even prepositional pronouns. In short, a whole bunch of stuff. This program is also chock full of fun scenes and conversations that will help you master the concepts covered.

The Standard Deviants Advanced Spanish: Building on the Basics covers review, gender, masculine, feminine, definite articles, indefinite articles, demonstrative adjectives, subject pronouns, possessive adjectives, verbs, infinitives, conjugation, present tense, adjectives, agreement, the impersonal hay, irregular verbs, conjugation patterns, stem-changing verbs, the present progressive tense, the immediate future tense, helping verbs, present participles, irregular present progressives, comparisons, mas + adjective + que, menos + adjective + que, tan + adjective + como, adverbs, -mente ending, prepositions, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, prepositional pronouns, the personal a, pronoun placement, multiple pronouns.

With our DVDs, you can jump around with the touch of a button and skip over those sections you have already mastered. These highly interactive DVDs also permit you to interact directly with the tutorial through drill-style quizzes and multiple-choice tests. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Small segments of this dvd were extremely valuable.
Is is difficult to review this DVD because there are so few video language DVD's on the market. The valuable part of this dvd are a few troublesome area's of Spanish, such as 'direct and indirect pronouns'. I found that section to be most valuable. For example, as best I recall, they explain how to convert ' Juan escribe unas cartas a Marie y Jose', into 'Se los escribe'. These pronoun substitutions are a tricky yet prevalent part of the language.

As for the remainder of the DVD, there were alot of grammer lessons which I found a bit boring. I'm not sure what audience this dvd was written for, at times too easy. However, I did find a few sections to be useful, therefore, I would have to say that you should consider buying this dvd if you want alot of stuffy grammer lessons, or if you want to improve areas like indirect pronouns. Overall, I would recommend this dvd.

The Standard Deviants - Learn Advanced Spanish
I can't imagine why anyone would want to learn a language from a source that is not accurate! These people try hard but they mispronounce or stress the wrong syllable in many words. I would not recommend this product to anyone learning or reviewing spanish.

I was very satisfied
While it's true that I wouldn't label the DVD "Advanced Spanish" I also wouldn't label it "Spanish Review for Kids." In fact, it is more like an intermediate Spanish review. While I already knew everything they teach, they still use some tips I wish I had heard when I was taking formal college courses. The visual element is compelling - far more useful for imparting and retaining information than audio tapes and textbooks alone. I bought the whole series, and I almost felt like I had gotten to know the actors personally. I hated it when the last DVD came to an end. Sure they speak with American accents - they're mostly Americans! It's not like they're unintelligible. By the time you get to the end of this DVD, you're speaking some pretty darned sophisticated Spanish. The interactive element is great - there are opportunities for self-testing and the DVD format offers chances to review sections much easier than with VCR tapes. I would like to see another DVD that covers past subjunctive, conditional, and the other perfect tenses that were left out of the series. Also, I'd like to see a discussion of por versus para and other tricky grammatical constructions. There's definitely room for at least one more DVD in the series. How about it Standard Deviants? Make it and it will sell.

Juvenile, not advanced!
The title is misleading. This really is not advanced Spanish. They spend the first quarter of the program reviewing basics (noun genders, adjective agreements, etc.) so that's wasted. By the time we reach the end, we're just learning about direct and indirect object pronouns. These are the things you learn in an Intro II Spanish course at the local community college. (The proof is in the syllabus of a course I took!)

Another gripe is the presentation. They use a kind of silly, juvenile format with embarrassingly bad, scripted comedy. It's like something you'd see on Saturday morning cartoons.

Last, of the six or so youngsters who deliver the course (they all seem to be about 19 years old), only one or two of them has a good (i.e., native) Spanish accent. The others all speak with that flat, nasal American sound that sounds so bad in Spanish! And one of the presenters made a bad grammatical faux-pas when he said, "No problema" which is a Bart Simpson-ism. It should be, "No hay problema".

Apart from the bad accents I would have no qualms with this DVD if they'd just labeled it correctly, for instance, "Spanish Reveiew for Kids".

Unbelievably easy to use
I desperately needed help with Spanish because of my job. I'm not a rocket scientist when it comes to picking up a new language and all of those audio tapes are so damn boring. These DVD's really work - they're fun and really useful. Besides, the Standard Deviants silly troupe is also filled with hotties. What a way to learn! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Didn't help
I saw this in the bookstore and bought it, hoping that maybe my French skills could improve. I was taking French 101 in college and needed some help (if being tutored by a female, I'd get no work done). The humor was so distracting and dumb. Ah, Standard Devients, you're breakin my balls. If you search the web for free French lessons, you'll find tons of em. The Standard Deviants breeze through their lessons, leaving a French-Canadian like myself cross-eyed in the dust. Maybe foreign languages aren't my thing, but I watched the DVD twice (with a twitchy eye the second time) and still got a C in the class, and I paid complete attention. I went to class everyday and did the workbook, too. Maybe some good-looking actresses would help this video, and perhaps somebody who knows about proper video lighting/coloring, or maybe better content organization. It goes over the bare-minimum basics, and unless you're five years old and/or can learn a foreign language easily, I'd stick with searching the Internet and/or buying cassette tapes. As they stated at the beginning of the video, it's just a supplement; you should go to class and blah blah blah. You'd be better off watching some French foreign films-- or maybe watch movies that have French audio-tracks with French & English subtitles. Memorize the movie in English, then re-watch it in French. I learned more using that method than by watching 10 people jack around in a plotless video for 90 minutes.

And yes, I'm Canuckian.

Great for those who know zero french
I strongly reccomend this DVD for those who are just starting to learn French. This DVD covers the very basics that will be needed to understand anything French. It introduces the viewer to understanding that a verb in French (like "go" in english, "aller" in French) is different based on who is doing the action. If I "go", then "go" is written "vais"; if we "go", then it is written "allons" and pronounced differently. I found this element of learning French painful at the start, that instead of learning one word for "go" I had to learn six. But once I became accostumed to it, learning became much easier. You can also expect to learn a little about numbers and colors, and a few verbs and nouns.

This DVD in no way will leave you knowing enough French to go and speak it. This DVD, and part II, leaves the student with enough basic information so that learning will become much easier. For example, I used the TV series "French in Action". At the start of my studies with lessons 1-6, I had a great deal of trouble understanding what was going on. After watching the Standard Deviants DVD it became much easeir.

One more thing about this DVD. It was entertaining and enjoyable to watch. I did not feel like I was working to learn, rather I felt more like I was watching a show and everything was sticking, that I was remembering what they taught. I highly recommend this for the absolute begenner.

Good Content - Poor delivery
I purchased the DVD to bring with me to learn French while in France (unplanned extended trip). The content is more useful than the audio CD I purchased, however the delivery makes it very difficult to learn. The "humor" noted in other reviews is annoying, but could be overlooked if it were easy to rewind and review - but on a PC, viewing the DVD you cannot rewind in short segments as you can with a remote control/TV DVD setup. There is almost no repetion and the words flash across too quickly to absorb without rewinding. If you have the patience to rewind rewind rewind, there is useful information to be learned.

informative funny, not for learning accent
Its two videotapes each about 80 minutes, progressing in both difficulty and knowledge.
They clearly teach you how to pronounce and conjugate verbs paying attention to tricky verbs ( nous mangeons, vous appelez, teach about adjectives, adverbs, reflexive verbs (to wash), how "the" is complex in French, such as le-la-les, ce-cet-ces, Etc,. each chapter was followed by review conversation that were all excellent. Also each tape came with very handy useful informative insert card.
I used this course to refresh my French, and recalled and regained good information, especially with humorous examples. Unfortunately some times as the other reviewer mentioned was "overly corny".
I did not at all like the idea of learning French from non native speaker, the French accent and pronunciation is difficult with those nasal voices and different "e, eaux..",. Despite the actor great effort but they remain far away from real French. This what force me to give it only three stars, rather it will be four, this is my only take on this informative fun to watch course.

Enjoyable French Review and Refresher
As a person who studied French in school but never mastered it, I loved the Standard Deviants' French 1 tape. It gave a brief but comprehensive review of all the basic important parts of speech. It also emphasized pronunciation, an aspect of French not properly represented in the classes I'd taken in high school and collage. The tape says it can't be used to learn French. It's correct. It really needs to be used with a French course, or some other method of learning the language. As a resource to aid in learning comprehension, or as a refresher course for folks like me, however, I give it full marks. Most of the actors and graphics are engaging. A few things were overly corny. I could have done without the weird, old-fashion cowboy guy yelling at me, or the girl talking out of her passport picture. But, these were minor momentary irritants that didn't take away from the effectiveness of the tape...besides the cowboy guy sort of grew on me after a while. The Standard Deviants' tape did one thing I really liked. Learning a foreign language requires repetition. Most tapes I've seen in the past either offered too much repetition for me, which left me bored and uninterested in continuing, or not enough repetition, which left me confused. The Standard Deviants' found a solution to this dilemma. At first, I was surprised at how quickly they covered each subject. Then, I realized why. It's a video tape. One can rewind it as often as one desires. They covered each thing once with nearly no review and then urged the viewer to rewind the section as many times as they needed. This left it up to each individual viewer to decide how much repetition they wanted. A very clever idea! Overall, I found the tape helpful and enjoyable. ... Read more

Description

Beyond the Basics provides you with the tools you need to expand your understanding of the language. In this tape, the Standard Deviants will teach you the numbers 100-120, adjective placement, -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, expressing time, date, and weather, and more. Using the Standard Deviants unique and effective learning style, you will soon be packing your bags for Spain so you can show off your new language skills!

Habla Espanol: Beyond the Basics covers: The number "100", when to use "cien", when to use "ciento", the numbers 100-120, multiples of 100, multiples of 1,000, multiples of 1,000,000, expressing the time, expressing the date, expressing the weather, using "hacer", using "estar, adjective placement, gender and adjective, adjectives that end in consonants, practice using adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, -ar verbs (conjugation, practice sentences), -er verbs (conjugation, practice sentences), -ir verbs (conjugation, practice sentences), irregular verb "tener", uses of "tener", the irregular verb "querer", conjugating "querer", uses of "querer", negation words, constructing negative sentences, possessive adjectives (singular forms, plural forms), the seasons, the months, the days of the week.

With our DVDs, you can jump around with the touch of a button and skip over those sections you have already mastered. These highly interactive DVDs also permit you to interact directly with the tutorial through drill-style quizzes and multiple-choice tests. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

May not work in your DVD player...
I have a one year old Zenith 5 disc DVD player and it doesn't work for me.

Only for the basics.
I found the format of this DVD both distracting and not very effective. There seemed to be more animation than actual learning content. I did learn a few phrases but the DVD fails to combine words and phrases into valuable conversation topics. This DVD is best suited for children, not for adults who actually want to learn to speak Spanish.

Please make more of these.
Standard Deviants Spanish, Part 2 is a good way for a beginner to learn a little more vocab, learn the basics of verb conjugations, and some basic conversational Spanish. I feel that there was not very much information on the DVD; but I did gain a good understanding of everything they taught. These lessons are great and I plan to see many more.

Standard Spanish Gift Pack
The two tapes .... but wait there is more! A high lighter, a cool box and pencil, and a notepad. On the surface these tapes can seem dumb and annoying, but then the next day when I'm sitting in Spanish class - budda bing - the stuff on the tape has lodged in my head. How do they do that!?!?! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This may not work in your DVD player...
I have a one year old Zenith 5 disc DVD player and it doesn't work for me.

Spanish-Sesame Street Style
I have taken college Spanish and tried to teach myself off and on, but have been unsuccessful. So since I was working graveyards and could view this on the DVD player on my laptop, I decided to give it a try.

Sock puppets, and insulting words that make for good jokes were the first vocabulary introduced. Loco, stupido, etc. Fast moving colors and lots of different people relaying information kept it entertaining.

By looking at the outline it didn't look like it covered much, but I would say that it covered in it's two hours what a student would be expected to learn in a week on a college campus.

I didn't know everything like I thought I might, so it will be useful to me. But the tests on the DVD don't seem to work half the time. It would show question one...then the answer and then the voice would say question two but wouldn't become visible until I hit the next button and then it would give me the answer as well. (could be a problem with my computer, but don't know)

I think it is a good purchase to stimulate former knowledge and a great introduction if you are looking to start the language.

I rated it four cause I would have liked to see more without having to buy another DVD...and I struggled with the tests working.

Thanks Standard Deviants, you are the only game in town for education on DVD's. I will be replaying this until I have it down. Good Job!

Very helpful
This video is a great extra for leaning those tricky verbs, not to mention "las muy bellas!"

Great tape for fun learning
I love the way the Standard Deviants teach. This video is a fun, step by step way of learning Spanish. I can't forget some of this stuff because of the style. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fun, entertaining & educational
A fun, interesting reinforcement and clarification of practical French phrases and rules. A great supplement for students taking french lessons in high school or college. Also great for adults. I bought Part 2 first. After watching the video, I ordered Part 1 for my daughter. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Jvenile, not advanced!
The title is misleading. This really is not advanced Spanish. They spend the first quarter of the program reviewing basics (noun genders, adjective agreements, etc.) so that's wasted. By the time we reach the end, we're just learning about direct and indirect object pronouns. These are the things you learn in an Intro II Spanish course at the local community college. (The proof is in the syllabus of a course I took!)

Another gripe is the presentation. They use a kind of silly, juvenile format with embarrassingly bad, scripted comedy. It's like something you'd see on Saturday morning cartoons.

Last, of the six or so youngsters who deliver the course (they all seem to be about 19 years old), only one or two of them has a good (i.e., native) Spanish accent. The others all speak with that flat, nasal American sound that sounds so bad in Spanish! And one of the presenters made a bad grammatical faux-pas when he said, "No problema" which is a Bart Simpson-ism. It should be, "No hay problema".

Apart from the bad accents I would have no qualms with this DVD if they'd just labeled it correctly, for instance, "Spanish Reveiew for Kids".

Advanced Spanish made child's play
What a fun way to learn spanish. I was really struggling with the verbs. While Standard Deviants stuff is not the serious way to approach a subject, it's much more effective in my book. It's refreshing compared to most of the other junk out there. I would say that if you are looking for something traditional, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for something different, look here.

May not work on your DVD player...
I have a one year old Zenith 5 disc DVD player and it doesn't work for me. ... Read more

Description

Language Tree introduces a breakthrough method for children to learn Mandarin Chinese. Billy and Benboo: The Monsters and the Magic Wand, teaches conversational Mandarin Chinese to children using an entertaining video storybook format that captures your child’s attention and imagination from start to finish.While your child follows the adventures of Billy and his cute shih-tzu dog Benboo, he or she will be learning useful phrases and vocabulary in Mandarin Chinese.This fun video depicts and celebrates the Chinese American culture of today.Fun, danceable songs reinforce new phrases.

The video is accompanied with a support booklet with vocabulary drills and the script in English, Chinese, and pinyin so parents can follow along and get involved in the teaching process. Every Language Tree video embeds our unique Multi-Cognition Approach™, developed by a cognitive scientist from Stanford University, which stresses three proven learning techniques: 1) repetition, 2) deep thinking, and 3) information clustering. The net result is that your child will be able to learn more phrases, more quickly, and better retain what was taught. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Very Helpful
I bought the video to supplement my studies with a private tutor. I love the video and it's such a nice change of pace from my dull text books. I have found it to be very helpful especially with proper pronunication of key words and phrases. Even my tutor has mentioned a noticeable difference in my conversational abilities.

This video is a definite two thumbs up!

Full of errors. Actors speak too fast.
I suppose the reviewers here know nothing about Chinese, and therefore are unaware of the many glaring and inexcusable errors in the accompanying booklet. The errors are in the TONES of the words. Just a few examples: XI HUAN (LIKE) is written as two FORTH TONES, where it should be one THIRD and one FORTH tone. SHAN (HILL) is written with a SECOND tone, where it should be a FIRST tone. And so on, with many errors. The result is that you simply cannot trust what you are reading to be correct. If you learn a word with the wrong TONE, you are learning a completely different word.

An analogy would be trying to learn to solve math problems with a book where some of the answers are wrong. You would have to check all the answers with an outside source.

Secondly, while the children in the video speak at a decent speed, the adults rattle away much too fast. This is supposed to be a LEARNING experience. Is it too much to ask for the characters to speak slower than normal speed? Sometimes you can't even make out all the words the adults speak. SLOW DOWN! I'M TRYING TO LEARN! Jeeze.

Overall though, I find these children's programs to be useful for learning Chinese even though I'm an adult. But it burns me up that they could be MUCH MUCH better if the maker had better attention to detail and common sense.

Learning a new language can be easy and fun!
I watched both the level 1 and level 2 videos with my American-born elementry school nephew and pre-school niece.
The video was appealing to them because it's like a cartoon video. The scenes in the video are very visual and focused, it's directly related to the dialog, so it's very easy for children to understand what the video is teaching.

The music and songs in the video are also great! I love the tunes, they are very catchy. The children learned it really fast, and soon they are singing along.
I also like the fact that the song lyrics are made up of phrases from the teaching material, and repeat itself over and over. This helps the children to learn through repeatition.

My nephew and niece are both attending private after school program to learn Chinese. I saw far more progress after watching the videos for few weeks, than they going to 1-1/2 years of language school. Plus if I watch the video with the kids, I know exactly what was taught in the video, it's much easier for me to start practcing with them. As oppose to going to the language school, which I have no idea what they are teaching, therefore it's hard for me to start a conversation in Chinese with them.
Also the materials from the video are related to things we would normally encounter in real life, so there are many occasions to take the opportunity to practice the vocabularies.

Lastly, the story of all the videos are centered around Billy and BenBoo, the two main characters, and their family, so you'll be familiar with the characters after the first video, and easy to move on to the next. I especially love the adorable dog Ben Boo, he's so playful and brings so much energy!

Thanks Language Tree for making learning so much fun!!! I can't wait to see the next video!

Well done and professional
The Language Tree video is well done and professional. The pacing was easy to follow and I appreciated the non-stereotypical approach used for teaching Mandarin Chinese.

Just the right level
I gave the video to my neice and nephew who are 6 and 7 respectively. They really liked the story and the cute characters in it(especially the monsters). They were able to follow the phrases and vocabulary pretty well. I and their mother liked the booklet that went along with the video so that we could both use it to review the common, every day language that the children could relate to. The pinyin even helped me learn a few words and phrases and my sister-in-law who is Chinese was happy to have traditional Chinese in the script as well. We look forward to the next level video! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

It Got Me Started
It is very simple, but if you are just starting, as I was, simple can be a good thing. It's unlikely this DVD alone will have you speaking Italian, but it will give you a foundation. It explains the rules for pronouncing words as they are spelled, and offers a small starter vocabulary and some grammar. I used it as part of a larger program that included a variety of books and tapes. It is not as detailed as the second DVD in the series, and you probably skip this one go to the second one if you have already started with other materials. Still, I enjoyed it.

Not worth the money
Learning a language is difficult enought without all the "cute" comments and bits in this DVD. You can learn as much, for a lot less money, from an Italian phrase book.

Standard Deviants is a Delight
Well organized, entertaining and chock full of useful pointers in learning Italian. I recommend this to all new students of Italian.

Back to work on this, kids ...
It's simple and painless, but not perfection. In fact, as another reviewer noted, it often sounds as if no experienced Italian speaker was around for the final edit. The Deviants cast read the prompter well, but there are inconsistencies in pronunciation that might confuse a novice - and this really is beginner's level. I studied Italian with a native-speaking Italian tutor, and am a Spanish speaker, so I warn newbies that consistency is really important, and it's lacking here. With no expert was on hand to fix the mistakes, or catch simple nuances that are missing, you might learn a few things you have to unlearn later. Many of the company have no command of the language at all - it's funny to hear a guy say he speaks "only Italian" with a heavy American accent. To sum up, not a waste of time, but hardly a gem.

Speak Italian like an American
While watching this DVD, I have discovered several inconsistencies (and I haven't even finished it yet). I was hoping to learn Italian in an entertaining way, and to learn to speak it like a native (with correct pronunciation and emphasis). They got it half right. The DVD effectively uses visuals, repetition, and dialogue to make learning some basic Italian easy and memorable. But in the first three lessons I have already found a multitude of examples of words or letters that were pronounced in at least two different ways each, which is sloppy, to say the least. The problem for a new student is knowing which is the CORRECT pronunciation (and, YES, there IS a correct pronunciation). I will have to rely on OTHER sources to teach me which is the correct pronunciation. I wonder how much else they got wrong? Ultimately, there are some valuable tidbits of information on this DVD, but don't expect to sound like anything but an American speaking Italian. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Didn't help
I saw this in the bookstore and bought it, hoping that maybe my French skills could improve. I was taking French 101 in college and needed some help (if being tutored by a female, I'd get no work done). The humor was so distracting and dumb. Ah, Standard Devients, you're breakin my balls. If you search the web for free French lessons, you'll find tons of em. The Standard Deviants breeze through their lessons, leaving a French-Canadian like myself cross-eyed in the dust. Maybe foreign languages aren't my thing, but I watched the DVD twice (with a twitchy eye the second time) and still got a C in the class, and I paid complete attention. I went to class everyday and did the workbook, too. Maybe some good-looking actresses would help this video, and perhaps somebody who knows about proper video lighting/coloring, or maybe better content organization. It goes over the bare-minimum basics, and unless you're five years old and/or can learn a foreign language easily, I'd stick with searching the Internet and/or buying cassette tapes. As they stated at the beginning of the video, it's just a supplement; you should go to class and blah blah blah. You'd be better off watching some French foreign films-- or maybe watch movies that have French audio-tracks with French & English subtitles. Memorize the movie in English, then re-watch it in French. I learned more using that method than by watching 10 people jack around in a plotless video for 90 minutes.

And yes, I'm Canuckian.

Great for those who know zero french
I strongly reccomend this DVD for those who are just starting to learn French. This DVD covers the very basics that will be needed to understand anything French. It introduces the viewer to understanding that a verb in French (like "go" in english, "aller" in French) is different based on who is doing the action. If I "go", then "go" is written "vais"; if we "go", then it is written "allons" and pronounced differently. I found this element of learning French painful at the start, that instead of learning one word for "go" I had to learn six. But once I became accostumed to it, learning became much easier. You can also expect to learn a little about numbers and colors, and a few verbs and nouns.

This DVD in no way will leave you knowing enough French to go and speak it. This DVD, and part II, leaves the student with enough basic information so that learning will become much easier. For example, I used the TV series "French in Action". At the start of my studies with lessons 1-6, I had a great deal of trouble understanding what was going on. After watching the Standard Deviants DVD it became much easeir.

One more thing about this DVD. It was entertaining and enjoyable to watch. I did not feel like I was working to learn, rather I felt more like I was watching a show and everything was sticking, that I was remembering what they taught. I highly recommend this for the absolute begenner.

Good Content - Poor delivery
I purchased the DVD to bring with me to learn French while in France (unplanned extended trip). The content is more useful than the audio CD I purchased, however the delivery makes it very difficult to learn. The "humor" noted in other reviews is annoying, but could be overlooked if it were easy to rewind and review - but on a PC, viewing the DVD you cannot rewind in short segments as you can with a remote control/TV DVD setup. There is almost no repetion and the words flash across too quickly to absorb without rewinding. If you have the patience to rewind rewind rewind, there is useful information to be learned.

informative funny, not for learning accent
Its two videotapes each about 80 minutes, progressing in both difficulty and knowledge.
They clearly teach you how to pronounce and conjugate verbs paying attention to tricky verbs ( nous mangeons, vous appelez, teach about adjectives, adverbs, reflexive verbs (to wash), how "the" is complex in French, such as le-la-les, ce-cet-ces, Etc,. each chapter was followed by review conversation that were all excellent. Also each tape came with very handy useful informative insert card.
I used this course to refresh my French, and recalled and regained good information, especially with humorous examples. Unfortunately some times as the other reviewer mentioned was "overly corny".
I did not at all like the idea of learning French from non native speaker, the French accent and pronunciation is difficult with those nasal voices and different "e, eaux..",. Despite the actor great effort but they remain far away from real French. This what force me to give it only three stars, rather it will be four, this is my only take on this informative fun to watch course.

Enjoyable French Review and Refresher
As a person who studied French in school but never mastered it, I loved the Standard Deviants' French 1 tape. It gave a brief but comprehensive review of all the basic important parts of speech. It also emphasized pronunciation, an aspect of French not properly represented in the classes I'd taken in high school and collage. The tape says it can't be used to learn French. It's correct. It really needs to be used with a French course, or some other method of learning the language. As a resource to aid in learning comprehension, or as a refresher course for folks like me, however, I give it full marks. Most of the actors and graphics are engaging. A few things were overly corny. I could have done without the weird, old-fashion cowboy guy yelling at me, or the girl talking out of her passport picture. But, these were minor momentary irritants that didn't take away from the effectiveness of the tape...besides the cowboy guy sort of grew on me after a while. The Standard Deviants' tape did one thing I really liked. Learning a foreign language requires repetition. Most tapes I've seen in the past either offered too much repetition for me, which left me bored and uninterested in continuing, or not enough repetition, which left me confused. The Standard Deviants' found a solution to this dilemma. At first, I was surprised at how quickly they covered each subject. Then, I realized why. It's a video tape. One can rewind it as often as one desires. They covered each thing once with nearly no review and then urged the viewer to rewind the section as many times as they needed. This left it up to each individual viewer to decide how much repetition they wanted. A very clever idea! Overall, I found the tape helpful and enjoyable. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Fun, fun, fun for kids
Both my kids (7 yrs old and 2 yrs old) were fascinated with the video. They loved the songs and monsters in the story. In fact, they replay the songs quite a bit. The video was challenging but not too difficult for my 7 year-old, who already understands and can speak some Korean. Glad to see that there is a new, innovative Korean language product available for kids.

where is level 1?
this is a creative dvd with cute songs and story line. As stated above Korean words are repeated which is helpful for kids learning, however,i would like to mention for those of you interested in buying this dvd, someone will be needed to interpret the story. I would think that amazon would carry Level 1 of Billy and Boo if they are offering Level 2, unfortunately this could not be found. ??????hmmmm

Fun Language Learning
This is a unique approach to teaching Korean. We like the fact that we did not have to force our 6 year old Korean American son to "study" his Korean. The story of Billy and Boo really captured his attention. He particularly enjoyed the scenes with the monsters. This video appears to have more educational value than other products we have seen from Korea. The lesson is well organized and viewers can pick up words and phrases because they are repeated often.

Billy and Boo: The Monsters and the Magic Wand, Conversation
The Language Tree video teaches and reinforces the Korean language in a fun, engaging manner ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Speak Italian like an American
While watching the first DVD in this set (Italian Basics), I have discovered several inconsistencies (and I haven't even finished it yet). I was hoping to learn Italian in an entertaining way, and to learn to speak it like a native (with correct pronunciation and emphasis). They got it half right. The DVD effectively uses visuals, repetition, and dialogue to make learning some basic Italian easy and memorable. But in the first three lessons I have already found a multitude of words or letters that were pronounced in at least two different ways each, which is sloppy, to say the least. The problem for a new student is knowing which is the CORRECT pronunciation (and, YES, there IS a correct pronunciation). I will have to rely on OTHER sources to teach me which is the correct pronunciation. I wonder how much else they got wrong? Ultimately, there are some valuable tidbits of information on this DVD, but don't expect to sound like anything but an American speaking Italian.

Bravissimo!
This has been one of the most helpful items I've used to learn a language. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn Italian. These videos are modern and up-to-date. They're fun, and definitely not boring. I love the role playing that they do because it helps everything sink in and stay in your memory. What else can I say, but bravissimo!!

It does have the basic grammar.
I was satisfied with both VHS tapes as a grammar overview of Italian, but anyone wanting to "learn Italian" from them is bound to be disappointed. This was a review course only. Both tapes 1 and 2 were fast-paced run-throughs of the basics of counting, days and months, and the rules of grammar, construction, conjugation and word agreement. They teach very little actual Italian conversation. The viewer will see and hear less than 30 simple sentences on both tapes combined, and they are only used to illustrate a quickly stated rule of the language. Again, these tapes are a valuable review of the rules for already-established students of the language. They are not for teaching the language. It's too bad someone can't come up with a 20-volume set that would teach Italian from simple to complex, like the PBS French (Carpetz) tapes do so well. ... Read more

Description

The Standard Deviants' modern approach to learning and understanding makes difficult subjects accessible and even enjoyable. Recommended by over 500 educators and professors, the Standard Deviants DVD is the ultimate way to relax and learn. Our unique approach to education helps you learn in a way that is different from anything you've ever experienced. The Standard Deviants DVD combines award-winning educational content with cutting-edge technology. With enhanced flexibility and interactive tests and quizzes, the Standard Deviants DVDs give you immediate feedback while providing you with the ability to design your own program and learn at your own pace.

Includes such topics as: lots of vocabulary, communication tips, cafe conversation, articles, describing parts vs. the whole, the verb "prendre", greetings, common questions, review conversations, describing yourself ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fun, entertaining & educational
A fun, interesting reinforcement and clarification of practical French phrases and rules. A great supplement for students taking french lessons in high school or college. Also great for adults. I bought Part 2 first. After watching the video, I ordered Part 1 for my daughter. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the opening jingle, the oddball lyrics "Careful or you're speakingSpanglish, then your grade will cause you anguish" provide a glimpse into thepremise of this production from the Standard Deviants. In this, their secondtrip to the "Salsa-riffic World of Spanish," the energetic young cast performsskits and unleashes some clever and elaborate computer graphics while providinga reliable review course in the Spanish language. Starting with what's billed as"Really Basic Stuff," the cast reviews practical matters such as how to count,talks about what time it is, and discusses the weather. Moving into moreadvanced material, there are pointers on grammar, with a focus on the rules ofparticular verbs. It should be noted that the curriculum has been approved by apanel of professors, but the cast members tend to present the material in arelaxed format, which often involves the use of costumes and some bad (andhopefully memorable) jokes. Each major portion of the program is followed by aquiz, which the student can either take or skip, and the entire DVD concludeswith an exam titled "La Tormenta." This DVD isn't a substitute for classes inSpanish, but as review material the unorthodox presentation would be helpful toa student. --Robert J. McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (4)

May not work in your DVD player...
I have a one year old Zenith 5 disc DVD player and it doesn't work for me.

Only for the basics.
I found the format of this DVD both distracting and not very effective. There seemed to be more animation than actual learning content. I did learn a few phrases but the DVD fails to combine words and phrases into valuable conversation topics. This DVD is best suited for children, not for adults who actually want to learn to speak Spanish.

Please make more of these.
Standard Deviants Spanish, Part 2 is a good way for a beginner to learn a little more vocab, learn the basics of verb conjugations, and some basic conversational Spanish. I feel that there was not very much information on the DVD; but I did gain a good understanding of everything they taught. These lessons are great and I plan to see many more.

Standard Spanish Gift Pack
The two tapes .... but wait there is more! A high lighter, a cool box and pencil, and a notepad. On the surface these tapes can seem dumb and annoying, but then the next day when I'm sitting in Spanish class - budda bing - the stuff on the tape has lodged in my head. How do they do that!?!?! ... Read more

Description

The Standard Deviants DVDs feature: * Interactive testing and practice exams * An easy-to-use, menu-driven format * Instant accessibility to key content areas * Helpful resources, such as charts, terms, formulas, and lists * High-quality digital picture and sound * Additional footage not available on VHS

The Standard Deviants' modern approach to learning and understanding makes difficult subjects accessible and even enjoyable. Recommended by over 500 educators and professors, the Standard Deviants DVD is the ultimate way to relax and learn. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Didn't help
I saw this in the bookstore and bought it, hoping that maybe my French skills could improve. I was taking French 101 in college and needed some help (if being tutored by a female, I'd get no work done). The humor was so distracting and dumb. Ah, Standard Devients, you're breakin my balls. If you search the web for free French lessons, you'll find tons of em. The Standard Deviants breeze through their lessons, leaving a French-Canadian like myself cross-eyed in the dust. Maybe foreign languages aren't my thing, but I watched the DVD twice (with a twitchy eye the second time) and still got a C in the class, and I paid complete attention. I went to class everyday and did the workbook, too. Maybe some good-looking actresses would help this video, and perhaps somebody who knows about proper video lighting/coloring, or maybe better content organization. It goes over the bare-minimum basics, and unless you're five years old and/or can learn a foreign language easily, I'd stick with searching the Internet and/or buying cassette tapes. As they stated at the beginning of the video, it's just a supplement; you should go to class and blah blah blah. You'd be better off watching some French foreign films-- or maybe watch movies that have French audio-tracks with French & English subtitles. Memorize the movie in English, then re-watch it in French. I learned more using that method than by watching 10 people jack around in a plotless video for 90 minutes.

And yes, I'm Canuckian.

Great for those who know zero french
I strongly reccomend this DVD for those who are just starting to learn French. This DVD covers the very basics that will be needed to understand anything French. It introduces the viewer to understanding that a verb in French (like "go" in english, "aller" in French) is different based on who is doing the action. If I "go", then "go" is written "vais"; if we "go", then it is written "allons" and pronounced differently. I found this element of learning French painful at the start, that instead of learning one word for "go" I had to learn six. But once I became accostumed to it, learning became much easier. You can also expect to learn a little about numbers and colors, and a few verbs and nouns.

This DVD in no way will leave you knowing enough French to go and speak it. This DVD, and part II, leaves the student with enough basic information so that learning will become much easier. For example, I used the TV series "French in Action". At the start of my studies with lessons 1-6, I had a great deal of trouble understanding what was going on. After watching the Standard Deviants DVD it became much easeir.

One more thing about this DVD. It was entertaining and enjoyable to watch. I did not feel like I was working to learn, rather I felt more like I was watching a show and everything was sticking, that I was remembering what they taught. I highly recommend this for the absolute begenner.

Good Content - Poor delivery
I purchased the DVD to bring with me to learn French while in France (unplanned extended trip). The content is more useful than the audio CD I purchased, however the delivery makes it very difficult to learn. The "humor" noted in other reviews is annoying, but could be overlooked if it were easy to rewind and review - but on a PC, viewing the DVD you cannot rewind in short segments as you can with a remote control/TV DVD setup. There is almost no repetion and the words flash across too quickly to absorb without rewinding. If you have the patience to rewind rewind rewind, there is useful information to be learned.

informative funny, not for learning accent
Its two videotapes each about 80 minutes, progressing in both difficulty and knowledge.
They clearly teach you how to pronounce and conjugate verbs paying attention to tricky verbs ( nous mangeons, vous appelez, teach about adjectives, adverbs, reflexive verbs (to wash), how "the" is complex in French, such as le-la-les, ce-cet-ces, Etc,. each chapter was followed by review conversation that were all excellent. Also each tape came with very handy useful informative insert card.
I used this course to refresh my French, and recalled and regained good information, especially with humorous examples. Unfortunately some times as the other reviewer mentioned was "overly corny".
I did not at all like the idea of learning French from non native speaker, the French accent and pronunciation is difficult with those nasal voices and different "e, eaux..",. Despite the actor great effort but they remain far away from real French. This what force me to give it only three stars, rather it will be four, this is my only take on this informative fun to watch course.

Enjoyable French Review and Refresher
As a person who studied French in school but never mastered it, I loved the Standard Deviants' French 1 tape. It gave a brief but comprehensive review of all the basic important parts of speech. It also emphasized pronunciation, an aspect of French not properly represented in the classes I'd taken in high school and collage. The tape says it can't be used to learn French. It's correct. It really needs to be used with a French course, or some other method of learning the language. As a resource to aid in learning comprehension, or as a refresher course for folks like me, however, I give it full marks. Most of the actors and graphics are engaging. A few things were overly corny. I could have done without the weird, old-fashion cowboy guy yelling at me, or the girl talking out of her passport picture. But, these were minor momentary irritants that didn't take away from the effectiveness of the tape...besides the cowboy guy sort of grew on me after a while. The Standard Deviants' tape did one thing I really liked. Learning a foreign language requires repetition. Most tapes I've seen in the past either offered too much repetition for me, which left me bored and uninterested in continuing, or not enough repetition, which left me confused. The Standard Deviants' found a solution to this dilemma. At first, I was surprised at how quickly they covered each subject. Then, I realized why. It's a video tape. One can rewind it as often as one desires. They covered each thing once with nearly no review and then urged the viewer to rewind the section as many times as they needed. This left it up to each individual viewer to decide how much repetition they wanted. A very clever idea! Overall, I found the tape helpful and enjoyable. ... Read more