WOW- this is so well laid out- excellent mix of learning styles represented
As a teacher, I have learned over the years that in order to cover a subject to reach the most people, you have to present the topic in various learning styles.  Having a topic covered only in book or only orally when it comes to language is not going to reach all different types of learning styles.<br /><br />LATIN AMERICAN SPANISH in the OXFORD TAKE OFF IN series is an excellent program.  There is a very well laid out presentation of the subject matter and many different learning styles can be reached with this series, although the visual is limited to words in the books only and not visuals as in DVDs.<br /><br />WHAT COMES IN THIS SET?<br /><br />This set comes with 4 lesson CDs which contain many lessons as well as review sessions.  There is also a practice CD (total of 5 in the kit).<br /><br />There is a lesson book, and a travel dictionary and travel book.<br /><br />CD LESSONS<br /><br />The CD lessons are very well laid out.  First the listener is taken through a narrative introduction of various terms and pronunciations of words and phrases featured in the chapter.<br /><br />Once the lesson is listened to several times, then the student progresses to written lessons which are in the lesson book.<br /><br />These lessons are broken into several sections.<br /><br />There are several activities which could be matching exercise using conversation featured in the chapter.<br /><br />There are vocabulary lists to go over written with the Spanish first and then the English translation.<br /><br />There are language building activities which feature special instructions for some things that are in the Spanish language which the student might not be aware of.  Usually there are several language facts presented in each Lesson.<br /><br />Once the book activities are completed, the student is directed back to the CD to listen to the remaining activities for that lesson/chapter.<br /><br />TRAVEL BOOK<br /><br />The travel book is laid out extremely well.  It is broken up into topics of relevance.  For example, if you might be looking to discuss knitting with someone in Spanish, you can look under the leisure games & pastimes category and you will find the word for knitting.<br /><br />At the end of each category, there is a dialogue completely in Spanish which allows the reader to test their ability to comprehend what is being said and possibly use it in their interactions.<br /><br />MP3<br />I have not had the chance to download the MP3 files which are available to put on an MP3 player to take with you while on the move, but it is available.<br /><br />FINAL COMMENTS<br />I am very impressed with this language course.  I have had the opportunity to experience many different language courses over the years and I have to say that this course is laid out the nicest of any that I have seen so far.  It is easy to use, interesting, and covers various aspects of language without getting boring.<br /><br />The books are black and white and well laid out, but there are no color photos or pictures in these books to distract from the language being learned.<br /><br />I also appreciate the compactness of the set- it is easy to take with you and various methods of learning (MP3 and CD ) are made available to help with the ease of use and transport.<br /><br />I am giving this 5 stars.<br /><br />When I finish the course, if anything changes, I will be sure to update my review.