Bueno, Entonces: Is it the Spanish Program You’ve Been Looking For?

When it comes to learning a language, you pretty much have two ways to go.  Take classes, or learn it yourself.  People often choose to learn it themselves, either because of convenience, cost, or time.  There are dozens of options available, all you have to do is check out your bookstore or go online.

Recently, I had a chance to try newest one on the market, called “Bueno, Entonces” which has tried to stray from the traditional approach.  They wanted to create fast paced lessons that followed a specific story line, hopefully providing a fun learning environment, therefore keeping the students attention and helping them to learn quicker.  On top of that, they have made the videos available in audio only, and the videos can be put on your ipod/iphone, meaning you can learn Spanish anywhere you like.

The story is about a David, a guy from England who moved to Buenos Aires to learn Spanish.  When he gets there, he finds a job making language videos in a recording studio.  David is the student, and Jimena, his teacher, is a really hot Argentine.  David is constantly hitting on Jimena, but she diplomatically steers him away during the classes.

The videos are mainly Jimena teaching Spanish to David, though there are a few other characters, such as the professor, who explain grammar points and introduce vocabulary.  As one can expect, each class involves new grammar and new vocabulary.

In addition to the videos you will find an Argentine Slang dictionary, and some review exercises, so you can make sure you remember what you learn in the classes.

The idea of Bueno, Entonces is a good one, because if you’ve ever tried learning a language using some of the other programs on the market (ie. Rosetta Stone, Rocket Languages) you’ll know they can be pretty dull.  So does Bueno, Entonces succeed in keeping one involved?

Not exactly.  The story is somewhat entertaining, but still drags on at times.  Jimena and David are both extremely charismatic, and one finds themselves liking both of them and wanting to know more about them.  However, although there are some decent jokes, the videos can still drag on at times.

The classes are very well structured, and do a nice job of bringing in a mix of grammar and vocabulary, as well as repeating that with each new class.  You may not remember it when you first see it, but you will see a lot of the same stuff repeated throughout the classes.   Slowly, you will find that you remember this  more and more.  That being said, Bueno, Entonces does lack supplemental material.   Watching the videos only involves listening and reading, and unless you have an incredible memory, very little of what you learn will sink in.   If you expect to learn Spanish with these videos, be prepared to do extra work on the side.

Bueno, Entonces is a fun way to learn Spanish, and would be an excellent additional resource to your learning Spanish.  It will be especially useful for your listening comprehension, which is often one of the hardest things to learn.  However, don’t expect to learn great Spanish with just these videos.  I would recommend these videos, as long as you are willing to put in extra time doing different written exercises, and if you have the chance, speaking with someone using what you learn from the videos.

Website: http://www.generallinguistics.com/learn-spanish

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