(Continued from "Sueños: What You'll Learn," page 1)
In Sueños, vocabulary, grammar and culture are all learned in the context of video clips set in real life scenarios with real Spanish speakers. Because the speakers come from various Spanish-speaking countries, their accents differ accordingly, giving the learner a varied, realistic (although not consistent) exposure to the Spanish spoken in Spain as well as Mexico and Central and South America.
Each of the ten units described on page one has the same basic components:
- Two Video Clips (with Audio and Text, too!) - Each of the two video clips highlights aspects of Spanish language and culture to be learned. You can watch or listen to the episodes, but you need to have Real Player installed on your computer in order to do so. Accompanying every video/audio file is a complete text transcript in Spanish, with a translation in English available as well.
- Key Language - The "Key Language" component for each unit lists important phrases for that unit, with the Spanish side by side with the English translations.
- Key Words - This component of each unit is basically a vocabulary list, which gives important words in the related domain, listed alphabetically in Spanish with the English translations next to them.
In addition to these key components, learners have access to full text transcripts of BBC's Sueños television episodes; these, however, would probably only be of interest to students who already have a good grounding in Spanish, or who have access to these episodes (not aired in the United States).
The methodology of Sueños is simple, the video and audio clips are intriguing, and the translations are helpful. Though this is by no means a complete program for learning Spanish, it's an excellent supplement to any formal or informal Spanish learning program. It exposes the learner to various Spanish-speaking cultures, a variety of Spanish language accents, and numerous important words and phrases. It's fun, and best of all, it's completely free!