Others say...

"Demasiado rapido para mi"
I bought this book, and its companion, 1,000 words, hoping to take the next step in Spanish. This book requires a great leap. The phrases are repeated only once, in full-speed Spanish, with NO time between for you to try to repeat, or think about what you just heard. Just "Numero Uno: Phrase, Numero Dos: phrase." No English translation (though you can download that from Anna's website). I'm sure at some point, it will be helpful, but for now it's way too fast. I've put it and its companion CD away for when I'm much more fluent.

"Phrases review"

I have just listened to and read Anna Rivera's 800 plus most powerful spanish phrases. The product is average at best. There are numerous phrases that have little or no relevance for the typical spanish learner or for the typical traveler. I understand that the product isn't only for the traveler. However, I do believe that the phrases should be high frequency use.

"Ana, great listening comprehension product but we would've liked to have heard your voice on the CD"
I really like this method. I too bought both of the audio products by this author after learning about her products from her site and her learning-Spanish newsletter. And I have also purchased several learning-Spanish products based on the recommendations that she makes in her reviews both here at Amazon and on her site.

In the past, I have used several phrases books to pick up more vocabulary. But I like this more than the conventional phrase books because it comes with a CD with the audio. By listening to the CD over and over again the Spanish words and phrases are reinforced and they really stick to my memory. The phrases are only said in Spanish so if you want to know what a phrase means in English you have to go and download the transcript from her site. I personally did not find that it was an inconvenience to have to download the transcript from her site but I think that I would have found it little more convenient if the audio CD also had the English phrases spoken. But then if she did that I guess it would not have helped my Spanish listening comprehension as much as this method with Spanish audio only.

I think that I would have also preferred if she was the speaker on the CD. She has a male speaker doing the phrases. I was expecting to hear her voice.

"Very good immersion technique for picking up some new words and phrases in Spanish"
I bought both of Anna Rivera's products. This one and the other one. I would say they are pretty good for learning some new words and phrases in Spanish. What I like most about her two products is that they are completey in Spanish. That way I am forced to develop my ability to hear Spanish when I hear it spoken.

Even though the audio is completely in Spanish, she gives you a link on her web site where you can download a transcript of all the words and phrases in her course. The transcript is both in English and Spanish. I would recommend initially going through the words and prhases two or three times with the transcript so that you learn the words and phrases. After that try only listening to the Spanish audio without using the transcript. That should really help you to understand Spanish when you hear people speak it. One more thing. This is not a stand alone course. You will have to buy one of the other Spanish courses sold here on Amazon first if you are a complete beginner. This is just a supplemental tool to help you learn some new words and phrases in Spanish after you have already mastered the fundamentals.