Imagine a big puzzle of unfamiliar words, sounds, expressions. They are all jumbled up into a big ball of confusion. This is what learning Spanish was like for me. Language Dynamics took all of this confusion, organized it, gave meanings I could understand to all of it, and then showed how to put it together quickly and painlessly, express my own needs and desires with it, and even how to pronounce it correctly. Speed Spanish 2 is even better than I expected it would be.

At the urging of a friend I decided to try the Speed Spanish Series. Below were my impressions: 1. The course was by far the clearest and easiest to learn recorded presentation of Spanish that I have yet experienced. (and I have tried several). 2. The instructor gave English translations for everything on the tapes which meant I didn't have to look up anything. 3. The native Spanish speaker's voice was extremely clear and easy to understand. The best I have heard. 4. The material was relevant to everyday situations one would encounter in a Spanish speaking country or in conversation with a Spanish speaking person. 5. The course was by far more flexible in its approach to the teaching of basic sentence building which allowed me to express myself and my likes and desires basically but effectively IN MY WAY and in my own words without studying Spanish for years. This was VERY helpful. Overall, I would highly recommend the Speed Spanish series, and I hope that there will soon appear a written guide to accompany these wonderful tapes! Michael Thomas

This four tape course was the perfect follow up to Speed Spanish 1 which was and is the best Spanish course I have ever experienced. I enjoyed learning the past and future tenses, and even idiomatic expressions not found on other courses. For me, the value of learning to speak a second language is priceless and I would have paid ten times more to have learned what I did from this course.

I am delighted with the results I am getting with '5001 Spanish Sentences'. As the ad claims, I am learning to speak Spanish quickly and easily. I have tried other language courses including Berlitz, Living Language, Hugo, and Pimsleur to name a few. Most of these courses use only the target language and do not give adequate reinforcement and explanation. In fact, with Living Lanugage I found myself 'parroting' stock phrases in Spanish and not even knowing what it was I was saying. In order to find out I would have to stop the car, look up the meanings in a book (very frustrating and time consuming). This in no way teaches one a language. I have read that at least understanding what it is you are saying and repeating greatly enhances your ability to speak a foreign language quickly.
I am grateful to Language Dynamics for devising an easy and effective method of foreign language instruction that makes the learner as comfortable and 'in the driver's seat' as I have been.

Learning to speak Spanish for the first time in my life has been an 'enjoyable' process because these tapes explain everything, give you the meanings in English and then give you the beautful voice of a native Spanish speaker to practice with. No reasonable person could ask for more.

Several years ago I began searching for an audio Spanish course that would allow me to learn Spanish in the comfort of my home or in my car without having to look at a book. I found what I was looking for in 5001 Spanish Sentences. English is used with this course, and I'm glad it is. You only have two choices, sit and wonder what the heck they (and you if you repeat) are saying, and then TRY to look up the meanings (often with no success and wasting lots of time in the process) or buy a course like Language Dynamics offers where you INSTANTLY KNOW the meanings of what you are learning.
My anxiety level fell through the floor when I started using these 'user friendly' tapes. And the results? Unreal. I just repeated after the Spanish speaker, followed the course instructions and now I speak Spanish.
Let's face it. Most Spanish courses actually 'want' you to suffer through the agony of a traditional 'wonder till you finally figure it out' method.
I left the old fashioned methods behind. I don't use a wood burning stove in my kitchen. I use a microwave. And I don't use Living Language or Berlitz to learn Spanish with their Medieval
methods. I use Language Dynamics. I suggest you update too.
LISA PELLEGRINI

Having successfully used '5001 French Sentences' I didn't hesitate to buy '5001 Spanish Sentences' which was even better.
Language Dynamics courses use a natural 'building block'
method that speeds up the language learning process.
There are a million ways to learn a new language and I feel that I have tried most of them.
This course stands out as the fastest and easiest and by far the best value for the money.

As a resident of Milwaukee for four years, I first became acquainted with this book during a reading at the campus bookstore where I worked. From the moment Wasniewski opened his mouth to read, I knew that this novel captured the Milwaukee mentality better than the local "Journal-Sentinal" newspaper ever had. Even though the story takes place over thirty years in the past, the city remains much the same, a place full of earthy, often down-on-their-luck, at -hear-truly- decent people who enjoy their beer and their sausage products, nearly worship the Greenbay Packers, and are just trying to get by any way they can. This is not a wealthy city, but it is an interesting city, and Wisniewski embrases its excentricity with sharp, acurate dialogue, a sense of the ethnic pride that still flourishes in the neighborhoods today, and an understanding of people who are often too poor to live the good life and have a very modest opinion of what the good life is. Through great characters (particularly Norb Hike) and witty, observant dialogue, Wiesnewski crafts a picture of life among people attempting to score the one great scam that will make them rich. He also succeeds in conveying what makes parts of the city truly interesting, the people and the everyday absurdities that come with beeing a resident of a blue-color neighborhood in decline that still maintains an odd form of dignity in its impoverished residents .

CONFESSIONS is a fast-paced and vivid journey through a compelling and often absurd world of con games and schemes to make a much-needed buck. Starting with the coupon-exchange of the opening scene, this book relentlessly up-shifts from one scam to the next, with ever-growing stakes. But unlike most of his characters (and some other contemporary authors), Wisniewski hasn't dressed up a lemon to dupe a potential buyer into a bad deal. His story is fresh, his characters memorable, his dialogue crisp as a brand new hundred dollar bill. And when it comes to comedy, Wisniewski writes at full throttle. His humor is sometimes dry, sometimes outrageous, always good for a laugh. But don't read this book merely for its entertainment value (although that's reason enough to buy it). If you read between the lines, you'll find that Wisniewski's tale goes deeper than the commercial culture it cruises through on its surface, exploring how the young narrator learns to function in American society of the late '50s and '60s, especially in terms of the images that influence the formation of his attitudes toward women

In his book "Confession of Polish used car salesman", Mark Wisniewski points out many important moral issues and at the same time he makes the novel very entertaining. The author makes the story humorous by use of ironic and funny language as well as comical situations. However, under the mask of humor a reader sees greed and moral emptiness among the characters of the story. Mark Wisniewski blends these two aspects together. Claiborne K. H. Smith in his article "In person Mark Wisniewski" also proves that the story has two faces. He states that, "In short, the novel is humorous but troubling, enlightening but cautionary, a liminal, mercurial, but spare take on the scamming business as seen through Polish eyes." From the first sentences of the novel the author uses his sarcastic language to describe people and their behavior. Particularly, it is well seen when he writes about the boy's grandfather. He presents him as an old guy who is twitching all the time and says a few sentences per day. Wisniewski writes, "Six words, I thought. Including a question. The man is out of control" to make him comical character. Moreover, the author repeats constantly the sentence "My Grandfather twitched", which causes a break in the story and makes even tense situation less serious. He also uses the repetition in the scene where the boy kisses Pam. Each time the boy does it , Pam's eyes are fluttering. Kissing is an intimate and romantic thing, however, the author by the repetition of the words "Her eyes fluttered," makes the situation comical and silly. Mark Wisniewski also expresses his ironic language when he mentions the shortcut 3P, which stands for Polish Poor People. He uses this alternative to make the characters of the story seem odd. They are not usual people. They are 3P - people who are greedy, cheap, and strange. Whenever the author uses this shortcut to picture some new characters, we already know what kind of people to expect. A similar situation arises when author mentions the word "car." He never uses the word "car" by itself. Instead, he always writes "The good used car." This sentence is ironic because a used car can't be good by the fact that it is used. The sentence "good used cars" is paradoxical and makes the car sales men who say it seem ridicules and absurd. Mark Wisniewski has also a special way of calculating the time to amuse the novel. He does not just write time in years. To describe six years he writes 2066. He uses it in some situations when the time plays an important role, and does it to highlight a long period. For example, when the boy has to sleep with Fommy who pees at night. The author tries to point out how long and terrible these six years were for the boy. He changes it to 2066 mornings, which are like an enhancement to point out the irony of this situation. The same situation takes place when the boy has to work on the worm farm. The author writes "I jumped up and down 437 times: still no nightcrawlers. My feet hurt so I pounded 217 more times. The worms were not panicking, but I was." Jumping for over 600 times up and down seems like an awful thing. By writing the exact number of jumps the author enhances the situation to accentuate the boy's efforts. The reader feels sorry for a boy. However, these situations are funny because people like to laugh from other's little misfortunes. In order to make the story more amusing Mark Wisniewsk,i mentions some less important scenes only for the entertainment purposes. It is well seen when the boy escapes with Malcolm from the Indian lady's house. On this instance a dead man is involved. Although this fact makes the situation very serious and dramatic, the sentence "I'd never touched a black man before and now I was shaking one's hand and the rest of him was not attached"(97), makes the whole event peculiar. The author presents his black type of humor and even thrilling scenes he turns over into comical ones. We can also see his twisted humor when he writes about the boy's and Pam's honeymoon. The sentence, "Pam used roughly the same trees I'd thrown the burnt hotdogs in. The huisache trees were thick, but not so thick that I could not hear Pam using them. I though: The honeymoon is over?"(156) shows his unusual jocularity.

A great baseball book for all fans! Truly one of the classics

This book has everything about the sport of baseball and every player on the All-Century team! This book truely has everythig. It has the greatest pictures I have ever seen of baseball, and the content is amazing! BUY THIS BOOK!

As soon as I heard this book was coming out, I knew I had to get it. After I finally did get it and opened it up, I was stunned. The pictures are absolutely wonderful, and the writing is good also. Remember, the majority of these players were voted on by the fans in 1999 to comprise The All-Century Team, so don't blame the writers of the book for the over-abundance of current players. They actually added five players that were, remarkably, overlooked--including Honus Wagner, far and away the best shortstop of all-time--to make the book even better. The pictures and presentation of the book are very good, and the writers make sure to confirm that Babe Ruth was the greatest player of all-time. A great baseball coffee table book.

This is another important contribution to the ongoing critic of imperialist culture that many mistaking think ended at the start of the twentieth century. In the vein of Chomsky, Vidal and Jardine, "Real Story Series" pamphlets, Zepezauer gives a quick overview of, perhaps, one of the most dishonorable ongoing chapters of US history. This book is not meant to go into a detailed analysis' of CIA activities, but rather introduce the nefarious activities of this powerful agency to the public. Within this book one will be introduced to the CIA's involvement in the overthrow of democratic governments all over the world. From Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador and the repeted attempts to bring about the downfall of Castro in our hemisphere, to the Phillipines, Vietnam, Greece, and into Africa, the reader introduced to what could be called the most well financed terrorist organization in the world. This book is only an introduction, as I said, and if one is interested in a more in- depth look at the CIA, check out "Killing Hope" by William Blum. All in all this book is a very good place begin in any investigation of the CIA's activities, especially for those not familar with the subject.

A terrific, terrifying little conspiracy cover-up book. The CIA has been responsible for destroying numerous economies and good governments, causing considerable mayhem since its creation. Don't miss the section on Jonestown, which has nothing in common with the recent Rancho Santa Fe cult suicides: it was murder (primarily of blacks, which was news to me). References are included for those who want further facts

I'm glad to see this nice eye-opener is still in print. Makes you think carefully about a large number of world events. I got this from a good friend and it has introduced me to a new world of critical thinking. If you want to love your government DON'T READ THIS BOOK! But if you have an open mind and want to find out what has been going on behind the scenes it is great material.

Maybe I'm being too critical here. I mean, I like Jon Miller. He's an excellent broadcaster. He certainly knows his baseball. But can he write? The answer (even with assistance) is, disappointingly, no. He has some good anecdotes, and makes some good points, but as I was reading it, I couldn't help wondering, "Where is this book going?" The answer is nowhere. It's meandering and disjointed. He makes all of his "controversial" points in the first chapter, but then offers nothing to back up his theses later in the book. Still, if you want to learn about Jon Miller, to read some interesting stories about the colorful players and broadcasters Miller has encountered over the years, AND get a defense in of Miller's decision to leave the broadcasting booth for the Baltimore Orioles, then go ahead and buy the book. But, perhaps you would feel you're getting your money's worth if you waited for the paperback version or maybe borrowed it from your local library.

I received this book along with Joe Morgan's as a Christmas present, and it was interesting to read them in tandem, as it shows why they are such a complementary broadcast team. Miller's book is more an anecdotal memoir than a detailed analysis of the game, but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment of it. His tribute to Ken Coleman, the retired Red Sox radio broadcaster, brought back to this Red Sox fan vivid memories of Miller's all-too-brief stay in Boston. The book, however, suffered from an editing job that assumed that the reader had a familiarity with Miller's personal life and career history. For example, there are several references to his first marriage which both assume that the reader knows that Miller was married before and why it ended. But these references are extraneous and add nothing to this picture of Miller as broadcaster and baseball purist -- which, after all, is the book's primary focus.

Had an opportunity to read this book over the Thanksgiving holiday...just couldn't put it down. Jon Miller gives baseball fans and purists an updated insider's view on many of the issues that are of prime concern to today's baseball fans such as: the designated hitter, interleague play, outrageous salaries, current and future hall of famers; and he gives you all the details of his divorce with the Baltimore Orioles and notes interesting tidbits about Baltimore's greedy and incompetent owner -- Peter Angelos.

Easy to read. Easy to understand and enjoy.

I tried Flash French 1 in my car and at home and was frankly delighted with the results. I have since used what I have learned in my travels to both Quebec and France. I consider what I learned from the extremely 'user friendly' course to be priceless. I highly recommend you try it.

I love languages and am trying to learn several of them. I have found (of the many I have tried)that Flash French is the best in the west. If you don't believe me, go out and try three or four beginning to intermediate level French courses (like I did) struggle through the bizarre and esoteric music, wierd voices, unclear or no explanations. After guessing and wondering what the heck was being said or taught, or after learning stuff that has ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE whatsoever to the real world, go and buy 123 Flash French. You will feel like you died and went to heaven. It is SO EASY to use and what I learned I was able to apply almost immediately. I was also able to request the optional text which accompanies this fabulous course.

Flash French is the best audio cassette course I have ever used. The lessons are easy to understand and the progression from one lesson to the next flows logically. The explanations of the grammar and the pronunciations are clear and easy to understand. I never thought French would be so easy to learn. My husband and I are touring France and Italy in August and I was so impressed with Flash French that I have ordered 'Speaking High Frequency Italian' as well. Marylyn Cole

If you have modest experience in the military or law enforcement, do not buy this book. If you are looking for a work that addresses the intricacies of security tactics and training, this is not the book for you. If you have absolutely no experience with tactics and weapons this may be useful to you. The author does offer a comprehensive look at the bodyguard profession, but it is so broad and all encompassing that is covers nothing in detail and is of little use to the experienced soldier/law enforcement professional. What is the old axiom? If you try and defend everything, you defend nothing? The author spends a great deal of space and effort describing the flaws in many so-called bodyguards such as over drinking, extra-marital affairs, and conflicts of personal interests. Ironically, I found his personal vignettes about the cast of unprofessional, immature, brain dead fellow bodyguards he has worked with most entertaining; although this had nothing to do with the reason I purchased this book. The bottom line is, if you have been a soldier or police officer for more than a day, this book offers you little. If you are a librarian or an insurance salesman you might find it informative. In the end, you'll have to read this work and form your own opinion.

This book is interesting reading but it seems the authour places more details in the chapters that he is personaley interested in such as weapons training and not going into any particular datils of more routine opperations such a protection tecnuiques, which if well followed such if not illiminate but sereverly reduce the need of a drawn weapon.... not a bad book to get a flavour of but severely lacks details. on the other end of the spectrum what can one expect out of a publication but the writing style was interesting but i would prefer ainstead spliting the books into 3 or more books with a higher detail and cover price

Working in the field of high level diplomatic security I can state this is clearly the best book on vip protection to date, this thought of mine is shared by colleagues and instructors around this is the book to start and to end with, what you need to know is in this book, the rest you will only get out of experience

It took a couple reads to figure it all out, but it's turned out to be very handy. Though dated, it still has the basic concepts which are necessary to learn. Once I read this book, game programming got a lot easier.

When I first got this book, the latest edition of VB was 4.0. This book was anything and everything you could possibly need. Without this book, I would never know VB like I do today!! If you are planning on buying this book now and you are using a 32-Bit version of Windows, then you will need to change some of the lines of the API code, but otherwise this is an excellent book!!

Chapter 1 might confuse you because it start off showing the programming of a whole game, but after that it takes you through step by step. This book is for people who know alittle VB before starting. At first the book tells you to use and API fuction call BitBlt and how to use it. After you see this technique your imagination will explode, because your eyes will be open to the light. I can't belive how much help this book has been to programming my own video games.