Hey! Did you ever wonder why characters in the Zorro movies refer to him as a fox"? Because "Zorro" means "fox"! Want to know how I found out?

I just discovered a great way to learn conversational Spanish! Second Language publishing has come out with a "Think Spanish" magazine and CD set. What a clever idea! The entire magazine is recorded on a CD so that you may read along with the recording. Many words in the articles are in bold face; those words are translated in a column on the right side of the page.

There are articles on such things as customs (costumbres), travel (viaje), celebrations (celebraciones), music (musica), geography (geograhia), people (personas) and even recipes (recetas)! I was really impressed! (Me impresiono!)

The lesson sections are great as well. In some there are lessons on Spanish punctuation, then you may test your knowledge with a multiple-choice test. There are crossword puzzles, geography lessons. My favorite lessons are the "Repeat After Me" conversational lessons. While reading along with the CD you will know what questions or words are being read. The voice on the CD will say the word or phrase in Spanish and you repeat it back. You can learn everything from asking where the bus stop is or how to rrroll your r's correctly!

This has been so much fun to do with my girls; I couldn't resist it myself. This is something different and fun to do as a whole family. After a short while you can try out what you know on the waiter at your local Mexican restaurant.

You may subscribe with or without the audio CD, but the CD is half the fun. Also available are idiom flashcards and grammar flashcards.

Until then, I'll leave you with this thought from our lesson: "El amor es humo elevado por el vapor do los suspiros." ("Love is a smoke made with the flame of sighs.") Ahhh!



--Product Review by: Kim Wolf, Staff Writer, Product Reviewer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine