This is James from James Spanish (the learning Spanish blog). Michel Thomas is renowned for being one of the most successful and influential language teachers in the world. His method has helped thousands of people master a new language, and his courses are known for their high quality and in depth coverage of a language.
Key to the Michel Thomas method is that learning should be natural and intuitive, and should not rely on artificial exercises such as drills in order for you to remember words. You do, however, have to repeat each word or phrase as it is presented, so while this audio course is excellent for while you are in your own car, you won't want to try to listen to it at work or in a public place where talking to yourself could draw some strange looks!
Designed for beginners, this course covers basic sentence structure and grammar as well as some essential vocabulary. It provides a good foundation of the Spanish language in just a few hours, and best of all the relaxed teaching method means that you will be speaking with confidence and in a relaxed manner, rather than feeling nervous as you fumble for words. This confidence is invaluable when it comes to practicing your Spanish and will help immensely when you move on to more advanced Spanish language learning.
As with most Michel Thomas courses, you are guided through the lesson along with two other students. Often, one student is heard to struggle with a particular word or phrase, while the other completes it easily. In this way you never feel as though you are alone or not keeping up. It also allows you to learn from their mistakes and not feel frustrating by your own. Rather than providing a set phrase and asking you to repeat it, the lessons provide the basic building blocks and you are then challenged to put them together in a sentence. This kind of independent learning encourages your brain to really digest and use the information given rather than just memorize it to be repeated.
Correct pronunciation is also stressed in this course, with a large amount of time dedicated to making sure you are pronouncing the words with just the right emphasis or sound to help you sound more like a native speaker.
All in all, this is one of the best audio courses for beginner Spanish students, and offers a solid platform on which to grow conversational skills.
In closing my review of this product, I'd like to share with you the three Amazon products that I have found most helpful in my pursuit to learn Spanish. If you are truly serious about achieving fluency, I'd recommend getting all 3 of them if you can afford it.
1.
Lights, Camera, Spanish (Book + DVD): Learn Conversational Spanish by Watching a Romantic Adventure This is actually a 90 minute movie for Spanish-language learners. It gives the option to watch the movie with subtitles but I'd recommend not using them to improve your Spanish. This "movie" also includes a workbook so that you can reinforce the Spanish vocabulary words and phrases from the film. The workbook also has lots of exercises to keep you engaged in the film. But be prepared to hear Chilean accents. Although pleasant to the ear, the accents from Chile are very different from most Latin American accents.
2.
Verbarrator Version 1.1 (Windows Version) This software replaces the traditional verb conjugation books and makes learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an interactive and fun activity. This should be a required resource for anyone who wants to improve their ability to conjugate Spanish verbs. Especially anyone who is challenged by the drudgery of learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs and who is looking for a new way to make learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an easy and fun activity
3.
Diccionario esencial de la lengua espanola de la Real Academia Espanola (Spanish Edition) If you are really serious about speaking the language fluently, then at some point you will need to replace your Spanish-English dictionary and get a pure Spanish dictionary with both the vocabulary words and the definitions entirely in Spanish. I use this one mainly because it was highly-recommended by a friend from Spain who teaches Spanish. According to him, this is the "standard" among university level Spanish professors.
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