Customer Reviews

Michel Thomas Method™ Spanish For Beginners, 10-CD Program (Michel Thomas Series)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I ordered these CDs here at Amazon and as usual the order arrived on time and in excellent condition. Although I was very pleased with the service from Amazon I did not like this course. It just wasn't what I had expected based on some of the reviews. It may work for some but not for me. I guess because the hardest part about learning Spanish for me is understanding Spanish speakers. I can express myself better than I can understand speakers when they talk. And this course will not help in the are of understanding Spanish speakers when they speak common everyday Spanish. Mainly because Michel Thomas does not speak Spanish well. Even though I am not a native speaker of the language I could easily tell from his pronunciation that he also was not a native Spanish speaker. I would imagine that his French course is excellent. (I believe French is his first language or one of his first languages). But speaking Spanish is certainly not his area of expertise.

The two students are also not native Spanish speakers and they speak Spanish very poorly so listening to them also did not help improve my listening comprehension. In fact, listening to them could actually hurt my pronunciation because my Spanish pronunciation is so much better than theirs. I finally decided to return these CDs to Amazon and get a full refund which they promptly issued to me.

This course may work for some people. But definitely not for me or anyone else who is concerned with developing an authentic sounding accent and definitely not anyone who wants to understand native Spanish speakers when they speak common everyday Spanish.

Some other products that I recommend for Spanish language learners are Rosetta Stone Spanish. Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1,2,3,4 & 5 Set with Audio Companion. Rather expensive but not bad for the visual learner like myself and great for kids or anyone who does not need a lot of Spanish grammar explanations. You won't achieve fluency with this course but it is a nice introduction to the language. But if you need a lot of grammatical explanations Fluenz Version F2: Spanish 1+2+3+4+5 with supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts may be better for you.

In order to speak Spanish fluently, you must also learn lots of new words. A resource that highly recommend for adding new words to your Spanish vocabulary is Quick Study-Spanish Vocabulary Flash Cards-1000 cards It is a tremendous bargain for the price since you get 1,000 of these cards.

For learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs, the best product is the Verbarrator Version 1.1 (Windows Version) software. This Verbarrator actually replaces the boring Spanish verb conjugation books and makes learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs one of the most fun parts of learning Spanish. And, of course, the more you use the tool the quicker that you will learn how to conjugate Spanish verbs and reach fluency. It is one of the best investments you can make in your learning-Spanish studies. Another feature that I like about this interactive software is that it really helped improve my pronunciation.

The last product that I recommend for anyone who is really serious about learning Spanish is The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice w/CD-ROM (UItimate Review & Reference Series). This Spanish grammar book covers every aspect of Spanish grammar imaginable. To get the equivalent learning-Spanish value of this one book you would have to buy 3 or 4 books in the Practice Makes Perfect series.

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.

I took Spanish in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, but have never used it since. Junior high was many moons ago. Enter a daughter whom I wished to teach spanish to and I had to dust off my Spanish skills. And trust me, they were quite dusty and non-impressive. One of my problems was the intimidation of all those dang verb tenses. Then enter Michel Thomas and I am so much more confident. The verbs are presented in a manner that was easy to understand. And his "feminine river in the woods" tip for the "would" tense is a thing of beauty. And point of interest in case it has not been mentioned previously here, he is the one that taught Doris Day her famous Qué Será Será. The student he addressed the comment to had supposedly heard the song, but did not know the name Doris Day -- sad. Bottom line, this is a must-have. The only thing I don't understand is why the next level course is apparently no longer produced. You can only purchase it used. I would love to have it, but prefer to buy things new.

Hola,
I love this man love his voice... I started with his two cd's wore them out in my car,, then I wanted more,, so I bought a $20.00 8 cd spanish emersion set from ebay,, it looked great, but I hated it, gave it to a friend and bought this 10cd set from Michel... He's all I listen to in my car me gusta!

well worth the money.

`Michel Thomas Foundation Spanish' is a pretty good course to help you learn Spanish in a quick and relatively painless way. It has over eight hours of lessons on the discs, as well as some review discs that are great for revision. Using his own teaching technique, that may have been revolutionary when he started out, but is quite common now a days, Michel Thomas guides you through basic sentence structure and how to form phrases. Not only do you learn new vocabulary but you also learn how to use them as part of every day language which is a real bonus over other courses I`ve tried. You don't learn by rote and because you understand how the words are formed and where they sit in sentences you remember them much easier. A great deal of the language is in the present tense and as this is the tense most used when travelling it makes sense to start off this way. But be aware you'll need to learn other tenses if you wish to become fluent in Spanish. The lesson structure follows a class of four, the teacher, yourself, a good pupil and a hesitant not so good pupil. Michel Thomas then teaches you in real time and you learn along with the rest of the `class'. The hesitant pupil is extremely annoying!!! Not only does he unnecessarily stammer and stutter over words to seem more hesitant and stupid, but he also miss-pronounces words from the first disc further on in the course. The concept is sound and I understand why you would have the hesitant pupil to bolster your confidence and show the pitfalls common in the language, but he gets wearing very quickly. You could listen to this course many times if you can grit your teeth and bear this students fumbling and stammering. I've tried many other Spanish courses (Collins Buzan Course, Collins Easy Learning Course, Nintendo DS Spanish Game Course and a word association course) and whilst they all have their merits, this one is the best one I've tried overall for ease of learning and quickness of application. Well worth considering and a simple, effective system of learning, just have a stress ball to hand for when the hesitant pupil starts talking!!!

Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

Learning Spanish with Michel Thomas is very absorbing and addictive. I look forward to getting in my car to drive because that is when I listen and learn. His approach is interactive, with him actually teaching two students while you listen and then answer his questions while putting the CD on pause/stop. You then listen to hear if you responded correctly. I had previously taken spanish in high school and a year in college and found the CD very helpful and informative regarding the ever confusing tenses. I will need to re-listen to the CD several times because it is impossible to remember all the wealth of information. Even with my experience I still feel the need for perhaps a Pre-Beginner Program. I would order it from Michel Thomas. I will also order the other advanced CD's he has to offer because how he teaches is useful and I am certain I will learn something from them.

I really like the Michel Thomas method. He says there is no memorization needed, but that is not the case & never is the case in learning a new language. However, because he uses a lot of similar questions & phrases in his examples, there is a lot of repetition, which helps the learner to memorize the material without the process seeming like a chore. I just listen to the CDs while I'm driving. After only about 7 or 8 hours of total listening time some of my friends were pleasantly surprised at my progress. I think overall, "Speak Spanish" is well done & is very helpful.

I need to use Spanish in my work now, and I have found this to be a good product to keep my skills fresh. It is interesting though that the girl seems to get everything right really quickly; this can be defeating at time, especially for those who are true beginners. The material is good, but at times I feel it focuses too much on direct objects rather than building noun and verb skills, which I seem to use more often.

Overall, a good CD for people who have a basic understanding of Spanish. Would not recommend a complete beginner use this program to start the basics.

Que bueno! I bought this CD for my husband and myself since he is an auditory learner and I am a book learner. These CD's have helped both of us to start speaking Spanish and remembering the basic rules of grammer and sentence structure. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to start speaking Spanish now!

I love this CD-series! I'm a teacher, and I wanted to learn Spanish in order to better communicate with my ESL students and their parents. This series is infinitely more effective than the Spanish 101 course I took in college, where I hardly learned anything at all. This system helps you to understand the language and put together what you know in order to express yourself. Now, I cannot say that I would be able to go to a Spanish speaking country with no problem, but I am able to speak some and my listening and comprehension has improved greatly. I do use some Spanish confidently in my classroom now, and I am truly impressed by how much I have learned.