Customer Reviews

Spanish with Michel Thomas

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am what could be called a fallen-away Spanish speaker - this course has returned me to the fold. The material is well presented in a logical fashion and I would give it 5 stars except for the male student. Doesn't Michel Thomas understand that none of us needs to hear the language mispronounced? We don't have to pay more than a hundred dollars for that. We do just fine all on our own and for nothing. That aside, with a little additional time devoted to the acquisition of vocabulary words, one should be able to manage very nicely in Spain, or in Latin America. If a person is a rank beginner, I think that it would be quite difficult to feel confident and/or fluent without adding a workbook regimen to the CDs. nevertheless, this is the best system that I have come across and I recommend that you give it a try.

I have tried many methods for learning Spanish, and have had loads of French from elementary, high school and university. I have also done extensive immersion training in both languages. I bought the 2 CD set, which was a mistake. I should have read some of these reviews first, then purchased the full set. It is excellent.

My advice, buy the set when you are about to embark on a long car or plane trip. You get used to sitting on a plane and muttering to yourself while your wearing headphones. Bring some Shakira (Spanish only) and Mana, maybe some Intakto to punctate the verbosity.

I agree with some of the other reviewers. It could have done easily without the male student. I also found Michel's pronunciaton to be a bit dodgy at times, whether you're familiar with speakers from Spain, Argentina or Ecuador. I don't think these CD's should be used as a substitute for a good 6 weeks spent in Guatemala or Andalusia with a native speaker and proper lessons, but they make an excellent introduction and refresher. Thomas' method is easily the best audio medium based material I have ever tried.

Several years ago I started a new job and found that many of my clients spoke only Spanish. In reponse to the need to communicate more effectively at work, I began to learn Spanish. I took a couple evening classes in conversational Spanish at a local community college. I also went through several CD progams, including Berlitz, Pimsleur, and a few others. While I got decent at reading and writing Spanish, listening and speaking always seemed more difficult. This probably has to do with my not wanting to make a fool of myself in conversation by saying something stupid to one of my clients. Recently I purchased this set of CDs by Michel Thomas and finally I have found a teacher who knows how to teach conversational Spanish. His method is excellent and fairly painless. Although I already knew the vocabulary and grammar on these CDs, they gave me confidence and helped me understand the nitty gritty nuts and bolts of the spoken language in a way that no other teacher or course had done. I would highly recommended these CDs as a place to start if your goal is to speak and be understood. The 4 stars reflect the poor packaging. The individual CDs are wedged into a plastic case and are not in their own sleeves. My set became dislodged in shipping and I received a set of scratched CDs because they were loose in the box and rubbed against each other in transit. You might want to buy them at a local store so that you can immediately return them if they are damaged. Otherwise, you need to ship them back and hope that the new set is not similarly damaged in shipping.

I loved what Mr. Thomas said in the beginning: "Don't try to memorize, learn by rote, or mindlessly repeat over and over." That's one of the best lines I've ever heard regarding a language course! His approach is very memorable as he has a student who is very good and another that is pretty bad. This is a refreshing break from having one or two people saying something in Spanish then translating it with a small description of how it was used.

In conclusion, this course is pretty refreshing, especially if you're looking for a new way to try and learn a language. It may not be quite as comprehensive as taking a formal Spanish class, but it can be a great supplement to formal study or foreign travel.

I purchased the introductory 2 CD set of this program after trying several others (Pimsleur, Learn Spanish in your car, etc etc...) I had been so disappointed in previous programs, but I decided to try this one. WOW!

I finished the first 2 CDs, gave them to a friend, and went out and bought the full 8 CD program. One might be hesitant to learn Spanish from a native German-speaker with an obvious German accent. DON'T BE! His teaching methods are amazingly easy to follow. I had a basic understanding of Spanish verb conjugation and vocabulary from high school Spanish. My husband had NO background in Spanish at all. We listened together in the car, and after the first CD were constructing basic sentences, and understanding basic conversation on the Spanish radio station!

Other reviews have valid points about the male student. It is quite obvious he is trying to sound stupid. Nobody could be THAT slow! The female is fine. It took me a bit of time to get used to Michel Thomas' salivary speech. It actually sounds like he is eating his lunch on the second CD. But this program is SO GOOD, that even I, who have an aversion to loud chewing sounds, could overlook it.

I highly recommend this program to anyone.

As a homeschooling parent, I was thrilled to find and use this program with my 12yo daughter. I do speak Spanish (not really fluently) so of course this was a snap for me, but I was amazed to see how quickly my daughter caught on. Even after a 3 month break, she remembered everything perfectly!

There are 2 students that Michel Thomas teaches on these CDs, a good American female, and a not-so-good British male. (Okay, he's horrible, actually!) So as a student you tend to fall somewhere in between these 2 and I think it's a good strategy. Some reviewers have stated how distracting the male student can be... well, my daughter and I think he's a total hoot and we're often rolling on the floor at his pronunciations. Very entertaining!

Do you learn Spanish with this program? Absolutely, yes, and it's worth every penny! You will be conversing - and retaining - Spanish in no time. (Though you will need to continue onto another program for further advancement. We chose Margarita Madrigal's "Magic Key to Spanish" and my daughter is enjoying her studies very much.)

I cannot express how easy it was to pick up basic conversational abilities using this language program. This is by far the easiest method of learning the Spanish language I have ever tried. Mr. Thomas' method of teaching languages is second to none.

There is one thing that should be changed. The male student MUST go! His repeated mispronunciations and general mistakes make the program almost not worth it at times. If you are stuck in traffic, the male student is guaranteed to annoy the most patient of listeners.

Other than the above listed complaint, the program really is excellent. I only wish an intermediate and advanced course were available.

I am absolutely thrilled to have attained such a vocabulary in Spanish after just completing Discs 1 & 2 of this eight disc set. The way Mr. Thomas utilizes his classroom students is a marvelous approach. The no books, no paper, no memorizing add is for real.

I let my two sons check it out. Both take Spanish II in school and they were also impressed and amused by the learning technique. Certainly worth the time and money.

There's been a lot of talk in the reviews about the male in the recordings. Frankly I didn't find him that very annoying. He doesn't pronounce some of the accents (like 'r' for example) as well as the girl. And, he does seem a tad slower than the girl too. But that's the way the recording is supposed to be - two novices slugging it out on the material with no prior orchestration. It didn't distract me. In fact I could identify with the learning process happening.

Au Contraire - when I first started the recording I found the salivary voice of Michel Thomas more bothersome. Eventually though I got used to ignoring it.

The learning material itself seems educatedly organized - not a random haphazard exercise. I have finished the introductory 2 CDs and like it thus far. Ofcourse, any course can only guide and me thinks in that sense no particular course can be complete in itself. One feels the same when thru this one. Need to go talk to native speakers and consolidate!

After growing up in the Southwest and 4 years of highschool Spanish, I decided to brush up on Spanish. I had used the French CD set quite successfully and thought I'd breeze through this set. For the most part, I did as I remembered a lot more than I thought I did.

The easy method of learning is the same, but I have to agree with some of the other reviewers here about the male speaker whose voice sounds very much like the "better" French speaker. I found him totally distracting and much of the time lost the flow of what was supposed to be said because of his attempts.

For me too, the pronouncation was a little different than what I had been taught and what I had heard all my life, but that may be the difference between Spanish Spanish and Mexican Spanish, like American English and English English.

All that said, it's still the most excellent way of learning a language quickly for immediate use I've ever run across. Would highly recommend any of Michel's CD sets!