Books : Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Spanish (Michel Thomas Series)

Rating: - Michel Thomas Spanish 8 hr cd's
I am returning to live in Spain and bought the Michel Thomas Spanish CD's to freshen up my language skills. Had I known beforehand that the lessons were to be taught in a latin american accent rather than Castillian, I would not have bought the set. Having learnt Spanish one way it is very difficult for me to change in mid-course. Is it possible to mention this rather significant piece of information on your promotional blurb. Also I am in agreement with some of your other reviewers that the two students are irritating and offputting.

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Rating: - Muy Bueno!
I would have to agree that the young man on this CD is indeed good for morale. Being a dense tongue tied liguistic idiot myself, it's good to feel that I'm not the worst student in the class! I've never come across a language course before that gets real, useful results, so fast.

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Rating: - Might help some slower learners
I bought this course to use for home study alongside evening classes, so it could be argued that I was not a complete beginner. Even so, the pace of the lessons was painfully slow due to the male student on the CDs. Can he really be that dim or is he a paid actor? Michel Thomas's very strong German accent wasn't a lot of help with correct pronunciation, but if you're just looking for some holiday Spanish it will be close enough. My suggestion, if you really want to learn the language, go to proper classes where you will be able to speak to, hear, and be heard by others.

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Rating: - Worth every penny - don't buy anything else
An absolutely awesome course that will amaze you with your ability to speak basic Spanish in next to no time. Michel Thomas's technique is like no other - he is a legend.

The only reason that I can't give it 5 Stars is because of the extremely dense male student that they used. If Michel Thomas's staff read this, you are well advised to edit that male student out because he's tongue tied & incredibly frustrating to listen to (what on earth were you thinking of?).

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Rating: - so easy to get into a new language - it gives you confidence
I had never spoken or understood a word of Spanish apart from "cerveza" [beer] before buying this course on CD. I knew I was heading to Barcelona for a week in two months' time, and thought that would be enough time to go through the course. It was actually enough time to go through it twice!

Like other reviewers, I got a bit bored of listening to the same inept student stumble over the same words over and over again, but the classroom situation was really helpful to me at the same time. I took pride in myself when I was able to answer a question faster than the good student, and found myself shouting corrections at the slow one!

When I got to Barcelona, I found that I had the confidence to at least attempt to speak to people in Spanish, and I was understood. My vocabulary is still way too small to really hold a conversation, and the CD does not teach you listening skills. I'm planning to do an advanced Spanish course as soon as possible. But as a way of getting into the language with no pain whatsoever, I can't recommend this highly enough.