Rating: 
Summary: I will try hard to be honest and objective
Review: I read all the reviews before buying the CDs and I have explored other CDs and books since.I would rate Michel Thomas' method at 6 or 7 out of 10. It is O.K. but I personally wish that I had spent my money on something more substantial. The hype (yes I'm afraid so) given to this product has left me a little disappointed with it. - NOT five stars from me. The method is too slow even for a complete beginner and I understand the criticisms of his pronunciation which I consider to be wrong in some cases from what I have learned from native spanish speakers since finishing the course. The product boasts that Mel Gibson and Woody Allen learned from Michel Thomas. Well I'm afraid that is no reason to consider Mr Thomas as any good. They obviously have money to waste but I don't. My recommendation to you is hard work and practice rather than believing this product will give you any short cuts. Sorry Mr Thomas, you promise more than you deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: quick confidence builder
Review: An interesting approach, but to be honest somewhat more effective for the beginner than those with some level of existing Spanish.
The suprise is that the biggest inhabition to starting any langauge is actually building up the confidence to speak it, the trick here is that the listener feels more confident in speaking spanish immediately, this is a big achievement, it took me years to be comfortable with my level of knowledge to start experimenting.
As an intermediate level spanish speaker, i found this a useful practice exercise, useful for dipping into now and again, and i did find that he imparts the same lessons which i would pass on to make learning spanish easier, so you cant say better than that.
I agree with the comments about the comedy accents and overacting studnts, but if viewed as amusing it actually makes the course more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent way to start learning Spanish
Review: Michel is a fabulous teacher. Buy the 8 disk course - its worth it! I go through the lessons during my 1/2 hour drive to and from work and it's taken me about a week and a half to get through disk 3 of 8. (I took another reviewer's advice and listen to each disk twice before proceeding to the next) So far, the course has been wonderful. I completed 2 years of Spanish in high school 11 years ago and before taking the course, I could only remember a few verbs. My desire to learn Spanish increased when I married a latina, because want to be able to have a normal conversation with her family members/grandmother. I also want to be able to understand why they are all laughing at Sábado Gigante (Spanish TV is what they mainly watch). Being able to raise my kids in a bilingual household would be another plus. You probably know that Michel conducts this audio course with two english-speaking students who purport not to know any Spanish. The female student is excellent. She is a quick learner who picks up accents and meaning very quickly. The male student is, for lack of a better word, a doofus. He has a difficult time pronouncing even the most basic sounds and never seems to learn from his mistakes. One of the first words we learned was Qué (prounced "k"), which in most contexts means "what". In the 3rd CD, the male student is still pronouncing the word as if it is "Té". Michel corrects him every time. At first I was patient, now I can't help cursing at him every time he screws up something easy. I agree with the other reviewers in that the male student is really annoying, but it doesn't detract from the overall quality of the course. The best thing about the course is the way Michel structured the discussions to promote learning and not memorization. We started by talking about scenarios where "I" am doing the action. Then we learned "you" and applied that to all of the earlier topics. Now we learned how to say "he/she/it" and applied those. At the same time Michel broadens the discussion possibilities by adding verbs. I'm at the point now where I can ask my wife a question in Spanish without her looking at me crazy. Overall, I can't say enough positive things about this selection. It focuses on the spoken language (which is what I care about) so there are no boring useless written exercises. Michel also stresses pronunciation, which makes all of the difference in Spanish. Learning a language takes a long time without immersion, but I predict at the end of this course, I will know enough to hold conversations with my wife completely in Spanish and be able to take my learning to the next level. If we ever make it back to Italy, my wife and I will certainly purchase the Italian course.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant. Can't recommend it enough.
Review: Amazing. My first study of Spanish. Listened to CDs in car for 2 weeks before trip to Cuba last December, and I was easily conversing in broken Spanish with Cubanos; in fact I occasionally helped translate for our group of 25... exceeding some who'd studied in high school, even college. Have listened (passively...) a few more times, and this unique approach to the language has given me such a good foundation that i'm able to pick up more and more with suprising ease. Learning new verbs, and conjugating them... obviously not with perfection, but i'm able to understand, and, especially, be understood. My friend who's marrying a Latina used it to be able to communicate with his mother-in-law on his wedding day. I've never written an online review, but this CD demands it. If you want to quickly and easily start learning, this is the way.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff
Review: I agree with the comments of the other reviewers, pro and con. This is a great resource for commuters. I find myself wanting to write down things, or look up words while listening. But its a great teaching method. Low stress etc. I can't learn from just one source however, and I recommend supplementing this CD set with a workbook and other resources.
Rating: 
Summary: Only 160 words!
Review: I cannot believe it when I bought this CD set and discovered you only get to learn 160 words with his teaching method. Yes I counted them! Actually this is more like a infocommercial to sign up for his classes. A title named Learn in Your Car gives you 1800 words for less money and it actually works. I can't beleive any company would put this type of product out and call it a true learning experience.
Rating:
Summary: I think they should let the man on the tapes -- live.
Review: ...[I] love Michel Thomas. He opened the door to foreign language for me. Because I am stupit 2, the bad guy (who spurned the person from Minnosota) -- essentially enabled me to really learn to pronounce my words from Michel (who probably charges $1000 and hour to the corporate and industry types). Now, native speakers understand me. My Spanish clients now tell me, "your pronunciation is beautiful ... it's really a shame you do not understand what you are saying (not really). At least I can speak Spanish now. Unfortunately, I [find] ... that listening comprehension needs to be supplemented elsewhere -- but buy the tapes or CD anyway!!!!!! Worth every cent if your a language basket case like me. Michel gave me confidence. I never had that before with languages.
Rating:
Summary: After 8 years of trying I can finally say something
Review: I work with Latin Americans and despite traveling extensively and working side-by-side with native spanish speakers, I couldn't learn the language. After buying these CD's, the next day (1 CD later) I knew enough to form my own statements and questions. And, unlike some other reviewers, I didn't mind that the guy wasn't real quick since I'm not either. His mistakes really helped.
Rating:
Summary: Almost a complete Spanish coarse. PLEASE READ
Review: This is the best language CD I have heard so far. My only complaint is there needs to be a few mroe CD's to really feel confterable with the language. Two more CD's of vocabulary and grammer with a few CDs on understanding not just speaking. It does a wonderfull job teaching you to speak it, but it don't teach you to understand it. There are no native speakers, and Michel speaks very slowly a few words at a time. Now I know how to say all this stuff, but can't understand a word of it. I think Mechel needs to add a few more CD's to his coarse and add listning comprehension with native speakers if he is going to charge [item price] for the coarse.
Rating:
Summary: The best approach to learning foreign languages!
Review: If you want to start speaking a foreign language in less than 8 hours, this is the best and the only way to do it. I have purchased many books, tapes, and CDs on learning Spanish. And none of them got me so up to speed in Spanish and in such a short period of time as "Spanish with Michel Thomas" did. Michel, thank you! You've made learning foreign languages fun with imazing results! Lina P.S. Is "Russian with Michel Thomas" coming out soon?
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