Rating: 
Summary: INTERESTING METHOD
Review: IT WOULD BE A GREAT COURSE EXCEPT FOR THE ANNOYING FUMBLING AND MISPRONUNCIATION OF THE MALE STUDENT ON THE TAPE. IT'S EXCRUCIATING LISTENING TO HIM WHILE THE FEMALE STUDENT IS QUICK AND CLEAR. THOMAS HAS THE VOICE OF A MAN ABOUT 6O TO 65 YEARS OLD, BUT HE REPEATS THE WORDS FREQUENTLY AND FAIRLY CLEARLY. I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE HE KEPT THE MALE STUDENT THROUGHOUT THE SERIES. I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THE SET IF I HAD HAD A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO THE STUDENTS. I HAVE STUDIED SPANISH, GERMAN AND RUSSIAN, SO HAVE LITTLE TOLERANCE FOR LISTENING TO OTHERS FUMBLE REPEATEDLY.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite Simply the most sure fire way to learn languages
Review: I am a software engineer with a rather keen interest in languages.I pursued an International job opening to Geneva ,Switzerland in '99 and was rather shocked at finding 3 rather deferring languages being spoken within the length and breadth of the country ie;(French,Italian & German) I had been trying to learn French for ages but my new environment started acting as something of an extra incentive ,and saw me spending loads of time and grief trying to reach fluency ever more determinedly through copious amounts of evening classes and french "Teach yourself" courses . Then i stumbled upon the revelation that is Micheal Thomas's language learning style while on holiday abroad and my life quite simple changed. I Started with the 8 hour French language materials;which i came to master in about 3 months. It had me totally fired up for languages.I was able to assimilate things so much quicker after that experience, so much so that i found that within the space of a further 3 months of total immersion, i was able to sucessfully Obtain my "Diplome de langue"(Language Diploma in french). The power in his method rests implicitly in his ability to help you mentally map out/ figure out the way to speak the language,lending you mnemonics to help assimilate vocabulary with almost effortless ease ; the combination of which empowers you with the ability to then naturally engage/your own everyday thought processes in the most natural of ways to effortlessly think out and confidently say what you want or need to say. Subsequently, following the courses in Spanish, German and now Italian has been something of a doddle since then. I now speak these rather fluently. He basically opened my mind to a whole new way of learning and gave me the keys to tapping into it. It should have been like this all along. I tried learning Chinese(Mandarin) for a period of 3 months,a while back. I hope to revisit this soon after my Italian course and apply these breakthroughs in learning to speak it. My Salute to you Micheal Thomas, Merci Infiniment.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised.
Review: When I first saw this language series surface in my local bookstore, I was annoyed and skeptical because of all the emerging language books and gimicks which make false promises. But I hadn't seen this series before, and I wanted to see if was anything like what they said it was. After all, it was published by NTC (publisher of the Teach Yourself series.) After a few minutes of listening to this CD I was no longer skeptical. But there is one very serious pitfall; in the course you are learning along with two other people, a male and a female student. The male student is very annoying, hence 4 stars, and not 5.
Rating:
Summary: A Sensational Teacher - It Really Works
Review: In the space of a week of just listening to this course I feel I've really got a great start to learning Spanish. Tune into the radio, pick up an article, scan the web and I've been amazed that I can actually understand, at least some, of what I hear, see, read. I think this is agreat course to ignite the love of language learning and make it seem, and be, possible. The course features and emphasises pronounciation in a very natural way, but what a great way to learn. Get it, speak the language. Adios amigos
Rating:
Summary: Awesome instruction
Review: Michel Thomas is a great language instructor. I first grabbed his French course for a trip to France and it was so incredible that when I needed to brush up on my Spanish, his was the first place I looked. His instruction concentrates on the language structure not vocabulary. His method is purely Socratic which makes it a pleasure to learn. If you do get this, you should also try and get something else to increase your vocabulary. This is not a bad point because after all he only has so much time and he concentrates on the language formation. The only bad point is that he spends too much time on pronounciation.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST introduction to Spanish available today
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing Change from Most Language Courses
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: OK but could be a whole lot better
Review: I purchased this based on the reviews here. I was somewhat disappointed. This course goes very slowly and really does not cover much. It does teach you how to pronounce the words. But the same leason material is repeated over and over until it brought tears to my eyes.
The format is that the instructor is teaching 2 students how to speak Spanish, a boy and a girl. The boy is kind of slow and the instructor has to keep correcting him. This became rather tiring after the first 10 or 20 leasons.
Now learning to speak a language is only half the problem. You also must learn to understand the spoken words. This does not do a very good job training ones ear to understand the words because the sentences are short and spoken by the students who barely understand what they are saying and do not speak it with authority.
Rating:
Summary: Michel Thomas Spanish
Review: Lots and lots of review of spanish grammer with 2 "students", one a sharp girl, the other an effeminate dunce who will drive you crazy as you listen to his painfully slow responses to the instructor's questions. One can learn a lot of grammar and verb conjugation stuff from these tapes, but at the same time you will develop a strong sense of anger that you have had to endure that idiot student chosen by Michel Thomas. What was he thinking?
Rating:
Summary: This CD set is unbeatable!
Review: I read the reviews of others who said this course is so good that it's best not to just get the 2 CD course but instead go for the gusto and order the full-blown 8 CD course right from the start. I opted for the conservative route since I'd never heard of Michel Thomas before, and got the 2 CD set. It was xlnt so I then ordered this 8 CD course. Those other reviewers are right.
I can't imagine a better course in a foreign language. You become the 3rd student in the class, joining the other 2 on the CD. Mr. Thomas does a fabulous job in explaining what to say in Spanish. I'm now on the 6th CD and have much confidence in my ability to speak but realize there's a whole lot more to learn. If there were a more advanced 8 CD course for after this one, I'd buy it in a second. And Mr. Thomas is very patient. It's not until CD 5 that he gets ticked off at the slower student at one point but he gets over it fast and moves on. That was actually very funny. I thought Mr. Thomas' accent would be a detriment but it turned out not to be a problem at all. His spelling some of the words as you learn them is helpful. He sounds like a delightful gentleman.
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