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| Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Spanish (Michel Thomas Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Michel Thomas
Publisher: Hodder Arnold
Category: Book
List Price: £68.51
Buy New: £24.40
You Save: £44.11 (64%)
New (31) from £24.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  123 reviews
Sales Rank: 3151
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.5 x 3.2
ISBN: 0340938935
EAN: 9780340938935
ASIN: 0340938935
Publication Date: September 29, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT, FULLY SEALED, FROM THE OFFICIAL PUBLISHERS. DISPATCHED IMMEDIATELY VIA ROYAL MAIL. [YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE ADVANCED SPANISH COURSE BY MICHEL THOMAS].
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good for the timid, but the confident should try his advanced course instead April 14, 2007
30 out of 34 found this review helpful
Before you buy this, you need to ask yourself just two questions. Firstly, what are your language goals? If you are planning a two week holiday to a place where this language is spoken, then this product is not for you, and I would instead recommend something from the Teach Yourself "Instant" range. Secondly, what has your personal history in learning language been like? If you have been confident and successful in the past, then this is not for you. Instead this is aimed at a group of people who have had poor language learning experiences in the past AND who have a more broad and general interest in the language than holiday makers.
For this reason, Thomas stresses that there will be no writing or pens, and in the opening moments of the course reassures the listener that they should relax and allow him to worry about their learning. Thomas' accent is soft and almost grandfatherly, which only adds to the sensation of being relaxed and stress free. This easy going approach is the exact opposite of what most unsuccessful learners have had in the past, and hence its usefulness and appeal to them.
Thomas specialises in teaching the learner cute short cuts (e.g. English words which end in "tion" become Spanish if you replace the ending with "cion") that can be a real injection of confidence to the learner. Furthermore, within the first hour or so, you can construct sentences of relative complexity like "I would not be able to buy it because I don't need it". There are also good explanations of how verbs are conjugated and change, although this feature is at its best in his advanced course.
This format is also certainly not without its weaknesses. For starters, the fact this is aimed at more general learners means that they will probably want something more advanced than this rather pedestrian introduction. Secondly, the lack of a written component whilst marketed as a strength is actually a weakness for a general interest learner, who will almost certainly wish to read newspapers and books in the language, and alas an all audio course will not enable one to do this. Finally, the course is slightly too long, and will take you at least a few days to finish, which is a rather long time for what is in fact a rather modest reward in terms of linguistic ability at the end of it.
All in all, if you want phrases that will help you on holiday, save your money and by a Teach Yourself instant title instead. However, if you have a more deep and general interest in the language AND have a history of poor language learning experiences, than this might just be for you. More confident and successful learners of languages will find this too pedestrian, and are strongly advised to buy his Advanced course instead, which is significantly better and much cheaper. Also, it is shorter but more intense, thus giving "more bang for your buck" than this introductory course.
 A key to open the door to Spanish. March 29, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Forget writing, remembering or trying, this was a great way to pick up the structure and grammar of Spanish, quickly and easily. It does require that you not be distracted from listening too much, I had them on in the car, and that you can listen undisturbed for perhaps 30 minutes at a time. But, I found it an excellent way into the language. After using this course and the advanced course I now find that I can read the BBC's Spanish website quite easily and understand what is being said. And my spoken Spanish is benefitting because of it. A great set of CD's and an easy way to learn.
clever stuff February 22, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
During this very clever Spanish course, you become the third student in a simulated classroom situation. You need to pause the audio, join in and speak out loud. If you are not sure of an answer, you can listen to the other students, pause the audio, and then try your answer. As you become more confident, you can pause the audio, answer the question first, and then hear the students giving their answers. Either way, you get the proper answer from the teacher before the next question. I found that I needed to work through each of the eight discs several time before moving on to the next. The difference between this and other Spanish audio courses that I have taken, is that this is not learning by parrot fashion, but learning in small steps through understanding, and then building on what you have previously learned. The choice of students is sublime, one of them is a very intelligent young lady who is very quick on the uptake, and the other is a bit of a buffoon who struggles along a little. But this means that you will likely find yourself positioned somewhere between them in during the lessons, I don't think this is by accident. Very clever stuff.
Coming from a person with zero attention span February 8, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I thought this course was excellent. It is a unique way to learn a different language, and one that festers it in your brain without really thinking. I didn't see the Latin-American prenounciation as a problem, which I believe other reviewers mentioned, as I thought the course explained the differences throughout.
As in any other audio course the speakers become a little annoying, but I found it very easy to ignore this, and it didn't distract from the learning.
wow michel thomas January 10, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I started this as a beginner and I got the bug . It is interesting and an easy way to learn . You will want to continue after the course,the only fault it has is that you will also need to learn by writing it down but it is a very good easy way to start.
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