Customer Reviews

Total Spanish with the Michel Thomas Method (Michel Thomas Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I already speak French, so felt confident that I could pick up another language without too many stumbling blocks. This is brilliant for busy people who want to learn a language whilst on the move - ideal for listening to in the car or commuting. The idea is that you listen, then repeat, to engage with the language and learn by example. The CDs progress from basic conversational Spanish, increasing in vocabulary and structure over time.

Although it says it's for beginners to intermediate, I'm no certain it would be suitable for absolute beginners. Sometimes the pace progressed quickly, and assumed some prior knowledge. That said, I had not learned any Spanish before this and I found it OK (but had to pause/rewind a time or two).

There's a handbook which lists the CD contents and key vocabulary at each stage, which is useful. The interactive exercises, as you work through the CDs, are helpful in making sure you've understood/remembered.

It's probably at the top end of the price range for audio foreign language courses but it's still good value, if you stick with it. I certainly prefer this to other methods. Like everything, it just takes perseverance to get the full benefit.

I used the Michel Thomas Method when I started learning Spanish a few years ago and found it very useful in taking a completely different approach to learning a language that complimented the lessons I had every week and helped me to pick up Spanish much more quickly.

This pack is great, as it includes a lot of lessons which will really get you off to a great start with your Spanish using Michel Thomas' slightly unusual but common sense way of learning.

One thing to mention is that now I know more about the Spanish language I have issues regarding the teaching and the use of the formal "usted" form instead of the less formal "tu" form of the verb, but as it's not actually incorrect I don't think it's a problem for beginners, and is somethign you would self correct as you develop a greater understanding of the language.

I would recommend this pack to anyone who is learning Spanish and wants to pick things up quickly through a very differnet approach. Michel Thomas, a very clever man!

This is an excellent product and brilliant for anyone learning Spanish. Thomas is an excellent teacher and I think my pronunciation is improving much quicker through the use of this.

I thought that I would never be able to learn a foreign language, but this course has proven me wrong. The method is brilliant and effective and I would unreservedly recommend this course.

I bought this set for my son for his Christmas. He is keen to learn Spanish and he has already used the Michel Thomas method to learn German. As far as I know, he thinks it is great.

I bought this expecting to be able to stick it into the car CD and learn as I drive... silly me. If you want to learn a language you really do need to allocate some time to it, and concentrate properly.

I do think that the methods here make it easier, although sometimes I wanted the pace to speed up a bit, but thats just me being impatient.

I would certainly recommend this course, as it is actually quite easy to follow and you will pick words and phrases up quite quickly.

Overall a good language package.

Thoroughly enjoying MTM. Michael is fun and encouraging to listen to. After working through 3 CSs, I already feel confidently on the route to speaking and can't wait to try it out on my trip to Mexico.

Michel Thomas is a great way to build instant confidence for speaking and building languages. Its good for people who find books dry or want a little more interactivity whilst learning. Michel Thomas demonstrates how quickly words can be learnt and grammar understanding built, so you can instantly construct sentences. Vocabulary is built through showing commonality with English and basic memory techniques. I think it is a great way to kick-start a process of language learning. However, it is not a comprehensive course, further study will be needed to have sufficient understanding and vocabulary to converse, rather than just communicate in a basic way. Grammar is introduced, but not fully explained, so it is only a start. Having said that, its a good short course and much better than learning stock phrases. Personally, I like a bit of technical grammar and traditional techniques of rote learning and repetition. Even so, I still found this a good complimentary product. It is completely audio too, so great for hands-free learning. I can see why some people found it annoying listening to the students same mistakes over and over again. Also, some people find repetitively hearing these means they learn the mistakes! Michel's strong accent can also put people off. I only found these minor irritations and would still recommend it.

I like this as Michel Thomas has a good learning technique and I think that it really works. I do rate this quite highly as I found that it has helped me with learning spanish using this as secondary learning practice. I undertook an Open University course last year and feel that this helped me to gain extra vocabulary and pickup the correct pronunciation, especially as i have no previous Spanish experience. However I do have some comments that may sway you. Michel is not a native speaker of Spanish, and that makes a really big difference. Although this is a good product, if he was a native speaker it would be brilliant. One other thing is that I think that its more for Latin American Spanish as opposed to peninsular spanish which is what i am learning. (There are pronunciation differences, and some words are different etc). However this doesn't really detract too much from the product at all and I am very pleased with it and am seriously considering getting Perfect course that follows on from this.
If you want to try Spanish and see if its for you the i would recommend one of Michel's courses.

As a beginner I found this product a very useful effective way to learn the basics of spanish ahead of a trip I was going to take. I had a about a month to learn what I could. On the positive side I managed to make simple conversations, however did struggle to understand some responses from people. I am told the Spanish taught is more South American style.

Overall I know can speak some spanish! so I can confirm the product does work, and as long as I can practice with people I should remember everything long terms.