Total Spanish Foundation Course: Learn Spanish with the Michel Thomas Method 1st Edition

I used this almost exclusively in my car so I couldn't always concentrate fully and had to go through each CD 3-4 times. Nevertheless, it was relatively effortless and I completed the set in about six weeks. It will give you a basic grasp of key concepts, verb conjugations (present, imperative, future and past) and other useful basics. The focus is on the basic framework of the language so lessons use the same set of verbs over and over. This makes it easier to grasp the concepts, but leaves you with a limited vocabulary. Yes, some aspects are a bit tiresome including some very long explanations of things and some overly exaggerated pronunciation, but there is no perfect method. I actually found Michel's thick Polish accent endearing. Priority for me was ease of use while driving and this fits that bill pretty well. I've already ordered the next set (Perfect Spanish).BTW, there are 7 CD's in the set, so they'll keep you busy for while.

I bought this CD set because I don't have enough time to take a Spanish class before my upcoming trip to Spain. I took one semester of Spanish in college and this would be a perfect review course for me. I really like this unique method of gradual building of longer sentence, in a "class" format with other students. It took such a short time to master this that I have just purchased another CD set for the next level. BTW, I've also tried Michel Thomas method for Italian before my trip to Italy, and it was helpful, too!

This is a great course for learning Spanish. You learn a lot of verb tenses. You learn some tricks for guessing words. You also work with lo, le, te, me & se which was really helpful. I'm excited to do the other sets but I'm torn as to whether I should repeat all of Total first or do the other courses and then repeat the whole set a few times. You learn A LOT and every time he teaches a new verb tense I would think to myself I'm going to have to listen to this a few more times to really get it down.I did a half a disc a day (or 5 tracks if it was a really long disc) which took 17 days. With Perfect being about the same amount of discs and Masterclass and Vocabulary Builder being only 2 discs each I expect to be done with the first time through the whole course in only a couple months. I'm really impressed with how much Spanish you can learn from this set in about 2 months, less if you do one disc a day instead of a 1/2 a disc.Because you're supposed to pause and think about your answer I personally wouldn't recommend this set for people who like to learn on their commute. Or I would at least recommend you go all they way through the set at home once, then repeat the course a few times in your car. I also want to add yes Michel has a thick Polish accent but I got used to it pretty quickly.

First, this is by far the best price I found! I decided a little bit ago that I would become fluent in Spanish by the end of the year and I could not recommend a better starting point! Do not spend all that crazy money on Rosetta, I've tried it and while it is ok at best, it is not worth the money at all. Michel Thomas' method is fantastic. The male student is a little annoying and by the third CD I felt like strangling him lol. Other then that it's fantastic and I have learned a lot! I plan to finish this series and then move on to suggestions from Benny (fluentInThreeMonths.com) and Tim Farris. Definitely use Michel Thomas' Total Spanish as a starting point for beginners. Either that or you can download the app and get all of the discs through the app. FYI, while this is cheap here, it was purchased from a company in England I believe and it took a few weeks to receive it. So, if you're looking for something quicker try his app. It may even be cheaper through the app.

Very happy with this. Yes, there are other "students" learning and speaking on the discs, but it makes it feel more like a classroom setting-which I like. It also boosts your ego when they get it wrong and you don't. Michel is a great teacher. He starts with the similarities between the languages and moves on to harder things, all the while reviewing what he's taught you along the way. It's a very natural way to learn, like when you teach a baby to speak. My high school Spanish was the complete opposite, starting out with the differences between the languages, the hardest parts, and then moving on to the easier stuff. I like Michel's way much better. I am burning through these discs, and I've learned things I was never taught in school!

This is the best learn to speak spanish tool I have used. I listen to the CDs in the car to and from work and am starting to pick up a lot more words in a shorter space of time than what I did with other spanish apps. Very happy with purchase.

I have background in Neuoro-linguistics and for many years have also tried (traditionally) to learn Spanish, and done .. just OK. Which means; I understand some simple three and four word combinations but mostly it means I know a bunch of "rules" in my head that I can't apply fast enough when it comes time to speak Spanish in a real world situation. Even worse, I don't have a hope of understanding a Spanish speakers response .. if and when I do string enough words together to say something semi comprehensible.But some how the Thomas Method, although giving the appearance of teaching traditionally .. seems to be "installing" the language straight into my head. It just seems to be available for me to use.At the start he admonishes the listener to not "study" the material. Not to review the material. Don't work on it in any way, other than when listening to the recordings. Some how it works, the words are just "there" ready to make sensible conversation.And it certainly can't be said that it is in any way 'dumbed-down" . I have tried (like most people trying to learn a language) dozens of books, courses, audio programs .. and the MTMethod by far, teaches the most complex and lengthy use of the language I have experienced (word phrases of a dozen or more words at a time). But it comes more easily than I have ever experienced too.I'm sure there are lots of fancy psychological reasons this works but the main thing to know is .. It Just Seems to Work.I'm doing the "Total" program now and will continue straight into the "Perfect" course as soon as I'm done in a few days.

Michel Thomas lebt ja leider nicht mehr. Aber sein Kurs und sein System leben weiter. Und das ist gut so! Ich bin extremst beeindruckt.Ich habe mir innerhalb einer Woche beim Walken und bei längeren Autofahrten den Total Spanish Kurs angehört, also gehört und mitgemacht. Das ist wichtig. Und nach einer Woche spreche ich gutes Spanisch. Unglaublich. Ich kann das selbst kaum fassen. Der Mann und seine Assistentin schaffen es, dass man am Ende des Kurses inklusive Vokabeltraining locker spanisch spricht. Das ging jedenfalls mir so.Der Kurs schafft Assoziationen, Bezüge beim Lernen, die einfach sitzen. Ich staune über mich selbst. Nach einer Woche formuliere ich komplexe Sätze, habe das Gefühl, mich auf Spanisch ausdrücken zu können und auf ein riesiges Vokabular zurück greifen zu können.ALLERDINGS! Der Kurs ist komplett in Englisch. Also, wer kein Englisch kann, der kann diesen Kurs nicht nutzen. Definitiv nicht. Voraussetzung ist, dass man gutes Englisch kann. Aber dann kommt einem dieser Kurs wie eine Erleuchtung vor. Innerhalb von 12 Hör-Stunden sprechen Sie Spanisch. Definitiv!Viel Erfolg.

Having decided, a little over two years ago, and fairly late in life, to try to learn Spanish, I started buying self tuition courses, text books, dictionaries, phrase books - the works basically. Luckily my blind trawl of instructional material also brought in, totally by chance, the Michel Thomas 8 CD course.Initially it was very difficult for a total novice to rate specific methods of instruction or individual courses, but as time went by some things became clear to me. Such as:1> To the average person (to me for certain) learning another language is NOT EASY!!2> Too many of the teaching products available, perhaps all, (even Michel Thomas) come with promises of early / instant / painless success. Such claims are obviously designed to encourage us to buy the product. Such is the way of marketing. Such claims are used to sell everything from special golf clubs which will bring you into single figures within a month to aftershave guaranteed to, well ..... .We know this stuff is all NONSENSE (don't we?).3> These ridiculously optimistic claims attaching to most language instructional products have the effect of building up in us unreasonable expectations of early proficiency. The truth is that, for the vast majority of us, the forecasted early proficiency IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.4> Because of these unachievable expectations, what is likely to happen is that in the absence of the anticipated progress we will become hugely disappointed in ourselves. We will lose confidence. We will feel that we are incapable. The book, tape, CD, DVD promised us success in three months. And after perhaps 6 months of fairly diligent work we are not very far advanced at all. We are very likely to feel things like "I can't do this. I must be a fool. I must be unable to learn a new language. There is no point in continuing. I'm giving up".My advice is to BEWARE OF THAT REACTION, because ...5> You certainly ARE ABLE to learn a new language - but it's NOT EASY. Think in terms of "years" instead of "months" and think "hobby" instead of "study"; think "enjoyment" instead of "work" and think of the new friends you will make along the way, including Spanish guys and gals who are finding English equally as difficult to become halfway fluent in as we are finding Spanish.So, DO NOT GIVE UP. It will happen. But not as fast as they have all told you.6> If, in my early Spanish days, I had not happened on the Michel Thomas course I think that it is very likely that I would have given up in despair. It is true that almost any tuition course or book, CD, or DVD which aims to teach Spanish is bound to contribute something to one's knowledge. But I can report that some of these products are INCREDIBLY poor, and in varying degrees are inaccessible, dull, illogical, unnecessarily difficult, misleading and self-contradictory. Some are better than others and I acknowledge that I have not tried all the products on the market. There may indeed be some very good ones available. But, in my opinion, the general standard is not high.7> Michel Thomas' teaching method is, in my opinion, LIGHT YEARS ahead of any other that I have encountered. Its superiority is to be found not just in the excellent and enjoyable method that he uses (you become the third student in a virtual class) but even more importantly in the course content. This content opens the door to your use of the language. As Michel Thomas describes it, it gives us the tools with which we can build the language. It is no idle claim. Trust me. If you want to learn Spanish this is where you should start. If you have already started and are finding things tough you should still go here, or to one of his other two more advanced courses mentioned below.8> But remember this. For almost everybody, it is NOT easy to learn a new language. So when progress comes slowly don't get discouraged. Listen to one Michel Thomas disc every day for 6 months. And do the basics besides - learn the Spanish alphabet and how to pronounce each letter; learn the days of the week; the months; learn how to count to a thousand, how to tell the time and other basic stuff that will occur to you along the way, none of which is covered by Michel Thomas (and that's not a criticism - he is about different things).When you can get through this course without pressing the pause button very often, and with few mistakes, then you should buy the Michel Thomas Language Builder. And when you have mastered that - surprisingly quickly you will find, in perhaps 1 or 2 months - move on to the Michel Thomas Advanced Spanish, in my opinion another wonderful tuitional course.Highly recommended. Buy and enjoy. And..... Que tengas suerte.

Excellent to step into Spanish.It shows the relation between Spanish and English.I started to make sentences from the beginning of the CD.Michel Thomas and his 2 students make a classroom to follow and repeat sentences.