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Having reached what I would consider an intermediate level of knowledge of the Spanish language, which includes the typical beginner's vocabulary and grammar, plus a lot of verb tense and mode work, I realized my vocabulary was my weak point. So something like this seemed perfect. Unfortunately this is not so much a vocabulary course as it is a thorough review of the basics of Spanish. So the course is not useless, but I learned maybe 20 new words out of the whole 5 CD set.
I have taken Spanish courses at local colleges, traveled to Mexico, studied from books on my own, listened to various Spanish CD's while driving and other than being in the actual country, Michel Thomas' teaching method has been the best out there so far and makes the most sense. It gives you quicker ways to remember 100's of words and phrases without even having to memorize.
OK. If you don't already know that, you shouldn't be using a vocabulary builder. After much study, including Michel Thomas's programs, I bought this program to supplement my Spanish vocab. And I didn't learn all that much vocab from it. It helped my vocab a little bit. It's disappointing Michel Thomas is not in the program. Towards the end of the program she covered the difference between estar and ser.
Little things like that through the course annoyed me. To this purpose, it is. You should be using a basic course. The woman who runs it is, well, much more annoying than Michel Thomas. I didn't really understand the organization of the program either. But it's cheap. But I think there are better vocab sources out there.
This would be a very good vocab course if it weren't for the woman on the CD. Her Spanish accent (or lack thereof) is atrocious. She is not a very good example to follow, with her hard R's, and plosive dental consonants. She should have taken a diction class before recording these.
This is much more effective in encouraging recall than is the "parroting method," since the learner must retrieve the foreign words and phrases from memory from the cue in his/her own language. I also know French and have some experience with Italian and am now, in retirement, learning Spanish with the Michel Thomas method. I am an American who learned German as a foreign language and then taught the language at university level for thirty years, so I know soemthing about language instruction. My only disappointment with the Course is that the American "director" of the Vocabulary Builder, while her tone is very friendly and encouraging to the student, has one "problem" in Spanish pronunciation, though this is partially compensated for by the two native speakers of Spanish, one from Latin America and one from Spain, who pronounce the Spanish words and phrases in turn. The Thomas method goes directly to the essentials needed for communication, emphasizing similarities and differences between the "target language" and the learner's native tongue (in this case, English) and reinforcing structural points and vocabulary elements for retention. In contrast to other "teach yourself methods," Thomnas gives English cues to initiate resonse in the "target language," rather than giving phrases in the new language that the learner is asked to repeat. To be specific, the American doesn't seem to hear the difference between the English word "day," with its strong diphthong, and the Spanish "de." The same is true for the difference between the English word "say," and the Spanish "se." Aside from that, I recommend the course enthusiastically to anyone desiring a quick and direct path to spoken Spanish. John Louis Miller
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