Collins Spanish with Paul Noble combines an exciting, new, non-traditional approach to language learning with the easy, relaxed appeal of an audio-only product. No books. No rote memorisation. No chance of failure.
Paul Noble is a genius with a higher IQ than Einstein. Despite this, he still struggled with language learning at school. He found himself feeling 'confused, incapable, and unable to really say anything'. As a result of his negative early experiences, Paul has come up with a ground-breaking new method of language teaching that removes the need for months of studying. With Paul Noble, everyone really can speak a language.
Part 1 of the course covers:
Two native-speaking Spanish experts help Paul to deliver the course and to perfect your pronunciation. No complicated grammatical explanations, no rote memorisation, no writing - no stress. Learn over 6,000 words in no time at all and - most importantly - learn how to make your new vocabulary work for you. (Use the accompanying booklet as a reference and revision tool.)
I've been listening to Pimsleur and Spanish Like Crazy for well over a year now, for 3+ hours per day. It's left me feeling pretty stupid, since I still cannot understand a whole sentence of Spanish from the radio (well, maybe except "ESPN Desportes Radio - todos desportes todos in Espanol..."). I always graduated with honors, and am generally a fast learner - including straight A's in 2 years of basic high school spanish. But re-learning Spanish via audiotapes has been just frustrating, and made me feel like I've gotten stupider in old age. To be fair, I just started listening to this new system today. But already I've learned more words than I've learned in the other programs (I'm almost finished with Pimsleur level 3). Because this guy actually TEACHES you something, rather than just throwing words at you and asking you to endlessly repeat sentences. He uses memory cues when available (which are a PROVEN way for people to remember so much more than memorization) as well as words everybody already knows, spells things when appropriate, explains things in a way that makes them easy to remember, and gives detailed tips that you can apply to whole groups of words you haven't even learned yet. This makes so much more sense to my brain.And he takes off all the pressure, going at a much more reasonable pace then I've experienced before. Although I do wish he'd make an "extra stupid" version that was the exact same system but with longer pauses for those of us who are a little slower to answer questions.This program was exactly what I was looking for back when I started. I so wish I had found this first! It's a tiny fraction of the price of the other programs.My problems with this program so far are:1. On my android with headphones I have it turned up all the way, and it's hard to hear. I wish it were a couple notches louder. I don't have this problem with the others.2. The guy appears to be from the U.K. He has a strong accent, and uses English terms I'm not familiar with. But he does say "or blah-blah if you are an American". I actually kind of like this better than the guys with the spanish accents personally. I feel like I hear the differences better.3. I haven't done the math, but I assume this program is shorter than Pimsleur just by looking at the number of hours of the recordings. It's still day one, and I'm 1/2 way through chapter 2 already. There are only 4 chapters in level one. Pimsleur is 3+ levels, 30 minutes per lesson, 30 lessons per tape. So also in all my guess is Pimsleur covers more by the end. I just glanced at the PDF, and I can tell that will be very helpful also. Nicely formatted, to the point, and great tips so far.All in all I'm very pleasantly surprised. I think I CAN do this!!! It will still take some time (learning a language takes dedication for years - that's just the way it is), but it's not so hard.
Let me compare this course to Pimsleur, since that is the other well reviewed course out there. Pimsleur is good, first of all. You will learn basic Spanish with it. this is why Collins is soooo much better.
1. Collins is cheaper.
2. You learn about 20 times the vocabulary that you do with Pimsleur. I am not joking. Collins uses a very similar method as Pimsleur, but I swear to you they have taken Pimsleur and VASTLY improved upon it. I testify to this based on the experience of 7 people I know who have tried and used both. Count this as 7 reviews.
3. Collins Teaches you more things you can really use. Did you know that words that end in "ion" in English are basically all identical in Spanish? Now you've just learned about 1000 spanish words. Collins teaches you absolutely incredible language learning tricks like this. PIMSLEUR DOESN'T.
I could go on and on.
4. Collings teaches you both Spain and Latin American Spanish at the same time, easily, and without any sweat at all. Pimsleur doesn't. You might think you won't use Spain spanish, but you will need it if you progress at all, because most books use it. Trust me.
I could go on and on about how Collins is better. It is absolutely incredible in every way. I am using it along with Instant Immersion Spanish to teach Spanish to my kids. I would NEVER go back to Pimsleur again. It was a waste of money. thank you, Paul Collins, for the gift you have given us!
As Paul Noble himself once suffered, so I too have suffered through Spanish lessons before, all to no avail. I found this Spanish course to be vastly different, however, and a great way to break out of the conjugated-verbs-and-memorized-vocabulary Spanish of my past. Paul does a great job of making the lessons more conversational and intuitive, making them easier to remember. I'm usually a very visual learner, but I found this all-audio version to be a great way to beef up my listening and speaking skills. I will note, however, that for anyone looking to really learn Spanish (and not just use it on vacation or conversationally), you will need some kind of text companion to help with things like grammar rules, spelling, and other not-so-fun items. That being said, this is a fantastic audiobook for anyone looking to break out of their beginner Spanish lessons!
"Easy and efficient"
The Paul Noble series is perfect for getting a good base/refresher course in Spanish before moving on to more advanced courses.
I listened to all the parts : 1, 2, 3 and 4. Then moved directly to Pimsleur, spanish phase 4... but I might have an advantage because I have been to Mexico for almost a year as a child so although my spanish was quite rusty, I still had a nice base. I just needed to brush it up a little.
I like that there is no music, no 'trying' to entertain with phoney conversations. Just basic, right to the point spanish!
I've read probably a dozen books / audiobooks trying to learn Spanish on my own. I'd developed a lot of vocabulary, but still couldn't SPEAK!
This is by far one of my favorite Spanish instruction products ever (more so than Rosetta Stone and all the rest) because somehow, without writing notes, or struggling with memorization, Paul Noble's book gave me the confidence to "create" my own vocabulary using simple, easy-to-remember rules and sentence structures. Now I can more easily figure out who's talking, and who they're talking ABOUT!
He does a lot of repetition, but not TOO much to where it gets boring.
Hi voice is pleasant, and smooth and his jokes are just dorky enough to be memorable.
By introducing a simple past tense verb (I have, you have, etc), a present tense verb (I can, you can...) and a future tense verb (I am going to, etc.), the task of learning is GREATLY simplified. The approach avoids the difficulties of having to learn dozens of conjugations of every verb one by one. Meanwhile, Collins helps the English speaker identify Latin rooted words in English and that are easily converted into Spanish with a few simple rules. The combination of these two techniques results in a fairly broad ability to communicate quickly for a beginner. By using many various examples that a traveler would run into, the listener is quickly prepared for many tourist type communication situations. Paul Noble is pleasant to listen to and easy to learn from. The male and female repetition of each word or phrase makes it easy to hear. GREAT lesson!
"Excellent way to learn (or re-learn) Spanish!"
I've been trying to re-learn Spanish and came across this audio book. It's hands down the best learning tool I've come across! Paul has an interesting method of teaching Spanish that isn't boring and allows you to use your English skills to learn how to communicate. Brilliant!
"Great learning tool"
Found the narrators pleasant. The phrases were both useful and unusual for an entry level course. Overall, had great pacing - I hardly ever felt rushed when constructing sentences. Words and phrases built on each other nicely. A fun, practical way to learn!
"Excellent way to learn basics"
I like the way this book is laid out. You learn in small increments, but always review what you've already learned throughout the program. This helps you remember what you've learned and utilize it in many different ways. I also appreciate that they have both a Latin American and Spaniard doing the translations so you can hear the differences! I purchased the second audio book, so looking forward to learning more!
"Easiest way to learn Spanish"
I loved it I learned how to speak Spanish while walking my dog! I practice at my work and people cannot believe my progress I can't believe my progress! I plan on buying the remainder of the series.