Learn Spanish with Paul Noble for Beginners – Part 1

Spanish Made Easy with Your Personal Language Coach

By: Paul Noble

Narrated by: Paul Noble

Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Learn 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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Get Part 1-3 books, WARNING - do not buy part 4

Would you consider the audio edition of Collins Spanish with Paul Noble - Learn Spanish the Natural Way, Part 1 to be better than the print version?

This is part 1 which has a good chunk of material although he drones on a bit in the intro.

Bought all 4 books in the series, 1-3 were good and have 3-4 hours worth of material. Part 4 shocked me when it was only 19minutes and as such was a pure rippoff.

I've listened to the rest, this is the best!

Would you listen to Collins Spanish with Paul Noble - Learn Spanish the Natural Way, Part 1 again? Why?

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.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Collins Spanish with Paul Noble - Learn Spanish the Natural Way, Part 1?

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!

Better than the top rated audio spanish programs.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes - it finally made sense. I'm excited to learn again.

Any additional comments?

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.

Excellent Spanish Tutorial!!!!

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!

Way better than Rosetta Stone

I bought Rosetta Stone first, unfortunately. This book is so much better. I have learned how to speak and put together full sentences so much faster, almost instantly. Highly recommend. I hope there are more books like this one

so slow, learned nothing

so slow, I learned very little. very repetative. I would instead recommend you listen to the podcast called "light speed spanish" particularly the "light speed Spanish vocabulary" series. a MILLION time better. and free!

Brilliant approach!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

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!

Good But Not Excellent! – Lacks Personality & Memo

Any additional comments?

Clearly, Paul Noble has done a great service to those of us who need high quality Spanish instruction from a good English speaking instructor. He is gifted, intelligent, and structured.
Learn Spanish the Natural Way is a must buy.
However good, it is not the best out there. Many other programs like Pimsleur have a much better memory technique.
The overall best programs in any language that I have tried are by Language Audiobooks and a fellow named Mark Frobose who also created Behind the Wheel Spanish for Macmillan Audio. His best programs are the Power Spanish series in my opinion.
Buy Paul Noble, he is very good. But supplement with Frobose and Pimsleur for a well-rounded approach.

Naturally Prefer Frobose over Noble

Any additional comments?

The title “Learn Spanish the Natural Way” by Paul Noble is a bit misleading.
Here are my observations:
Thick English accent is a bit off-putting and rigid.
The long introduction put me to sleep.
Paul’s unenthusiastic low energy voice lulls me to daydreaming.
Noble’s 3 Ground Rules are too structured and not really natural at all.
Mark Frobose has a much more natural high energy, motivating approach to language teaching in clear, natural educated American English.
I’ve done his Behind the Wheel programs in several languages and now with Power Spanish, Real Spanish, and all the conversational Latin American Spanish programs he has created.
No comparison between these two teachers. Frobose is by far the winner.
Just listen to Power Spanish 1 sample and then to Paul Noble and you’ll hear what I mean.
A sample is worth a thousand words.

Copycat of Mark Frobose’s Power Spanish Accelerate

Any additional comments?

This program seems to be a poor imitation of my favorite all time Spanish course, Power Spanish Accelerated by Mark Frobose.
The voices on the Paul Noble program are not nearly as pleasant with Power Spanish and the actual learning that I experienced with Noble was pitiful in comparison to what I learned for the Power Spanish series by Frobose.
Still, for the price, you save a few bucks by buying the Noble program and you’ll still learn some Spanish

You will not believe this course

I honestly believed that I just did not have what it takes to learn a second language properly. Having tried several methods over the years - All I have ever picked up are a few useful phrases (Parrot fashion). After completing just part one of "Spanish with Paul Noble" I really feel that I am begining to understand the structure on the language as I have never been able to before - I am able to construct meaningful sentences as in a normal, everyday, conversation. My confidence that I shall actually learn another language has never been higher, Thank you so much

Excellent method, fast and confidence building

I selected this method of learning Spanish as traditional methods haven't worked for me, It's brilliant, I listen whilst walking my dog and so am able to invest plenty of time, really enjoyable, I started using my new language immedately.

Quite effective for learning a language

Having learned other languages the conventional way at school, I was interested to see how I would fare with this method. I'm happy to say that it works. Of course, there's only time for the very basics on this book, but it gives you a starting point, and gives you a bit of confidence. You'd probably enjoy practising what you've learned while on holiday, or chatting with your (bemused) family around the house . . . .

Well structured and easy to learn

I prefer to learn languages with face-to-face contact however I found Paul Noble's audio course is really helpful and easy to understand. It is well structured and clearly explained. It contains description of language peculiarities which helps to learn the language faster and acquire deeper understanding of it.

So Far So Good

Learning a new language has always been a new years resolution but one I have never been able to grasp hold of mainly due to not having enough time. This audio book has really been the answer for me. Whilst actively encouraged throughout the narrative not to make notes its great to listen to in the car and full of easy to understand hints and tips for grasping the language. The street cred I may have lost sat at traffic lights talking to myself (in spanish) I hope to redress once on my hols with my new found language skills. Highly reccomend and if like me not an academic person by nature an enjoyable way of learning. Gratias!

Absolutely amazing

Amazing.

I didn't know any Spanish.

I did all parts of the course (parts 1-3 and the course review), and now I'm very confident with where I am.

Makes it all so easy

Paul really has found an all new way of teaching a foreign language to novices like myself. Both myself and my daughter are enjoiying learning Spanish and with ease too. Thank you.

Highly recommended!

It's a good audio guidebook for beginners with no knowledge of Spanish. Paul uses very simple steps and creates an easy to follow train of thought to remember the sentence structures and Spanish words. I'm looking forward to download Part 2!

Renewed interest in Spanish

Tried many audio courses in the past but this is the best I have found.

Genius

I've tried listening to podcasts, using apps, and even Rosetta stones Spanish course, but none of them have come close to this in getting me to actually be able to speak Spanish in a functional way.

Paul noble is so good at teaching, he knows and predicts where you might go wrong and corrects your mistakes, almost like having a 1 on 1 session.

It will have you forming full sentences in just minutes, and explain how Spanish words have come into English and visa versa to give you a huge vocabulary instantly. To become fluent you have to purchase the other parts, but this is definitely the best place to start.