Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish, Lesson 1

By: Michel Thomas

Narrated by: Michel Thomas

Length: 1 hr and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

In lesson 1 of the Spanish Beginner course, you'll learn how to make simple statements and ask questions with…- pronunciation of Spanish sounds and difference between Castilian Spanish and Spanish spoken everywhere else - similarities between Spanish and English; words ending in ible, able, ent, ant, ary, ence, ance, ion: 'possible', 'probable', 'different', 'important', 'necessary', 'difference', 'importance', 'opinion', 'condition', etc.- 'it is' and 'it is not'- prepositions 'for', 'with', 'at/to'- pronouns: 'me', 'you', 'I', 'it', 'something'- questions: inflection and question words 'why?', 'what?', 'where?'- linking words: 'because', 'but', 'and'- phrases: 'like that', 'I'm hungry'- social communication: 'I'm sorry, but…'- adjectives and adverbs: 'very', 'good'- stress in Spanish words- verbs: 'I feel (= 'I'm sorry'), 'I have', 'I want', 'I need', 'you have', 'to know', 'I can', 'you can', 'to do/make', 'to eat', 'to see', 'to dine'- using the present tense: verb endings show who is doing the action; pronouns needed only for emphasis or clarification- time expressions: 'now', 'tonight'- nouns: 'hunger' ('I have hunger' = 'I am hungry'), 'man', 'dinner'- position of pronoun with whole verb (the 'to' form)- the whole verb (the 'to' form) used after preceding verb- articles: 'a', 'the'In the next lesson you'll learn about stress, gender and plurals, and how to use adjectives with nouns.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2013 Michel Thomas (P)2013 Hodder & Stoughton

Buy Intro Beg Span by Michel Thomas: Covers 1 & 2

Where does Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish, Lesson 1 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I like this but it is the same as the first half of the introduction course. The second half is lesson 2. Save your money and just buy the introduction.

What other book might you compare Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish, Lesson 1 to and why?

Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish is like Pimlseur Approach but with much less repetition. Michel Thomas gives a more logical reasoning of how to speak and think in Spanish.

Have you listened to any of Michel Thomas’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. I have listened to the introduction of Michele Thomas. Is the same as Lesson 1 and 2. Buy the Introduction series to save money,

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

It made me happy that I found an interesting approach to learning Spanish. It is much better than just memorizing a bunch of words. He helps you form sentences through a list of frequently used words in our language we use daily.

Great way to learn Spanish!

Fantastic learning method! One tip - much better at speed 1.25. Regular speed is too slow.

Best method I have found to learn Spanish

Common sense approach to learning, no memorization required. Draws parallels between English and Spanish words which helps you learn faster.

Quick to remember

Easy and enjoyable to listen to. Makes sense when he builds onto a base phrase.

Excellent! I could kiss Michel.

Excellent! I could kiss Michel. He makes learning so easy! I needed help with grammar and sentence structure but I refuse to learn grammar rules because they are unnatural. Michel teaches it in a natural why. I found myself saying the sentences without even trying.

Excellent!

I have had 28 thirty minute Pimsler Spanish lessons. This was my first Michel Thomas lesson and I loved it. A much better method!

only way to learn

A great way to pick up a language the guy in it is a little slow and makes it hard but the chick is smart

Fun to do. this was easy to understand.

I found myself smiling and learning pretty fast. Will recommend to any friends who want to learn a language.

So cool!

So cool! I'm speaking Spanish! I did write it out as I went (against his recommendation), but I found it helped me a lot with being a visual learner. If you're a visual learner, I totally recommended writing out the sentences he wants you to translate (they can be long! -and the new words to see them), and be sure to pause a lot so you can figure out the sentences in your mind! This learning method is phenomenal ❤️

Excellent!

I learned more in this one lesson, than I did in 2 weeks using Rosetta Stone. You're forming complete sentences in Spanish in the first 5 minutes.

Introductory recording contains lesson 1-2

Would you listen to Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish, Lesson 1 again? Why?

These lessons are great. The Michel Thomas Spanish Introductory course recording contains lesson 1 and 2. So....Buy introductory lesson, then lesson 3,4,5,6,7. I bought lesson 1 and 2 and was a bit miffed to find I already had them in the Introductory course!

Good but very expensive in this form

What made the experience of listening to Michel Thomas Beginner Spanish, Lesson 1 the most enjoyable?

Starting to learn any language with the Michel Thomas method is great. I started with German and I'm currently working my way through Arabic, Spanish, and Mandarin.

However purchasing from Audible is the most expensive method and on top of that you can't lend them to anyone else. My recommendation would be to buy the CD's, rip them into iTunes and convert them to audiobook format so that you get to keep your place as you progress.

Unsure

I was excited about this at first. It’s good to be learning in a way that makes you think for yourself, and I like the vocabulary he prioritises. Also it makes so much sense to start with words that are basically the same in English.
But there’s no opportunity to hear an actual Spanish accent, and their accent s are dreadful. There seems to be no opportunity to practice listening, although maybe that comes along later. After the first 10 mins, the beep that gives you chance to get your own answer together disappears. The students on the recording seem to have access to vocabulary that he hasn’t yet taught, which is confusing. I’m going to stick with it a bit longer, as I like the mental exercise. But I don’t know how long. Having no real accent to copy is really uncomfortable for me.

Decent method, poor quality recording

Michel Thomas' method works, that's a fact. However, the way in which this has been recorded makes it difficult to listen to. The giggles and the pronunciation battles that his two students are encountering don't necessarily make for an enjoyable listen. Compare this to Paul Noble's course and the production quality isn't comparable.

Poor quality recording, BEEEEEEP!!!!!

It's a shame as the content appears to be good, the format appears good, but the quality is so poor I struggle to make out what is said. This coupled with the extremely loud BEEEEP!!!! Makes it strenuous listening. I bought this to listen to whilst winding down. That won't happen! Such a shame.

Terrible diction

The method is good, but the book was narrated terrible. It takes a lot of effort to listen it. It looks like a recorded private lesson. I don't understand why we have to listen to the tormented answers and bad pronunciation of two students instead of native speakers, as in Paul Noble's books.

Very poor quality audio

Just downloaded this book. I am very disappointed. The introduction is crystal clear, then when Michel himself begins his lesson, it's as though he has a mouthful of bread, whilst at the same time talking through his handkerchief. It is barely possible to understand the English dialogue, let alone attempt to learn and make sense of a new language.
Not recommended. Waste of money.

Excellent.

Such a relaxed way to learn. Just speak. No need to memorise. The accompanying PDF is very useful too.

Great method.

Easy to follow and it builds on your learning. Definitely worthwhile using this method. Thanks

Great intro to confidently speaking Spanish

Great intro to confidently speaking Spanish. Just listen and join in with the 2 students.