Reviews for Beginners Level: Spanish for Absolute Beginners

Great course! I started with no knowledge of Spanish and now feel like I can hold very basic conversations after only ten weeks of class.

This course is fantastic if you are looking for basically one on one tutoring. The instructor goes through each section basically just following all the homework provided and every single line of the textbook. She may use some graphics, but I personally need out of the textbook references and making conversations that are easy to remember. The instructor did the basic, but I’m looking for an instructor that really brings you in and tries to educate you on why it’s pronounced that way or helps you to memorize the topics. I forget things easily and always made shortcuts so I could remember, but as Professors do in a class of two people - I would be put on the spot and blank. I was hoping to find a learning community, but I think the most I found here was a resources textbook and someone to read it to me.

The course was excellent and fun!

This was a great course with Alejandro. I had studied Spanish years ago, but forgot most of what I'd learned. Alejandro is a great teacher- patient and fun with his lessons. I've already begun Spanish II!

I think Berges is great. I did not expect that, as I'm fairly skeptical about these things, but it was a really good experience, and the course materials were quite well organized and the quizzes were challenging. I look forward to the second level.

Berges offers a great way to learn, incorporating the basics of Spanish grammar with vocabulary so you understand how to put ideas and words together. The course took me from an absolute beginner to a beginner who can form both written and spoken sentences . . . haltingly for now, but way beyond what I could have imagined during my first class.

This course fell far below my expectations. Honestly, I'm surprised you even sent an eval form given when I discontinued coming to the course I sent a detailed email as to why, requested a conversation about continuing with private lessons instead, and never received any response from the school or instructor. First, the pedagogical methods used, from my understanding, are outdated in terms of approaches for adult language learners. My class, and I'm not kidding, consisted of a full hour of laboriously going over sentences assigned for homework, which few of the participants did, so we had to sit there and wait for the students to figure out the homework on the spot. Then maybe 30 minutes of actual instruction of new material. Moreover, we are ADULT LEARNERS. Calling on students without their consent, just calling out someone's name to give an answer, is insulting and does not take into account different learning styles or anxiety someone may feel speaking in front of others. It also means the entire class has to sit there while another *adult* who does not know the answer has to sit and sweat it out in front of the group. Not acceptable. I attended this class with my husband who is already fluent in three languages. We couldn't believe how not engaging it was. I can't believe we paid to primarily review homework sentences every week. One day we were sitting doing our homework together and my husband started yelling, "I'm not going to write a paragraph in the present tense using this vocabulary. I'm not doing it!" And we just decided to never go back. At that point, I looked for the instructors contact info but couldn't find it. So I wrote a very nice email to the school stating the class wasn't a good fit for us, but were potentially interested in private instruction with the teacher and never heard back. So that was that.

The course offered a way to immerse yourself into the fundamental grammar and vocabulary of Spanish and a great review after a long time. I look forward to continuing on to level 2.

This course was great! I've studied Spanish in the past but it's been a long time, and this was a great review. Silvana is a fantastic instructor, and was very encouraging in each class.

Great basics course to get a base knowledge of Spanish! A lot to learn but not too overwhelming.

Ms. Ordonez is a very lovely person and I am guessing she taught the class based on the requirements of Berges. The class each week was 1 and 1/2 hours. In that time, we spent half the time going over the homework from the week before. The other half of the class a lecture about the current information. There was no additional support other than the text book from Berges and frequently it was difficult to understand. I could have taught myself instead of taking the class considering the lack of information about various parts of how Spanish works. The college classes were cheaper and were more time for each lesson. I'm not sure who benefits from your classes.

The beginner course did an excellent job of introducing us to several fundamentals of the Spanish language. Our instructor was patient, but still did a good job of pushing us along the material. I am looking forward to the next level class.

it was not that helpful as a beginner.

Very clear and easy course materials to help you understand the language faster. Always happy with Berges!

This was a great course! I'd recommend Berges to anyone studying Spanish for the first time.

The course was great and went a good pace. I learned a lot and plan to continue onto the next level. Edgardo was an excellent teacher and I have recommended him to friends.

The class was well structured. I enjoyed learning spanish using the book. The book is easy to follow, and the homework questions could really help me memorize everything. I also like that there are a lot of interactions between students and the teacher. We got to practice our pronunciation a lot. I joined the class without any Spanish background, but I really felt I was picking up fast. English is my second language, I never thought I would learn a third language. But I had so much fun....This morning, I passed the beginner's test and I have purchased the level 2 class with the same instructor (Juan Carlos Alvarez). Can't wait to go to the next level.

I learned a lot during the class times, but the book and the online platform made it a bit difficult to learn. I had to find lots of outside resources to learn the content so I could participate in class.

An amazingly effective approach in my beginning to learn Spanish. I’d taken courses at college where I walked away retaining very little, or learning things that aren’t really used in daily Spanish conversations. This course however, was practical, fun and my professor was amazing!

I took Spanish in high school and college. It was the perfect refresher course for me.