StartSpanish.comReviews of startspanish.com

Interesting, varied, and sufficiently explanatory lessons from Beginner to Advanced. The teachers are articulate, friendly, and mostly quite brilliant, honestly. Engaging multi-media self-study lessons are available. Also lessons on vocab, conjugations, and other concepts which I haven't even gotten to you. Only thing I'd really love to see done differently for now is the focus on a particular concept more intensively, for a longer period of time. (i.e., "por" vs. "para" classes done for a week, instead of a lesson at a time then moving on to something else.) This would increase the value exponentially -- although it's been invaluable already in increasing my Spanish fluency.

I have studied Spanish for many years and I have tried many approaches in my quest to become fluent in Spanish. I have spent many hours doing exercises in grammer books and conjugating verbs. I have taken classes at universities and I have even done several summer immersion programs in Spain, México and Costa Rica which is a great experience but for most of us studying abroad is not always an option. Start Spanish is like a mini immersion. I go to Argentina everyday for an hour or two to converse with native speakers on every topic imaginable with out even having to leave my house. The teachers are all highly skilled and super friendly. I have been studying with them for a year now and I can't believe how much my conversational skills have improved. When ever I am in a situation where I can practice with native speakers they are always amazed at my ability to converse so fluently.

StartSpanish is an online company working out of Cordoba, Argentina. It offers live classes in Spanish every day of the week between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the weekend. Classes last roughly 45 minutes and are hosted by a qualified Spanish teacher. There are four levels: Beginner, Upper Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The teachers are top-notch. They are well-informed and sympathetic to difficulties language learners undergo. Short of immersing yourself in a Spanish-speaking country it is absolutely the best way to get a solid grip on Spanish. Prices vary, but a basic plan can cost you as little as $40 Canadian (about $30 U.S.). For that, you can take as many classes as you like per day and you have access to their database with lots of resources. To back up your live lessons a series of units give you a progressive course (complete with a cartoon family that you can follow as they go through various family crises). There is a daily writing exercise based on the live classes and private classes available if you want to pay a little extra. Group classes vary from one person (if you are lucky), to as high as nine, which is very rare, but it is too many. (One is ideal, two to four is excellent—and common, five to seven is not ideal—but you will run into this a few times a week if you are a regular, and over seven is too many—and rare.) The only way to avoid high classes is to duck out of them at the start and hope for better luck in another hour. There's even a Facebook-like section in which students and teachers can interact in a more relaxed fashion. It's a bit technologically clumsy, but it's fun to chat with others (in Spanish) outside of class. After a short while, you'll feel like you're part of a community with friendly teachers and fellow students. I am familiar with a many online language programs and for my money this one is hands down the best.

I am enjoying talking with teachers from Argentina during each course lesson I engage in...There is nothing better than talking with and listening to teachers and students in this program..All of it is practical and will increase your ability to speak, listen, and understand . From basic beginner to the more advanced student, this is by far the best program I have ever done. If you want to improve your skills in speaking and understanding Spanish you must sign up and get started.

I have been involved in Start Spanish for 6 months now and found it exceptional. The teachers are great and very easy to work with. There are always classes available for whatever level you need. My Spanish has improved greatly since starting this course. My only suggestion for improvement would be the option for the students to see each other. I am more than happy with this site and program.

The Start Spanish teachers are very helpful! Whether in the group classes, privates or writing exercises. In the group classes the content is varied and useful, for the most part the other students are fair and share the amount of time speaking and asking questions. I've been taking classes for over a year now, I really like that I can go back and look at the extensive notes written by the teachers from all of my classes.

Si quieres aprender una lengua, es mejor aprenderla con nativos en grupos pequenos a la hora que te gusta y en el nivel adecuado para ti. También tienes la oportunidad de escribir un texto después de cada clase para mejorar tu escritura. El feedback de la clase y también de la escritura me ayuda mucho mejorar mi espanol.

This is a great program. The only downside is that in the group classes, sometimes there are students who try to dominate the conversation and do not allow equal time to others. In general, the professors do their best to stop this from happening, but not always. It may help if there is some kind of general announcement or slide at the beginning of each class reminding students to be mindful that they do not monopolize the conversation.