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Spanish classes - Page 2

Boca J

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:02pm

Posts: 75

26 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 30 Jun 2020

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:02pm

Roberto30710 wrote on Wed Oct 20, 2021 12:26pm:

€6 per lesson, payable at end of the lesson. If you are away, you get the same lesson as a streaming video, as well as class notes, which is very convenient and most people revise the lesson as homework, using that. So at the end of the first year, you have a fully written set of course note an...

...d longing access to the videos, plus James answers his students individual queries by email or before the class starts each week,

The catch is his classes are very popular, the next class starting Tuesday 1:45pm next week was fully booked out a month ago. His next classes start in January, I think there will be two different times, as yet undecided, but if you go to his website you can register interest and you will be advised next month I imagine. 

James says his course is for beginners, he does not do level A2 or above.

Roberto30710

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:38pm

Roberto30710

Helpful member

Posts: 411

362 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 28 Nov 2018

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:38pm

The classroom core course takes a year for beginners, with an hour a week. The same online 50 lesson core course has been done in three weeks at 17 lessons a week by hardworking intermediates, certainly in two months, with credits for any lesson in which nothing is learned, then with a full understanding of the language structure, something not thoughtfully taught to many, students starts the online or in class spoken Spanish lessons. These get seriously challenging. 

Dom

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:01am

Dom

Posts: 28

16 helpful points

Joined: 6 Jul 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:01am

Roberto30710 wrote on Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:38pm:

The classroom core course takes a year for beginners, with an hour a week. The same online 50 lesson core course has been done in three weeks at 17 lessons a week by hardworking intermediates, certainly in two months, with credits for any lesson in which nothing is learned, then with a full under...

...standing of the language structure, something not thoughtfully taught to many, students starts the online or in class spoken Spanish lessons. These get seriously challenging. 

Agree completely with Roberto on this one. I am also one of James’ students, completed lesson 50 last week. First week of year 2 (spoken only) this week - eek! I have taken one of the other classes mentioned & there is really no comparison to James classes. It depends really, if in your heart you know you just want to be able to speak enough Spanish to get by in a restaurant & meet a few people for a coffee each week, those other classes will suit you. If you have a genuine desire to progress & learn to talk & more importantly be able to interact in Spanish you should go with James. It is a 3 year commitment, so no small undertaking! James lessons are way above the others I have attended. I think you learn so much more per lesson. Often 30-35 mins of the other lessons were spent covering other people homework, a couple waste of time IMO. James’ classes are more like a lecture, you won’t have much time to talk amongst the class, you’ll be too busy learning. The only drawbacks with James are his awfully un PC sense of humour, his Arnold Schwarzenegger obsession & the silly colour of his adored M3. Although it sounds quite heavyweight, James will undoubtedly make you laugh (& maybe cringe at times, he loves to push the boundaries a tad), but thoroughly recommend if you are committed to be able to really engage with the locals.

Boca J

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:19am

Posts: 75

26 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 30 Jun 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:19am

The problem is James only accepts people who want to learn from zero. I know basic Spanish and want to join intermediate class, but James does not accept.

Dom

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:53am

Dom

Posts: 28

16 helpful points

Joined: 6 Jul 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:53am

Boca J wrote on Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:19am:

The problem is James only accepts people who want to learn from zero. I know basic Spanish and want to join intermediate class, but James does not accept.

This is because James has a specific method of teaching, he has refined his course over so many years and it builds week on week. Its not that he is taking you from zero, it is that he is teaching you from 'his' zero, that's why it is so structured and successful. I took a course in the UK at night school, I also did 6 months of lessons with one of the other people suggested to you, additionally, my wife is 100% fluent in Spanish, so I had 'basic' Spanish like you. One thing James does NOT do is cover ANYTHING on numbers, colours, days of the week etc. He takes this that anyone who is serious about learning Spanish will already know this stuff and if they don't, they can't be serious about learning the language. There is a guy in my class whose wife is Spanish and he is/was initially much better than most in the class. He asks more questions than anyone else in the class and is able to get a great deal from it like myself. Lastly, I would add that EVERY person in my class states that James is by far the best Spanish teacher they have ever had. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox, I dont even like James that much, haha! I am only offering my advice (like Roberto) as I have been in your shoes and wasted time beforehand. I am not often in a position to offer good advice, but here I am (and I know that James DEFINTELY wont pay me for it!) Good luck with your Spanish journey! :-)

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Boca J

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:00pm

Posts: 75

26 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 30 Jun 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:00pm

Thanks, but all this advice is no use to me if James is not prepared to accept me on his course.

crissywissy

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:14pm

crissywissy

Super helpful member

Posts: 2440

1614 helpful points

Location: Mar Menor

Joined: 26 Sep 2015

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:14pm

Come to the Arches LA bar on Saturday 12.30 and try Luis it’s not a beginners class

Dom

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:23pm

Dom

Posts: 28

16 helpful points

Joined: 6 Jul 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:23pm

Boca J wrote on Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:00pm:

Thanks, but all this advice is no use to me if James is not prepared to accept me on his course.

I think you’ve completely missed the point of everything I’ve said, however good luck with your Spanish lessons, I hope it works out for you. 

Roberto30710

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:06pm

Roberto30710

Helpful member

Posts: 411

362 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 28 Nov 2018

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:06pm

Boca J, reading between the lines, you want to go straight to James spoken Spanish lessons and skip the core structure lessons.

And you right, he won't do that. He wants to ensure everyone understand the language structure properly and sadly many intermediate students do not.  

He will only accept you if you do his core course first, If you are really good maybe you can do it not in three weeks, but two. 

What have you got to lose? James credits his students for any core lesson in which they learn nothing. So maybe you will end up with 40 free spoken Spanish lessons AND a free revision of the rest. When you do his spoken Spanish lessons, they last an hour AND you get around 90 minutes of hard core practice. I've counted 11 different speaker of ages from 8-70 with all kinds of regional accents. Whats not to like about that?

If you go back to the Facebook page, you will find person after person, Intermediate and above, explaining just how good it was doing his core lessons first, though fast.

Boca J

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:36pm

Posts: 75

26 helpful points

Location: Los Alcázares

Joined: 30 Jun 2020

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:36pm

Roberto30710 wrote on Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:06pm:

Boca J, reading between the lines, you want to go straight to James spoken Spanish lessons and skip the core structure lessons.

And you right, he won't do that. He wants to ensure everyone understand the language structure properly and sadly many intermediate students do not.  

He will only accept you if you do his core course first, If you are really good maybe you can do it not in three weeks, but two. 

What have you got to lose? James credits his students for any core lesson in which they learn nothing. So maybe you will end up with 40 free spoken Spanish lessons AND a free revision of the rest. When you do his spoken Spanish lessons, they last an hour AND you get around 90 minutes of hard core practice. I've counted 11 different speaker of ages from 8-70 with all kinds of regional accents. Whats not to like about that?

If you go back to the Facebook page, you will find person after person, Intermediate and above, explaining just how good it was doing his core lessons first, though fast.

I didn't know intermediate level is spoken only. I thought structure is similar to beginners level. All he said was that I would get bored in his class. I'll contact him again to see if it's possible to join beginners.

How many students are there in the class ? Do you use any books ?

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