¡Hola a todos! Bakari - Review of 25 lessons

Spanish
#1

Okay, I finished level one in about a week and here is my assessment;

Fantastic!

In the past 8 months I have completed and reviewed, a few times, Synergy Spanish (I am enrolled in Bola de Nieve now), finished two different versions of Assimil, have read over 100 children’s books, have read over 200 news articles in NULU and a few Spanish texts. (Yes, I count everything and my wife calls me Numbers - No Joke!). I am currently slogging my way through Pimsluer (level B). I have exposed myself to a lot of different programs and I have put in the time to finish them. So, I didn’t know if this program would help me.

I was presently surprised!

SaySomethingin Spanish helped me fill in the gaps immediately that I have been missing in other programs. I liked the fact that the material takes you into deep water quick, but not in a way that overwhelms you. I knew a majority of the words already, however, the construction, placements and usage is what I valued most as I can plug and mix and match later. After the very first lesson I could feel my fluency increase immediately.

It was that simple. Additionally, the 2x the speed listening sessions for each fifth session are revolutionary. Especially, since a few programs that offer sped up listening, charges for it as a different course and doesn’t include it as a part of training for the actual course they offer. After the 10th listening session I went back to the fifth lesson and it felt as if I could literally grab words out of the air. Each time I listen to them, Spanish I hear spoken elsewhere seems much slower and I like that! After lesson twenty, one of the podcasts I listen to at their intermediate level felt like listening to ‘paint dry.’ I had to turn it off and jump to their advance podcasts because I didn’t have the patience to wait for them to talk so slow. I can’t wait to hear 3x speed!

Bravo SaySomethingin!!

Now, I do not know how a raw beginner would fare because I had a strong background coming in. However, I do know that if you have some basic training this course will be perfect for you. I plan to go back over the 25 lessons again in the next two weeks to sear the style it uses into my brain and will be adding it to my regular rotation over the next few months for a refresher.

A few more points:

-I appreciated the length of the pause that allows you to think about the answer. Many programs do not give you a chance to think and I believe that does the learner a disservice.
-I liked the use of spaced repetition
-I liked the use of two different speakers (saying it slightly differently)
-I liked the fact that he encouraged me along the way and let me know I was headed into advanced territory, but would be okay
-I don’t feel marketed to and I feel that I received a fair trade
-I liked the cost
-Oh yeah, I liked the book, which introduced me to the course.

Nos vemos el proximo tiempo!

4 Likes
#2

Muchísimas gracias, Bakari! You’ve just seriously made my day… :sunny:

It’s always a real delight to hear when the sessions have been helpful for people who have such a wide range of experience with other methods, especially including Marcus’s work (which is what I’d use if I had to choose another course).

It’s also a particular pleasure to hear that you though the pricing was fair - this is something we’ve been knocking our heads against for a long old while, because our initial instinct is to give the first course away for free, but we just haven’t been able to find a sustainable way of marketing that, which is why we’ve ended up with pay-per stuff. We’ll carry on testing, though, and I’d really like it if we could one day find a way to go back to the free Level 1 model…

I’m hugely, hugely interested that you’ve found other materials with accelerated listening - I’ve been talking to a lot of academics and looking for other research on that front, and found nothing - so I’d really like to take a look at what you’ve found, if you’d be happy to share :sunny:

And once again, many, many thanks for such generous and enthusiastic feedback :star2:

#3

Hello Aran,

¡No hay de que!

One of the courses that offered sped up listening is Julio Foppoli’s Audio Blaster: http://www.spanishaudioblaster.com. I didn’t feel comfortable paying for that, by itself, so I didn’t purchase it. I thought it was fantastic that you guys integrated that type of listening into your program. The other program I perused was a while ago and I believe it was out of Spain so I think it will take me a while to find (or bump into it again).

As the course is very useful, I am happy to provide feedback and will leave more after I finish Level 2.

Nos Vemos.

1 Like
#4

I can echo everything you say. I have taken other Spanish courses, too - and I read in Spanish regularly and I watch films in Spanish regularly.

However, after I did Spanish Level 1 with Saysomething.com my confidence level in speaking soared. I genuinely feel different. I can’t wait to access the full set of lessons in Level 2 and I pray that a Level 3 will follow. This really is life-changing stuff. In a world full of ordinary I feel I have found something special in Saysomething.com.

Currently, I am learning Hebrew with another firm’s software - and believe me that is only because Saysomething.com does not yet offer Hebrew. The software is so sophisticated it should win a prize. Yet, in terms of learning to communicate in Hebrew it is relatively ineffective. I feel that they are trying to teach me to speak a language by making me learn 2000 words!! How I wish Saysomething.com taught Hebrew and would save me from this purgatory.

I am so happy that Saysomething.com is progressing with teaching Spanish. Roll on, roll on.

#5

If you happen to, I’d love to see it, but don’t worry at all if you don’t… :sunny:

Thanks for the Audio Blaster link - I quite like the look of it, and he’s definitely thinking in the right kind of direction - although as far as I can see, they’re using ordinary speech (spoken naturally, not slowed down for learners) rather than actually accelerating the files. That’s still a huge improvement on courses which only have slow, clear listening exercises, but maybe not quite as challenging/valuable as double/triple speed for triggering neurological change :sunny:

I’m very grateful to you for your feedback - and I hope we can get Level 2 finished before too much longer - we’re just working through the pre-processing, mastering and importing - should be up to Challenge 8 in the fairly near future :sunny:

And Justin - diolch o galon! It’s hugely encouraging to hear that kind of feedback - and yes, I promise that Level 3 will certainly follow in due course (or sooner, if we can figure out the front-end marketing at any stage!) - as will SSiHebrew - our course creation tool is very close to field trials, so we should have lots more fun stuff coming down the pipes this year… :fireworks:

#6

JustinandEirwen,

¡Exactamente! Inmediadamente, yo podria ver la diferencia. Yo paró escuchando diferente programas a concentrar en SSi. Estoy a punto de empezar Nivel dos y como usted, voy a comprar Nivel tres cuando llega.

¡Enhorabuena!

Exactly! Right away, I could tell the difference. I actually stopped listening to some of the other programs in my regular rotation so I could solely concentrate on SSi for that first run through of Level1. I am about to start the part of Level 2 I purchased and, like you, I will buy Level 3 when it comes out.

Continued success!

1 Like
#7

By the way, JustinandEirwen, that is the first time I have ever written to anyone in Spanish!

1 Like
#8

Aran,

No problem, that was probably why I didn’t use it back then. (Audio Blaster)

The one from Spain was on a random search, but I will try my best.

Yes, looking forward to your next launch!

1 Like
#9

No me digas?! What, seriously? You’re doing superbly well, then. :thumbsup: :sunny:

#10

Thanks,

I practice writing with the drills and exercises, but I never had a reason to address someone specifically before.

1 Like
#11

You are very welcome to write to me in Spanish (or French or Italian or English or Welsh). I enjoy reading Spanish and your Spanish appears to be excellent. Hopefully, next year I will be just as at ease reading and speaking in Hebrew and in 2017 readingand speaking Arabic. That is if life goes as planned - which it rarely does!

hasta luego,

Justin

#12

Ah, that’s on my personal list too - and I met a lovely PhD student from Saudi when I was in Cardiff who said he’d be happy to lend a hand with building the course… :sunny:

1 Like
#13

Gracias JustinandElrwen,

Voy a hacer eso como quería practicar escribir mas. Aunque puedo escribir sin mucho problema, todavia no siente natural.

1 Like
#14

I have an Egyptian friend and a Lebanese friend who stressed that their arabic was superior to that of the Gulf States. No doubt, should I be fortunate enough to also have a Saudi friend I will get a different perspective!

Then, to add to the excitement, I need to do some research on which arabic languages/dialects are of aramaic root - in which case a prior knowledge of Hebrew may or may not help. Solving this mystery awaits.

Sounds like there is a lot of fun awaiting us when we get to wrestle with arabic. You may need 4 or 5 ‘‘vocalists’’ to keep every arabic enthusiast happy.

So also roll on SSiA,

Justin

#15

Oh yes, that’s very familiar! Egyptian has the lion’s share of media, and tends to claim status as a standard as a result of that - but we’ll certainly need a range of Arabic courses, and probably one per country would be the easiest way to unpick it all…:wink: