I live in Mexico and the Spanish has helped me talk with plumbers, electricians, (something in the apartment I rent always needs fixing), and sales people.

I volunteer at a private school and help the students with their English. My Spanish helps me to understand their questions about English. It’s great fun.

I have longed to learn Spanish all my life and finally I can understand and say things in Spanish. This would not have been possible without Bola de Nieve. EXCELLENT!

I absolutely LOVE Bola de Nieve!!!!! I am sailing along great (I am amazing myself with how good I am going). I can now speak very well with Bola de Nieve. You have a really good idea of how to make it just seem to flow and I am excited at my progress!!

Please, please continue with the excellent course!!! Once again, I LOVE Bola de Nieve. THANKS

I love the way its set up. I have always thought (and been told by others) that learning a new language was easy for me. Then I enrolled in a Spanish class, where my confidence suffered a blow! Residing verbs and learning grammar was really not my thing. In fact, I have never learned a language by learning the grammar first, I’ve always imitated native speakers which has been enough for me.

By following this course, my vocabulary builds up slowly but surely, and I love the feeling of mastering Spanish! Thanks for creating all your courses, they’re really appreciated.

Like all of your courses Marcus (and I have done all of them!) Bola de Nieve helps me with my fluency and sentence construction. I also find the level of language and the collocations for example very useful.

I communicate by email with Spanish speaking friends and I write in Spanish and they have noticed a big difference in the way that I construct my sentences and my use of more everyday language so please please keep it coming. Many thanks to you, Elena & Jose you are doing a great job!!

Loving the course Marcus, I like the fact that it is doled out in regular doses as this keeps me on my toes, making sure I keep up to date. All this regular practice is not only improving my fluency but is also a great confidence booster.

I’m doing great; Bola de Nieve is the best Spanish course available. I have learnt so much better than the class I was attending. The way you present the work is exactly the best way that I learn. I look forward to studying my Spanish every day, it’s a pleasure to learn. Thanks so much to you and all involved in its creation.

I love the course and have recommended it to my friends. I was getting nowhere fast at the local language school – that was all about conjugating verbs etc. There was a lot I didn’t understand but no-one answered my questions satisfactorily (not even about the personal ‘a’, which you explained in an instant). I lost my confidence. Now, with Bola de Nieve, I am enjoying learning and am regaining the confidence I need to speak with my neighbours (I live in Spain). I want to continue learning until I am mistaken for a Spaniard!

It is helping me heaps. Living in a country where it is not easy to find Spanish speakers it isn’t always easy to practice. However, I now visit with my new friend, who is from Mexico, once a week usually and we speak Spanish.

She speaks way fast but last time I was there she said she understood everything that I said to her. I really appreciate what you are doing. Cheers and thanks again.

Bola de Nieve is great. I’ve tried other methods and they don’t work for me. Thanks!

I really like to Bola de Nieve. I find it very easy to learn from this course. Right now I can communicate with my Peruvian friends fairly well, even by phone. I love it! Thanks.

I think the course is great.

The course is excellent. Keep it up. Many Thanks.

It is so easy for me to learn in this format. Learning is such a pleasure with this teaching concept.

I wasn’t afraid to use some of my new skills on my vacation in Mexico earlier this year. I feel like I can actually communicate.

Please stay inspired to continue. Thanks.

The course has been great to keep talking and thinking in Spanish.

I wish I could go back to Peru again since my Spanish is so much better now – thanks to your courses. Now I could really have a true conversation with the family members, especially the little girl in the blue sweater who so much wanted to talk to me and get me dancing at the fiesta.

As I’ve told you in the past, getting the words from my brain to my mouth was a major barrier, not so much for fear of saying it wrong but the inability to string it all together. The combination of oral practice and reading the words plus your clear explanations has completely removed that obstacle and I really enjoy being able to chat with people on a wide variety of subjects.

Its helped tremendously. Your teaching method is so simple to follow. Each new module I think, ‘this is going to get beyond me’ and it doesn’t! Thank you.

I love your course very very much.

Your program is an awesome one and I have learned so much.

I have taken so many courses and have always walked away more confused than before I walked in. With your course, I have been able to learn far more than I ever expected.

It is far easier than I ever expected and owe it all to you. When I go to Mexico, I know that with your course I will be able to fully communicate. Thank you so much!

I LOVE YOUR COURSES! They are the best way to learn Spanish out there! And I have tried many.

My Spanish lessons are an important part of my day–we live in Costa Rica for 3 months of the year, and I am now able to communicate in an area where little English is spoken. I’ve never had such a dramatic success in my life. Thank you so much!

I now live in Spain for most of the time, and your course has given me more confidence to speak the Spanish. I realize your work is a labour of love, so please, please keep up the good work!!

I love it I love it I love it, we just built a house in Mexico I would have been lost without your course our architect walked off the job and I was able to take it over right to the finished casa.

When I came to Honduras to teach at a bilingual school, I didn’t speak any Spanish. I was very uncomfortable when I would go to town to go shopping. The language barrier really prevented me from having an impact in the lives of the people around me. But, after about a year of studying under you, I can communicate quite comfortably in this Spanish culture.

A turning point for me was conducting my 2nd quarter report card meetings with the parents of my 23 2nd grade students all in Spanish. It feels so good to understand and be understood.

This course is helping me enormously. Learning another language was something I had always wanted to do, and even though we moved to Spain, I still didn’t think I could at my age. But with your method it doesn’t matter how old you are, any one of any age can learn a language.

I love how it makes Spanish so much easier to learn, I can at last go out with confidence and speak to my neighbours in Spain. Thank you.

I have been going to Tenerife on holiday for many years but have never really had much knowledge or confidence to try speaking Spanish. After completing Synergy Spanish and now working through Bola de Nieve I was eager to put my Spanish to the test!

On holiday in Tenerife earlier this month, I was delighted that I could order food and drinks in restaurants and converse with the locals, asking them questions about their lives and answering questions about my life. I even asked a local man for directions one day in the street – and was able to understand the reply!

I was complimented many times by Spanish-speaking people on my ability to speak Spanish! The Spanish people were delighted that I was making an effort to talk to them in their language and were eager to offer me advice when I went wrong.

In return, they were grateful to learn some Scottish colloquialisms which they could use to impress in their English conversations! Thank you for giving me the confidence to just go for it! Muchas gracias.

The methodology must have recoded my brain. I’m hearing and decoding the Spanish – and able to respond 85% quicker than I could at the beginning of December. Now, January 28, I converse with my Mexican neighbors and friends. By the end of March, I expect to be fluent enough to join Spanish speaking organizations, clubs and a Fashion Design Course. You have a terrific system that works.

Bola de Nieve is a great course and I am not only enjoying it, but cannot believe how much Spanish I can now speak! Thanks again!

My Spanish tutor is amazed at how my command of spoken Spanish has come on in leaps and bounds ( I have kept you a secret )and I thoroughly enjoy the confidence the course has given me.

Thank you for you fantastic methods. I haven’t gone wrong since I started.

Me encanta las lecciones de español.

Todos los días, paso 1 hora aprendiendo con Marcus. Las lecciones son muy interesantes. Cada mes es muy agradable recibir nuevas lecciones. También me gusta el precio, es justo.

Solo tengo 5 meses y ahora puedo hablar, leer el periódico y comprender más y más cuando escucho la radio.

Estoy muy contenta con este curso. El método de enseñanza de Marcus es definitivamente superior a cualquier otro.

Everyday I spend 1 hour learning with Marcus. The lessons are very interesting. Each month it is very enjoyable to receive new lessons. Also, I like the price, it is very fair.

I only have 5 months(studying) and now I can speak, read the newspaper and understand more and more when I listen to the radio.

I am very happy with this course. Marcus’ teaching method is superior to any other. Muchas gracias Marcus.

I want to use this opportunity to tell you how very much I LOVE this program. I had some Spanish speaking friends over this past weekend and I was amazed at my ability to communicate with them.

Your system is amazing! It is so wonderful to be able to ENJOY Spanish, and not have to keep trying to wade through every fine point of the grammar, and pages and pages of verbs and tenses that are just totally overwhelming. Many thanks for rescuing us ordinary people who just want to speak the language fluently, – not do a university degree on the finer points of it!

After ten years of lessons with many different teachers and twelve years of living in Spain, your course is the only one that has enabled me to speak with some confidence. I am very much looking forward to starting Advanced Concepts Intensive after completing Bola de Nieve.

I just returned from two weeks in Cuba. I spent one week with my boyfriend’s family (none of which speak English) and they all told me that my Spanish was much improved from last year. They said I spoke and understood a lot more. That is all due to Bola de Nieve so thank you for that.

I started Spanish with 24 other people in a one night per week class maybe 4 months ago and nobody can even come close to me in speaking Spanish because of your course, well done marcus and keep up the work your doing.

Muchas personas me preguntan cómo aprendí español. Aquí está mi respuesta:

Empecé a aprender español hace dieciocho meses. Cada mes recibo lecciones por internet de un hombre australiano que enseña inglés y español.

Él vino a México para ensenar inglés. Conoció a su esposa allí (¡Ella es mexicana!). Él trató de aprender español de la manera tradicional con la conjugación de verbos y la gramática. Pensó que debía haber una mejor manera de aprender y enseñar español. De su frustración, creó el método que él llama “sinergia español”

¡Creo que el sistema funciona muy bien! ¡Estoy muy contenta con los resultados!

Muchas gracias, Nancy Neal

A lot of people ask me how I learned Spanish. Here is my answer.

I started to learn Spanish 18 months ago. Each month I receive lessons by Internet from an Australian man who teaches English and Spanish.

He came to Mexico to teach English. He met his wife there. (She is Mexican!) He tried to learn Spanish in the traditional way with verb conjugations and grammar. He thought there must be a better way to learn and teach Spanish. From his frustration, he created his method that he calls Synergy Spanish.

I think that the system works very well! I am very happy with the results!

Many thanks

I live permanently in the Dominican republic and the need to learn this language is compelling! I reviewed all resourses included a live teacher here in the DR, and decided to try B de N mostly because of my good results with Shortcut. The results are astounding! No bells and whistles,- just a simple , well crafted learning system that works for me!

I just want to say that your course is fantastic and I love learning this way. It has helped me enormously.

You are transforming my life, so thank you so very much.

I’ve just returned from my time in Guatemala. Everyone there was really impressed with how well I can speak and I surprised myself by being able to speak a lot without having to stop and think about it. Practicing with your audio has helped make much of my speech almost automatic.

Thanks, Marcus. I look forward to each month’s lesson. You actually make learning Spanish fun!

I live in Costa Rica for four months of the year, in a remote area–your lessons have made it possible to survive!!

I recently went to Mexico with some friends. We took the Copper Canyon Train Tour from Chihuahua to El Fuerte and back.

The country side was beautiful, the canyon breathtaking, the food excellent, and the people simply wonderful all along the way.

Up until this recent trip I had not spoken Spanish with anyone at all, just repeating the lessons as laid out.

Once in Mexico I found myself speaking the language. I was so excited I was almost beside myself, and to top it all off on more than one occasion Spanish speakers remarked on my excellent pronunciation as well as my spoken spanish in general. Never once did anybody hesitate before answering me.

Kudos to you and your “Spanish Language Courses” Marcus. I am forever grateful.

My ability to speak Spanish has dramatically improved after completing Bola de Nieve, and it just keeps getting better & better now that I’m into Advanced Concepts Intensive.

For me, your method has been far more effective than anything else that I’ve tried for developing the ability to have spontaneous conversations in Spanish.

I hope that you experience success with your language instruction business. Your product is truly unique, and you deserve recognition for your contributions to the Spanish-learning community.

I have tried many courses (classes/books/DVDs/CDs) but for me the Spanish Ear Training Course is unique in its teaching style. It has been great in giving me confidence to converse with my Spanish friends. I am now at the stage of understanding documentaries on Spanish TV.

I have nothing but praise and gratitude to you Marcus in devising what for me is the most successful course around. Your communication is excellent. Always generous in your support. Thanks.

When I started the Spanish Ear Training course, I didn’t think I would ever understand what was being said. However, after lots of repetition and practice, it slowly started to fall into place. Now I can comprehend a lot of what is said, even on the first hearing at normal speed.

You are my hero! You make learning Spanish so enjoyable. I have lost all nervousness when speaking with someone Spanish -even tho’ I make mistakes. They don’t bite my head off – they correct me! And my Spanish pen-pal says my Spanish is improving all the time. Gracias!

Spanish Ear Training is teaching me how to listen to rapid Spanish – I now receive the words in Spanish, rather than trying to translate into English. I can’t tell you how pleased I am about that – it seems such a big step.

I moved to Spain 2 years ago. I have been having lessons with a local teacher and am learning a lot.

However, your course has been great for giving me lots of extra information which I constantly find myself using in conversation with people here.

Have found a system that works for me. I find your way of teaching gets me talking and that’s what I want to achieve.

I use Spanish Ear Training frequently. I like the Collocations because they are “how they speak” and not just what you get from a dictionary. For example, to say “I realize” as “Me doy cuenta” – when I use a phrase like that, my Spanish speaking friends tell me I speak Spanish very well.

This course has been so helpful for me! It has really helped me to think in Spanish more, and also has helped my pronunciation.

I just wrote a letter to a friend of mine in Chaipas, Mexico I was able to write for the first time with confidence.

My teacher the other day give me a test and she was very surprised that I knew the answers, because she said it was hard.

She made me listen to a cd and I could understand everything without any problem. She said that all the other students complained that the Spanish was too fast.

I think this is the best program that I have used. Everyone tells me that my Spanish has improved enormously. Thank you for a great program.

I do really love your program. I have studied Spanish and live in Iquitos, Peru but always the listening and talking just didn’t happen.

I am so thankful that I signed up for your Spanish Ear training course, my understanding skills have improved even in my first month. Thank you.

Spanish Ear Training was a HUGE help to me in every area – in fact, I would credit your program with giving me the confidence to record a puppet show for our Vacation Bible School mission team to take to Peru with them two summers ago. (It was a huge hit, by the way! :))

While in Mexico, I take weekly Conversation Spanish classes but there is not much conversation. In comparison, I’m learning in leaps and bounds with your style.

“I love your courses. My neighbour in Spain said last year how much my Spanish had improved.”

I also chat on Skype to practice speaking in Spanish with people who are learning English – I often send emails to arrange chats with my friends. I write in Spanish and ask them to correct it.

A recent email from Silvia from Madrid said: “Tu e-mail en español está muy muy bien, como una auténtica nativa!” (Your email in Spanish is very good, like an authentic native speaker). I put that all down to you teaching us word order and expressions that are actually used by Spanish speakers.

She also said recently when we were chatting that I had used quite a difficult and advanced expression that to me seemed quite an easy and obvious way to say something – again down to the way you teach us how to use authentic expressions.

Dear Sr. Santamaria, I am just on the third CD of Synergy Spanish, but it’s made an enormous difference in my ability to communicate to the parents of my students, many of whom don’t speak English. Your teaching methods are extraordinarily effective, and I’ve tried many of them.

I have over the last 3 years attended 3 night school classes to learn this beautiful language. After which I still couldn’t string a sentence together. I am amazed at how simple you have made this and I can now communicate with the Spanish folk in the town in Orihuela Costa where I am planning to spend my retirement.

Hello Marcus, I wanted to let you know I am enjoying your course. It is exactly what I was looking for to put things together for me. You concentrate on the basics of effectively communicating, the audio is the kind of practice I wanted to find.

You will be pleased to know on a Medical mission to Armenia, Columbia I spoke Spanish for the 5 days in there and was interviewed for the TV and the newspaper totally in Spanish.

I am glad that I came across these lessons. It has been very helpful for me. I am using them in conjunction with a private tutor. Invaluable.

Your program is by far the best! It’s probably the only reason that I have stuck with my Spanish. You got me out of memorizing words, and not being able to say anything, to actually constructing sentences, and being able to say something.

I am enjoying Synergy Spanish. Thanks for a great course.

Thanks so much for providing such a good way to build a foundation for learning the Spanish language.

I’m at synergyspanish lesson 16 now, and already I understand so much more! I have lots of other audiocourses, schoolbooks, PC-programs etc, but after 1 1/2 year of studying I still didn’t understand much. I could say a lot of sentences, but nothing I really could use in conversation. And I was not able to make sentences of my own.

But now I can! Your way of teaching is so different, and I never knew it was so easy! So thank you!

Next month I’m going to Barcelona to practice what you have taught me.

I live in Majorca and have neighbors who speak no English. After four years of trying and barely succeeding, I now find it much easier to communicate with them and feel far more confident.

I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying your Synergy Spanish course…you have a real gift for making it easy to learn to speak a foreign language. I love the way your course is structured…as you described, the learning almost seems to happen as if by magic.

Great instructional design on your part (that’s part of what I do for a living–courseware design–so I know effective training when I see it!)!

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to create such an easy method. I find your method very easy to follow and especially easy to actually say a lot.

Good morning Marcus, I am very much enjoying learning Spanish with your courses. I completed the Shortcut to Spanish course and thought it was wonderful.

Before this I knew a few words and phrases but when I tried to put them together it was not going too well. By the time I finished Shortcut to Spanish I was making sentences up in my head to translate into Spanish while walking to the bus to go to work.

I have since bought Synergy Spanish and I’m really “cooking” now. I’m almost finished the end of part 2 and thoroughly enjoying the experience.

I am travelling to Costa Rica at the end of this month and hopefully will be able to put my Spanish to good use.

Thank you for all your efforts in producing these programs.

I have just completed your Synergy Spanish course and am thrilled. I can’t imagine learning as much so fast with any other program. It perfectly matched my learning style. I’m going to Mexico next week and will be able to put what I’ve learned to good use right away.

Judith later wrote:

I just returned from Mexico and am sending you a picture taken on my trip. I was amazed at the amount of Spanish I was able to speak, even having several get-acquainted “chats” with people.

I took several courses of Spanish in college several years ago and could hardly speak at all and with your course, I am learning to say actual sentences.

This truely has to be the most exciting thing I have yet experienced, I must confess though that I have not been able to fully apply myself, as I am working and at Ulpan learning Hebrew at the same time, I also teach english on weekends, so I have very little spare time..However in the 3 hours that i have applied myself, I learned more spanish than 1 month of hebrew at ulpan…

Its incredible, I am absolutely delighted that I found the course.

WOW WOW WOW It is exactly what I needed. It is exactly what I hoped it was going to be. BRAVO

I have just started your course and I am thrilled with it, absolutely thrilled. I am writing from work. My business takes me around the world.

I have needed Dutch, Russian, and now I cringed at the thought of Spanish as well. Your course and process is fabulous and in my mind you are a genius. My boss studied 9 languages and started the Swedish course at Harvard and I got him mesmerized with your course.

G’day Mate ! and Hola from Melbourne ,Australia.

I just want to let you know that I am truly enjoying learning to speak Spanish thru Synergy Spanish. I have been attending my Spanish Class for the last three months but I found that I it doesn’t sink into my head fast enough. Thank God that I decided to surf the Internet a few weeks ago to find some ways to learn Spanish and came across to your website.

Two of my friend will be subscribing any day now…. Both of them are soooo impressed with the way I’m conversing in Spanish that they pestered me until I fessed up that we’re studying with you.”

SUNNY LATER ADDDED

“Last Sunday we took a little Mexican girl (and her parents) to a water park to celebrate her graduation from kindergarten. In the 3 years we’ve known this family, I have always dreaded spending time with them due to not being able to converse with them.

Eureka!!!!

I doubt that I missed more than a couple of words and was able to make myself understood with only a few hesitations. If people only realized what a sense of accomplishment I felt the whole world would sign up for your courses! And, the best part of it is, I had only completed lesson 17 of Synergy. At this rate, I’m sure I’ll be yapping with the best of them by the time I’ve completed your program. You’re the BEST!!!”

I travel in Mexico frequently and am going to Cuba for a month this December. I appreciate your course and things I struggled with doing university Spanish by correspondence (brutal!) are coming easier.

I have tried soooo many courses and for the most part they are bloody awful. I am going to be sorry when I blast through this course and the party is over.

Thanks for providing an excellent practical beginner course… Muchas gracias profesor.

I am writing this e-mail to tell you that I love your course, and my co-workers can notice the progress I’ve made already. Thanks.

I have been going to Spain for three months every year for about 20 years, last year, an emergency came up, and I couldn’t deal with it at all, so I decided to try and learn some Spanish, not before time , as I am 78.

I am most impressed with your system of teaching, your way of teaching verbs is so good, (as I can now make sentences). Your very enthusiastic pupil.

I would like to thank you for creating such a great course.

I signed up just 2 weeks before I was due to holiday alone in San Pedro de Alcantara. I took great delight in going into a Spanish bar/restaraunt and ordering in Spanish. I had been there a few weeks before and they were surly buggers. But this time it was different. I was actually smiled at and chatted to and helped a little with my Spanish.

My effort was recognised and when I returned I noticed how my bill was cheaper.

Oh my Gawwwwwwwwwwd!! How you have made the Spanish language so simple is beyond me!!! You have achieved what no-one else seems to be capable of achieving!!!

After living in Tenerife for 3 years and trying many different teachers and classes I was beginning to despair of ever finding a way to learn the language properly. Since receiving Synergy Spanish last week my ability to converse with my neighbours has almost doubled over night…..they are as overjoyed as I am.

Your course really is the easiest way I have found to make sense of all the Spanish I knew but didn’t know how to put together. Many many thanks from Los Abrigos.

My husband just retired from 43 years of teaching high school in May and we decided to learn Spanish and have been studying your course for the past 6 weeks. We are just finishing leccion once (11) and are amazed how much we have learned already.

We are really enjoying taking your course together. We would do nada más que estudiar espanol if we didn’t have anything else to do but duty calls even when retired!!!

I just had to write and tell you how very much we are enjoying our course. Our daughter is a Spanish Education major, studying abroad in Seville. We plan to visit her on November 21st. We will have completed your course by then and plan to ASTOUND her with our Spanish!

I have some Spanish knowledge but my husband is a beginner. He loves the cds and keeps them in his truck, listening and practicing to and from work.

Thanks so much for “skipping the conjugations” and getting to the “real Spanish”. Wishing you much success with your course

NELSON AND VICKY LATER ADDED

It was a wonderful, wonderful trip and your course helped us immensely. A note from our daughter:

Que sorpresa cuando mis padres vinieron a vistarme y hablaban espanol tan bien! Gracias por darse la oportunidad a hablar conmigo y mis companeros en Sevilla. Era una sorpresa y es una memoria preciosa.

TRANSLATION:

What a surprise when my parents came to visit me and they Spike Spanish so well! Thanks for giving them the opportunity to speak with me and my pals in Sevilla. It was a surprise and it is a lovely memory. Con carino.

I purchased the Synergy Spanish and I absolutely loved it.

I have spent hundreds of dollars on books, and audio lessons. I took a Spanish class last semester of college and pd $820.00 for the class and didn’t learn anything from it. Synergy was the best. Thanks.

I am a former ESL teacher and am usually very critical of language programs, but I really like yours. Thanks – I think you are great!

I have finished your wonderful Synergy Spanish and enjoyed every minute! Saludos.

I am enjoying the course so far. I think it’s a brilliant way of learning. Gracias, Hasta la vista.

Synergy Spanish has meant that I can now holiday in Spain without thinking in English. I don’t have to worry about having a phrase book to hand, and after several years of learning the language with different providers, it’s Synergy Spanish that has helped me most. And when I want to refresh my memory, it’s there on my computer.

Our daughter has a 7 month placement as a language assistant in Marbella, so we are able to visit her and it’s great to be able to see the real Spain, and to be able to communicate with the locals, shop in small independent shops, without asking her for help!

You are a language teacher genius!

I’ve been living in Costa Rica for 17 years teaching Suzuki Piano, and I know the most effective way to learn a language is the same way I teach music; but I couldn’t find it in print and sound until your amazing work was introduced to me. I’ve had hundreds of classes, private tutors, books,, books, tapes, and on and on, and I can read, write, translate it very well on paper, and fully communicate in my studio; but much more communication skills are needed to function in all areas of life when living in a Spanish speaking country.

I appreciate your excellent work so much. It has all of the elements to guarantee success, and automatically lays a firm foundation upon which to rapidly build excellent communication and written skills for life. I decided to start at the very beginning no matter how much I learned before, and it is really working! I’ve only had it a few days now, and already I see a huge difference in my interaction in the community here. Phone conversations are much better too. You are a language teacher genius to say the least.

Marcus, Marcus, Marcus… you just never stop “GIVING”. You are a very special person who “truly” cares about helping others to learn to speak Spanish. I feel very privileged to have found you in my journey to learn to speak Spanish.

Debbie later added

You have always answered my letters, thank you. You have given me more than I ever expected when I bought your lessons. You have said that you would be available for “coaching” and you have kept your word. I am so impressed with the whole package.

I am so excited! Voy a hablar mucho mas en espanol con mis amigos pronto! I am too excited to sleep!

I am in South America – Nazca, Peru to be exact and I am delighted that what I have learned has helped me to make myself understood in Spanish.

Last night we stayed in the homes of families living on Amantani Island. It was a wonderful cultural experience enhanced by the fact that I was able to communicate with our host family.

Your Spanish Course has really helped enrich my travel experiences here in South America.

For about three years I have been trying to learn to speak Spanish…Church Classes, Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day books, a few quarters at the local Community College, and many hours of “complete frustration”…. BUT Synergy Spanish has given me a completely new direction to my life.

Your method is great – I am learning much faster than other times I have tried to learn Spanish and it is helping me get around Cabo – and especially to talk to the people that take care of our place.

I just completed the Synergy Course and loved it. I am 62 years old and didn’t think I would be able to learn a new language, but it all came so easily, thanks to you.

I am looking forward to more courses! What a great job you are doing! I have recommended your courses to several people from this area, and will continue to do so.

I wondered if this course would just be the same as what I have already had but amazingly it has reinforced what was in your other courses as well as making me realise what has not “gone in” (my head) therefore it was excellent.

I always wanted to learn it but always found it a chore rather than a challenge. Now, I am really enjoying learning spanish for the first time.

I love your Synergy Spanish Level 1 course. I am particularly impressed with how you prepare us to speak in the action guide with the “pronunciations” on the right-hand side of the page. Another thing! About your workbook. It’s generous. It’s not some 6X9 inch (almost credit card size) book. It’s big enough for you to see the words without having to use a hand-held magnifying glass but not so big you can’t carry it with you, as I carry mine to work and study on my lunch hour. Gracias.

Last summer my son, who lives in Mexico, married his sweetheart who is Mexican. Although she speaks excellent English I decided, in that moment, to learn to speak Spanish beyond the ‘Hello, where is the bathroom level?’

I looked around, even took a summer series of classes – but eventually found you on the Internet. Since then I have been working my way through your lessons, listening to each as many times as I need to before moving on to the next. I even took a break and then picked you up again without losing anything that I could detect – I merely backed-up a few lessons to get warmed up.

I just returned home from 8 days visiting with my son and daughter-in-law in Mexico. I thought it would be fun to create an ‘immersion course’ for myself and, therefore, spent a total of 10 hours with a private tutor – it was both fun and useful – but only because I had done all the work with your material!!

My teacher found me fascinating because I could actually speak much more, with better pronunciation, than she expected. We addressed issues of grammar only as they were useful to my progress in understanding.

By the way – I’m 68 years old and a retired physician – I had, and have, no wish to take any more formal lessons,or worse still, any more evaluation tests ( been there- done far more than my fair share!)

Thank you for all your work – I really believe that if I had not found you I might well have abandoned the whole project of learning to speak Spanish.

Your lessons are priceless, I use my mp4 and listen to them over and over time and again.

I am an American from Atlanta Georgia, came to Spain to visit a lady in Granada, fortunately we have fallen in love with one another, she is very impressed with the amount of progress I have made. Thank you not only for your program and your emails are too priceless.

A great ‘Thank You’ for your wonderful Spanish course. I feel more confident, hence excited about learning Spanish than the 5 or 6 spanish courses I attended over the last 10 years. It’s as if I spoke a proper sentence without question marks for the first time… Well done and thanx again.

I am so happy with how this structure has moved me forward in my Spanish. I knew all these words but did not know how to put them together. It was so exciting being able to say more and more.

We live in Panama and love it here. For us it is like living in a dream. Our maid and gardener have told me that my Spanish has greatly improved.

Thanks again. Your layout works so well. Going through the written part and then really enforcing it with the audio helps to get you talking right away.

This course has been fantastic, and I have recommended it to many, many friends. I often travel to Cuba on missionary work, and, thanks to your program, have made so many close friends there among our Christian brothers and sisters in Cuba — many of whom cannot speak any English.

I wanted to tell you is that you have demonstrated a real care for the people who’ve signed up for your courses, far beyond what I would expect. This is so heartwarming! Just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it, as I’m sure so many of your students do!

I wish your method of teaching the language would become the norm in the formal teaching of all languages. What a world of good that would do for communication between individuals and groups on a global basis. So in closing, I think what you have done with your courses is noble and deserves the highest praise and respect. Again, thank you so much — and have a great day!

Your synergy spanish way of learning has really transformed my understanding of the language. I have been trying to learn spanish for about five years now and could never retain or remember what I had learned from one week to the next and was beginning to think it was impossible for me.

I visited Ecuador with just a smattering of Spanish with a friend of mine who is fluent, and thought that I would be able to manage. I was wrong and felt like an alien with them not being able to understand me and vice versa. With your help I now feel that I could visit Ecuador again and be able to mingle with the lovely people we go to see there. Thank you with all my heart.

Thank you so much for being such an amazing Spanish teacher. I am now on lesson 23 of Synergy Spanish Level l and am so happy to learn from your 25-day course. The way you have organized the material is wonderful.

You do not overwhelm me with too much material at a time and you reinforce what you do give in such a creative simple way with the different excercises. I think you are a genius! I have tried some other courses and none have been as helpful to me as yours. Thank you again.

My husband and I are going to be in Mexico for our 40th wedding anniversary this February and I can not wait to practice what I have learned! May God richly bless you and your wife and your children.

I want you to know that I have learned and retained more from your program than with any other I’ve used, including Rosetta Stone. Thank you sooooo much for creating this program!!!

I should take this opportunity to say how much I am enjoying your lessons. I was quite amazed that in the first hour of learning I could master 40 sentences, both verbally and written.

I did a lot of research into different courses available before settling on Synergy Spanish. My daughter lives in Buenos Aires with her Argentine partner who is also learning to speak English. I recently had a short conversation with him in Spanish and he was blown away.

I’ve been living in Mexico for awhile. I spent my first 3 years looking for and using all sorts of resources to learn Spanish. I finally found your course and frankly I think your method is brilliant. I homeschooled and I’ve been teaching in a missionary school so I appreciate good teaching methods and yours is great.

I have been ‘learning’ Spanish for almost a year now……. I have a weekly personal tutor and go to a weekly class also……. I am bogged down with verb learning and vocab work and can hardly string a sentence together.

I am intelligent and keen to learn Spanish for travelling in Spain and South America so I was becoming really frustrated at my seeming inability to make progress.

I bought Synergy Spanish a few days ago after seeing it advertised online and having read all the testimonials….

Already I have grasped the use of the personal a and can use the lo and la after verbs….. why has no one explained this to me before????? It is so simple and straightforward!!!! I have been driving my husband to distraction this week-end going on about how fantastic this course is 🙂

I am totally sold on your course and know that at the end of it I will be proficient and will have learnt far more than I have done over the last year.

Thank you so much for thinking this through and then passing your skills onto those like me. Cannot wait to get to Spain and try out my new found ability to speak in sentences!

Looking forward to continuing with the course and making more progress. Thank you, thank you, thank you

My husband and I have a property ten minutes drive from Alicante City, and so we pay frequent visits to Spain throughout the year.

Because of your Synergy Spanish, I feel as though my brain cells are suddenly increasing, instead of decreasing, which isn’t a bad thing at my age (64).

Thank you very much for boosting my confidence to use Spanish, and for all the extra free lessons you give. Also, thank you to your wife Elena, who is obviously a massive help with pronunciation.

Penny later added

I am definitely had more confidence to use the language since learning Synergy Spanish, Whilst away. I was able to understand the Spanish people much easier when they spoke to me, and more importantly they understood me, and carried on speaking in their language, instead of switching over to English.

Thank you for an outstanding Spanish language program. I have tried many and your program has made the most impact on my ability to speak Spanish. Plus, it’s the most fun and practical!

I am amazed at just how much I have learned after only a few months. I have tried several other courses in the past and have always given up when the going got tough, but your style of teaching is amazing!!!

Not only am I able to understand fully all that I have learned, but I also find myself practising putting my own sentences together.

Your method is soothing, practical, and fun!

I have had grad-level courses in Spanish, including two grammar courses taught entirely in Spanish, and yet I can’t understand much of what the Spanish-speakers say when I’m volunteering at a women’s help center!

I’ve been so frustrated! Now I really believe I can pull it all together at last by working with your programs and tools.

Your Synergy Spanish lessons are brilliant! I run a (nature) conservation organization and a lot of our work is in Latin America. I have been procrastinating Spanish lessons for years as I expected that in middle age it would either be a losing battle or a difficult struggle.

Instead, with your lessons, it has been fun!! Your lessons are perfectly paced, with new words introduced at just the right rate and repeated in later lessons to solidify them. Somehow your classes are very motivating and enjoyable. I guess it’s partly learning words in the context of sentences, which really builds confidence, and the way you structure the lessons. I expected I’d have to “make myself” listen to the lessons; instead I find I’m rewarding myself with them after getting work done at my office.

After numerous language courses, I believed I couldn’t learn a language. But I wouldn’t give up. I felt there must be something out there! And yes, there was your course.

I can’t believe a language course can deliver what it says, but yours does. I know that I can learn and will be able to speak a 2nd language fluently.

I can’t thank you enough for giving me this gift…………..a gift where I really can learn a language

Once again thanks for opening doors for me, that I thought could never be opened. May God Bless YOU !!!

I have tried other courses and have my head so full of grammar, grammar, grammar but after 5 years realised I needed more speaking practice, the audio I have downloaded from your course are FANTASTIC and make speaking practice so easy.

Marcus, your classes have helped me more than anything. My husband and I were asked to do a service mission by our church for the hispanic people in our area. We’ve been working with the hispanics 10 months, and I’ve been discouraged with my ability to learn the language.

After starting your course, for the first time I’ve been able to express myself using simple sentence structure. Last night when I said “Voy a viajar con mi esposo la proxima semana,” a woman ran up to me and threw her arms around me exclaiming, “You’re speaking espanol!!!”

Never before have I enjoyed learning anything like I have enjoyed using your course.

Your method is incredible! I lay there at night with my earpiece on listening to the audio lessons and with each lesson I am stunned at the quickness in which I learn new words and phrases.

I shocked my son (who is very fluent) with my new ability. He was skeptical at first when I told him of your method but when he heard me able to converse fluently with him, he was thrilled and encouraged me to continue!

I am in a PhD program where I am required to learn a foreign language. I choose Spanish. I worked with a tutor from Spain for a year and a half. Then with a tutor from Venezuela for about 6 months. They taught me a lot of grammar but to be honest I still could barely string a sentence together.

Now, I am an lesson 7 of your program and I am thrilled so far. I know how make sentences!!! Woo-Hoo!

It’s really cool because you are not necessarily introducing me to new words but the best is that you are showing me how to use the words I already know to make sentences, useful sentences!!!!

I have an online language exchange partner. He told me my Spanish was better the other day. I was drinking a beer. He said maybe it was the beer. I laughed because I knew it was Synergy Spanish, not the beer.

Muchas Gracias!

On June 4th I will have been here in Uruguay for 2 years now. During that time I lamely tried to study Spanish, with no resources here where I live, and definitely no classes. A month ago I was listening to one audio a day consistently for 2 weeks and I have learned 10X más español in this short time than in the past whole 2 years!

Finding Shortcut to Spanish and then your Synergy Spanish , Informal Spanish and the many free lessons you make available was a life saver – it is the most awesome way to learn a language.

I am 65 and last year I went to South America for 4 months travelling and volunteering.

After 8 weeks of a Spanish night class i.e. one class a week, where we only got few chances to speak I had learned just enough to order a beer and not much more I knew I needed to do much much more.

A brief search of the Internet turned up your course and with your try before you buy sample lessons I knew I had found a great gift.

The difference in your course to many others was that it started at a totally basic level which is just what I needed and you are so encouraging.

I liked the way you didn’t start with lots of grammar or verb endings which I had bumped into and my heart had sunk with the enormity of the task.

For me the repetition of the words with sufficient time to remember what I had to say was great i.e the audio – some other courses had too little time to marshall my brain and do the repetition.

I liked the range of the course – the audios were awesome – the repetition was great – the revision in each session was grand. I also liked the way you built the lessons up to three chord sentences. I enjoyed the flip cards and related easily to your little catch phrases and the work book was excellent.

In the days before my trip I was always plugged into my MP3 player doing the house work, travelling by bike or car listening and saying the words and phrases out loud.

When I went to South America I just used the Spanish I had learnt. People were really happy to help and I could make myself understood. I did lots of travelling on my own.

Some of my conversations with people in markets in Ecuador and Bolivia are my fondest memories.

People couldn’t believe that I had only learnt Spanish for thee months.

I really liked the encouraging emails that came from you almost weekly with funny interesting and useful information.

It is true that 138 common basic words give you a vast range of useful phrases. I so liked it that you have built a course that gave me the building blocks in a structured way of a new language. I have recommended your course to many people including our correspondence school .

I very much appreciate that you make the course available at a very affordable price and thus make a contribution to the world.

Kia Kaha ( Maori for stay strong and go well )

I am really happy with your program it is helping me more than you know as I too am married to a Spanish person with a family that speaks no English and I am living in Spain.

You really have created a unique and fantastic program that makes learning Spanish so fun and easy. Congratulations!!

Happy to be learning Spanish with your easy to follow lessons. You’ve simplified it for me and I appreciate that. Love the way you present the material. With other teaching styles, I would give up because I was getting bogged down in too much grammar perfection.

I have been living in Spain for 8 months now and really wanted to interact with the Spanish community, so I started having lesson twice a week which I can honestly say, once I had left the classroom I had to think hard about what have I actually learnt that day?

I decided to teach myself at home and came across your course and I have enjoyed every bit of it and now I am already having social events with Spanish friends. I now feel more confident to talk within a group.

I would recommend your course to anyone who wishes to learn Spanish.

Congratulations for your fantastic Spanish lessons.

I had learned some Spanish when I was studying in California …37 years ago.
I was very disappointed when I visited Spain 3 times in the last two years and discovered I could barely speak or communicate.

I started your course only three weeks ago and now I am already in the middle of level one and I am so happy I can understand and speak so effortlessly.

Learning through your courses is so easy, entertaining and of substance.

I would like to thank you for your great work, making learning a language fun again.

I wanted to tell you how amazing I think your Synergy Spanish is—it’s usable immediately!

I am a volunteer with Operation Smile. On three occasions I have traveled to Spanish speaking countries on medical missions. This last time, I had the benefit of having completed Synergy Spanish before going!

The Synergy verbs get you out of any situation. If i was stuck trying to think of how to say something, all I had to do was run through those verbs and I could come up with a way to say what I wanted. I loved being successful SO MUCH! At first I was nervous, but right away I was able to get my point across. And by speaking Spanish, the locals connected with me, sought me out, engaged in silliness, became friends like I was never before able to experience!

I sang my praises of Synergy Spanish with all the other volunteers. It’s just so logical, so applicable, so usable!! I’d studied Spanish online before but they taught in the most boring, plodding, non-usable method.

Gracias, mi amigo.

P.S.: Just the other day i was in a store and a Spanish speaking woman was trying to communicate with the English speaking salesperson. I jumped in and translated! How cool was that?! Very, very cool!

I absolutely love that I am getting to speak more Spanish thanks to your simple and informative course.

When I first embarked upon your course I had a lovely new notebook and pen to hand to make notes. This has become obsolete now because I am thrilled how easy I remember the words

Thank you so much for getting rid of all the grammar lesson and making this so accessible and enjoyable. Sorry for the lengthy email but I just love it.

Regards,

I just finished the first level of Shortcut To Spanish, and it was outstanding. I have tried everything from Barron’s, to Spanish Now, to Spanish is Fun, to Speed Spanish, to Berlitz, and even the Idiot’s Guide to Learning Spanish, to name a few. Your course has convinced me I’m not hopeless after all.

I learned more from your course than any of these others, but what’s more, I am able to retain the information and put into practice thousands of sentences I never thought I’d ever be able to speak. I’ve always loved Mexico, the Spanish language, the culture, their people, but only now am I able to truly embrace them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I must say Marcus…YOU ARE A GENIUS! I called one of my friends in Cuba last night and just blew them away. It was an awesome feeling!

Once you get the basic formula down, everything is smooth sailing from there. I just needed someone to lay that formula out for me in a simplified manner. You couldn’t have made it any easier. Again Marcus…you are genius! YOU ROCK!

I thought I’d let you know how fantastic I did on my last trip to Cuba. I could not wait to test out everything I had learned with your course. I was a little hesitant at first but once I had a few Pina Coladas, I was speaking Spanish with all of my old Cuban friends in no time. They did correct me on one or two things but were very, very impressed. I had visited with them only two months ago and knew nothing but “hola, si and gracias”. They were thrown right off! I was even translating for the tourists downtown, it was great!

I felt all tingly inside whenever I had finished a whole conversation in Spanish. My Canadian girlfriend who came with me, just sat back in awe. Wow did I feel good. I have no one else to thank but you Marcus. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

Marcus It was more than I expected and my Spanish is so much the better for it. I really think you did a great job and interestingly you managed to have that sense of ‘humaness’ throughout. I felt like you were there with me encouraging me on. you are right it is quite a departure from the usual textbook fare which require such Herculean effort with less result.

I am from Jamaica in the Caribbean and if we had had that text in school all of us would be speaking Spanish by now.

I live in Menorca with my Menorcan husband and I have found this course very helpful. I have now been on the island for 6 years and have always had difficulty in creating Spanish sentences. Your course has helped me to understand the language better than anything I have tried before, and I now have more confidence when speaking to my husband’s family.

I had almost given up learning Spanish I found, trying to learn all the verbs straight from a grammar book, difficult and was finding it increasingly hard to keep my motivation up. Your style has inspired me once again and I am enjoying it very much.

I’m only spending 30 minutes a day with your course and each time I come away feeling I learn something every time, and best of all I have found a new confidence in speaking the language! Thank you so much for giving me my motivation back.

Thanks……your course is WONDERFUL ! I have researched and bought numerous Spanish courses over the years and yours is the first I have found to be truly ‘user friendly’.

I do have some basic knowledge and vocabulary under my belt…..but have never been able to converse in Spanish. After only reading the first few chapters of your course I already find myself realizing that I can actually put sentences together.

Love your quick easy and very comprehensible lessons, with words and sentences you can use right away!

I am truly delighted with the course. It is well worth the money and I never get bored playing the cd’s while driving. In fact I look forward to making a long drive on my own when I can practise.

I am currently attending an adult education beginners Spanish course at the local centre and am finding it very easy thanks to your course. keep up the good work!

Thank you also for your very rapid replies to all my emails.

Thanks for an excellent course. I live in Tenerife and have been to Spanish classes here but have found the grammar made it very difficult. I have found that my Spanish is now coming on very well with your course.

I LOVED YOUR SPANISH COURSE. I HAD BEEN STUDYING OTHER BOOKS, BUT YOUR COURSE MADE IT SOOOOO MUCH EASIER TO LEARN SPANISH.

LATER MELINDA WROTE TO ME AGAIN AND ADDED

I’ve been studying your course like crazy, because I knew I would be seeing my Spanish friend last week. I had dinner with 2 friends and they were amazed at how much Spanish I knew…I was communicating in Spanish with no difficulty… you make learning FUN!!!

I’d just like to say you’re a great teacher, I’ve had a look at your teaching style and it’s so easy to follow. Thank you for all your help with my Spanish lessons!!

Thank you for this wonderful course! I am delightfully surprised by your innovative approach to “actually” speaking another language.

Many of my friends are Spanish speaking people. Puerto Rico, others include Mexico, Panama, Cuba, Columbia, Venezuela and the list goes on. I wish to speak with them in their native tongue. These warm and loving people embrace me as one of their own and they fondly say I have a Latin soul! Being an American, I am honored.

I have gone through the first part of the course, and I am already speaking in coherent sentences to my friends.

I’m a real basic beginner for Spanish Your lessons really do allow me to learn a lot faster than my books.

I am really enjoying my Spanish course. I have approx. 1 hour each day and feel more comfortable all the time. You are a genius, this course is terrific.

I have really enjoyed your course and feel much more confident in my Spanish. It is a lot easier than the text books I have been working on.

I have tried several “at home” methods of learning Spanish over a course of several months and was unsuccessful…the lessons did not hold my attention. With your lessons I have started communicating with my Hispanic friends within two weeks. My friends are very proud of me.

The book with the CDs are wonderful. I am learning so fast to put actual sentences together.

I was able to make complete sentences within one hour of listening to your CD and my teenage son listened in the car also and was saying sentences.

I really enjoyed your lessons. I thought they were brilliant! I am a Australian girl travelling in Spain who loves to learn Spanish quickly and efficiently. Thank you so much for your time… Did I say I thought your lessons were brilliant? Yes I think they are brilliant.

Just wanted to let you know my Spanish is coming along great. I wish I had found you a few years ago when I first started taking holidays in Spain, I have battled with the language for so long, I just couldn’t remember the words no matter how hard and long I studied them, with your course its so easy. I recommend you to everyone.

I have lived in Lanzarote in the Canary islands for the past 8 years and have tried many different ways of learning Spanish and found it very hard. I find your way so much fun and a lot easier.

I knew como esta and gracias back in June, just 3 months ago. After using your program, I now am pulling sentences together.

My new “Novio” boyfriend, who is Spanish, is very impressed. He speaks very little English and we are communicating much more these days – Thanks to your program. This has helped me to see how romantic the language is – I love the language!

I have studied Spanish some years ago, I went to evening classes & yes it wasn’t easy & I found it all so confusing.

Just wanted to let you know how easy I have found your way of learning the Spanish language! Thanks to you I now feel confident in speaking Spanish to the locals when I next visit Spain.

Thank you so much for your support with Spanish. I use it at work, and I found your lessons to be very well structured. From a teacher’s point of view I can add that your material is very comprehensible, easy to use, and rich in information.

I find that the audio files are most helpful to me because those who are speaking, (both in English and in Spanish) pronounce their words very clearly and there’s no background music or any other noise to distract me from hearing and understanding what is being spoken. That is very important to me, because I have significant hearing loss, but it will benefit anyone!

As well, the way the material is presented makes it very easy to both learn and remember the words and to speak them right away, even in sentences!

The genius of your course is the ease with which we slide into conjugations. Instead of sitting and memorizing, you simply have us speaking, effortlessly. You have us using: I, you, she, he, we, they, through sentences, with no intimidation. It couldn’t be better.

Thank you for your guidance and info on this fantastic way of learning Español. So far I have been amazed at what I have been able to learn and more importantly remember in such a short time. I think these methods you have discovered are truly fantastic.

I very much enjoy this course and I am learning far more from doing it than any other courses I have tried.

Your course is terrific. I have learnt more in 7 weeks than in the previous 5 years. Can’t wait to know where to go next!

I spent two semesters in a college level Spanish class here in Davis – and couldn’t write or speak at all! I made A’s in the class but couldn’t put a sentence together – incredible!

I think I’m on ~leccion 11. I can tell you that I’m amazed how I can write Spanish sentences already.

I must tell you that after downloading the Audio lessons I found your teaching style to be easy and sooo effective.

My most difficult part of learning Spanish has been the verbs and conjugation which at times, I’ve simply ignored or given up. But after listening to your recordings, it seems effortless. Muchas Gracias, for an incredible teaching tool.

You are such a Blessing, and we mean that very much! We Thank God for your assistance in teaching us Spanish in an easy to learn way.

I thank you and your wife very much for making your easy to understand conversational Spanish courses. I am enjoying them immensely.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you for creating your course. Already I’m finding it effective and useful!! The mnemonics are a very useful way to remember the words and phrases.

I’m glad to have finally found something that doesn’t cost ridiculous amounts of money that I can’t afford to pay for at my age!

Your program is the best I have tried. Thank you so much for your efforts in putting this together. I must say I am immensely impressed with your response time to questions problems.

– Jacqueline Hart (England)

– Denise Ras-Arvidson (USA)

I’m telling all my friends that your courses are the best I have encountered, from tapes and books, to CDs, and videos.

I have bought and used quite a few of your courses, and would recommend them to anyone. It is a big journey trying to learn and improve your Spanish! but your courses have been so helpful.

Thank you for a marvellous courses. They are the best I know

Kind regards