UK Reviews

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!

Everything that you have done (Shortcut to Spanish 1 and 2, bola de Nieve, Spanish Ear Training etc) has helped me become almost bilingual in 2 – 3 years. Can’t thank you enough Marcus.

Thanks for creating this system of learning. I love it. What started out as an inquisitive “toe-dipping” into the Spanish language has now developed into what I know will be a lifelong learning quest!…

Not only with the language but with the culture and country of Spain; and is doesn’t stop with Spain there’s the a whole other continent across “the pond” to discover. Bola de Nieve in particular for me is like one of those books that once you start to can’t put down; admittedly I am running a little behind but that’s how things are with 3 young daughters a full time job AND a wife to keep happy!!

Thanks again for all your time and effort and PLEASE keep it going.

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’ve been studying Spanish for about 2 years now (I was 59 when I started), and very soon discovered your Shortcut to Spanish and Synergy courses, so of course I jumped at the chance to enroll on your Bola de Nieve! I like your step by step approach building on previous lessons and it’s very convenient on my MP3 player as I can dip into it at all sorts of odd times, but most of all I like the way you present the lessons sharing bits of your life with us.

I am learning much more than ever I did with formal Spanish course and exam. I am very happy with this method. I feel much more confident now.

THE ENTENSIVE Audio is my favourite part as I feel this is very lacking in many other more courses. Please keep it up.

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.

Bola de Nieve is by far the best Spanish learning method I’ve experienced.

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.

Bola de Nieve has helped me to react quicker in Spanish. I often do not have to consciously think of the words or phrases in Spanish – many of them are becoming instinctive.

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.

Me gustaría decir que he disfrutado de sus cursos muchísimo; Mi español se ha mejorado enormemente, gracias a ellos y usted. Ahora puedo visitar a mis amigos en Costa Rica, y sentirme mucho más confiado en mis conversaciones con ellos.

I would like to say that I have enjoyed your courses very much. Mi Spanish has improved enormously. Now I can visit my friends in Costa Rica, and feel much more confident in my conversations with them.

Eddie later added

I would also like to say that in a couple of weeks I shall be 74 years old…so don’t let anyone think age is any sort of a barrier to learning another language….especially with your unique method of teaching.

Many, many years ago I left grammar school with a GCE certificate “O” level in French, but I have never been able to hold a conversation in French; ….. as I now can in Spanish!!

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.

Your courses have helped me so much. Each one has built on what I have learned from previous ones and the Ear Training one is very helpful for the most difficult aspect, in my opinion, understanding someone talking in Spanish. Also, the collocations are particularly useful.

Another vital factor is that your courses manage to generate enthusiasm in me and I love learning through them. I think that a large part of teaching is having the ability to generate that enthusiasm from a pupil and I think you have that ability in abundance.

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!

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.

Thank you so much for your absolutely brilliant series, Spanish Ear Training. It is so simple and a tribute to your excellent mind. I really feel that I am at last becoming a Spanish speaker, which is my greatest wish.

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.

First of all, I want to thank you for the excellence of your Spanish teaching method.

I have been trying to learn Spanish off and on for about five years, but I have to admit I have learned more in the last month than all that time.

I have been successfully learning Spanish with your courses. I am now finishing the synergy course – all is great, it’s a fantastically effective way to learn. Keep up the good work. Saludos.

It’s BRILLIANT! The combination of audio and written materials is perfect and the whole Synergy/Brick verb structure has really helped me to get to grips in record time.

I’ve found it such a pleasure to use. I feel I’m making huge progress already :-).

The Synergy Course is helping me more than anything else I have tried. For ten years I have struggled to learn the language. In the last 2 weeks I have learnt more from this (and faster, and easier) than I have in the last 10 years!

Thanks again for your help, it’s worth every cent! Saludos”

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.

Now on lesson 11, really getting a lot out of your course, it has pulled a lot together that I already knew, and feel a lot more confident than just one week ago. I am even communicating by e-mail to my brother-in-law in Spanish! He is a Spanish teacher living in the Isle of Man (uk). He was totally amazed to receive a letter by me in Spanish (not as amazed as me by writing it!) and forwarded it to his Spanish learning girlfriend to give her inspiration! I passed on your website details so she can check it out herself. I cant believe that Ive been studying your synergy for only 11 days. Gracias!

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

I am really pleased that you have nearly finished part 2 of Synergy Spanish. Part 1 helped me out this year in Spain. I can`t wait for your new lessons.

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!

I have spent a lot of money in the past on recordings, vocabulary and verb conjugation books, but I have to say I have learned more in one day using your method. I only wish I’d known about it sooner. The lessons are presented in such a way that it would be impossible not to learn the language.

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.

Am finding your course very good after spending literally hundreds of pounds on Lingaphone and Micheal Thomas CDs.

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.

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.

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.

I thought it was so original and easy to follow. it made a big difference and gave me more confidence. It kept me interested and gave me that little push I needed to continue.

I have been trying to speak Spanish for some time and your Synergy Spanish has done more for me than all the grammar lessons I have sat through.

After years of Spanish lessons with the hard sell on verbs. I have found your course most interesting and so easy to understand. Gradually building on phrases and introducing the conjugation of the verbs in normal conversation makes it so easy to remember.

…. after spending hundreds of pounds / dollars on other methods of learning Spanish, ie Traditional Language courses, books, even expensive private tutoring, I have found that the methods you use yield far greater, and more importantly, lasting , memorable results………

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.

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.

Just finished your excellent course. I had learned a reasonable background vocabulary before but had nothing to “glue” words together in phrases that I could produce. I still have a long way to go but I found that your course gave me a fantastic grounding in everyday phrases that I could relate to and remember with relative ease.

It has also enabled me to read Spanish online newspapers and have a good idea what the stories were about.

I found that I looked forward to each lesson and it was the first thing I did when I got home from work. It was very pleasing that the lessons are structured in such a way that you don’t get bogged down and maintain your enthusiasm throughout the course. I found it very satisfying after every lesson, feeling that I had definitely learned something that I would hold on to.

As soon as I send this e-mail I’m going to check the Spanish papers to see what they are saying about FC Barcelona(soccer).

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

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 live 4 months a year in Spain and have bought every CD and book and just got tangled up in indigestible words and lessons – all totally unconnectable and disheartening. I have learnt more in 2 days with your course than I have learnt after 100’s x £ and months of other courses. I love it. Great product.

For about a year now I have tried to learn the basic rudiments of the Spanish language. I can only describe my efforts as an unmitigated disaster. However it is now almost six weeks since downloading your shortcut 2 Spanish, I have to say whilst skeptical at first I am amazed at how quickly things are changing.

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 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.

I have just completed your Short Cut to Spanish and think it is excellent and an easy way for this slow learner to learn the language. I would also add that I can highly recommend your course to anyone who feels daunted at the prospect of learning a new language.

Thanks for making Spanish so easy. What was a daunting task has now become fun. I am so loving this course as you can manage it on your own. I can’t wait to go Cuba now. I am now talking up a Spanish storm.

The short audio lessons are especially good- not too time consuming, no boring grammar and very interactive.

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!

Let me say that your course is really very good indeed. All of the resources you provide are really useful and I am continuing to improve daily. A fantastically easy and intuitive course.

Thanks for the Spanish lessons. They are much easier than other lessons I have tried.

– Jacqueline Hart (England)

I thought your Shortcut to Spanish course was first class and unbeatable in terms of value for money…………a rare compliment these days…………..

Your Spanish course has been a real exciting program, just as you said. I wish I’d learnt it this way years ago. I’m off to Spain in a couple of weeks time and can’t wait to try my new found skills.

My name is Derrick Scott and I have been trying to learn Spanish for a little more than a year now. I was having major difficulty understanding the Spanish language using two different CD programs to teach myself. I was constantly frustrated and very unhappy with the products. Your program showed me I already know a large part of the Spanish language. Imagine my surprise when through simple word association I was able to retain and clearly understand words I’ve been fighting to understand for a year. I get it now and you made it plain as day. I can actually create sentences in my head without any help and I am understanding what I read in Spanish.

Following is the second email from Derrick

You sure make Spanish a real pleasure to learn. Your methods are shortcuts in every sense and even with my busy lifestyle I am able to fit in about 40 minutes listening every day to your audio during my bus journey to and from work. At the low cost you ask for this course this is indeed a very generous gift to anyone who desires to master Spanish!

Your relentless dedication and enthusiasm for the subject simply fill me with the confidence to want to learn more and more. I would not hesitate to recommend your course to anyone I met who was struggling to learn by other means, or wishing to start learning from scratch!

This is a remarkable resource for not a great deal of money and please be assured, I for one am very impressed, and more than a little grateful!

Just to say I have waded through quite a few Spanish courses but yours is tops. The grammar just falls into place, I would recommend this course to anyone, the price is really good value, you must be robbing yourself.

I can’t believe all that you provide for such a small fee. I know a lot of people that are either trying to learn Spanish or want to. I will recommend everyone I know to your website.

I have been speaking Spanish (of a fashion) for a few years. The last 3 has been a bit more serious as we have both been to night school,consequently this has taken us to a higher level…but I think we both were feeling that we had “plateaued”.

I must admit I was a bit skeptical when Diane bought your course as she has ‘bitted & bobbed’ with various downloadable ‘courses’ without a great deal of success. However, I’m pleased to report that we both have been really impressed. It really is a different way of learning. Diane especially has now much more confidence in her Spanish & I look forward to her being more “vocal” when we go to our place in Spain again.

I love your shortcut to Spanish! I am 19 yrs and it is not overwhelming it’s exciting!

We have just returned to the UK from Spain, but a month before we left I downloaded your program Synergy Spanish and our Spanish friends could not believe the progress I made in 1 month, thanks a million Marcus.

On Wednesday I made my first ever phone call to Spain from England and this was also my first telephone call made in Spanish. The call went well and I could understand 75% of what the hospital receptionist said and she appeared to understand me perfectly as she provided the information that I required without having to ask for clarification.

I am feeling really good about the experience.

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

Having worked through several of your Spanish courses I am currently three quarters of the way through your Bola De Nieve programme. I wake up each day eager to learn more.

I am continuing to achieve my personal goals each day and this includes; daily practice, completing courses, speaking with native Spanish speakers (face to face and via the telephone), writing letters and e-mails, reading (hard copy and on-line material) watching and listening to on line multi media.

My original goal for wanting to learn Spanish was achieved in September 2013 when I visited the people who invited me to to contribute to a professional conference in Pamplona, Spain in 1998. This year I met with some of the people that orgnaised this conference. In addition my wife and I enjoyed celebrating our 40th wedding anniverssary whilst there. I was able to order food, buy tickets, ask for directions and converse with people in a multitude of public arenas. Even at our hotel next to Manchester airport (England) I was able to converse with the young waitress who came from the Nevarra region of Spain. Several time when discussing food, in Manchester and Spain I was provided with extra food, free of charge!

When I returned from my visit in 1998 I felt frustrated at not being able to communicate freely with the very friendly and interesting people I met. This time I felt really pleased and much more content. My wife and I are already planning to re-visit next year with a view to meeting up with more of the people I met back in 1998.

So thank you for your knowledge, skill and understanding that you have of the culture, language and of teaching people of all ages and from all walks of life. Throughout all of your courses I have not experienced the curse of procrastination and I am looking forward to undertaking your course for developing listening skills in Spanish after I complete Bola De Nieve in about four or five months time.

I am almost 70 and am immensely enjoying your language course which I practice one hour day. It is also beneficial in keeping the little grey cells stimulated – very therapeutic and better for one’s mental health than crosswords or suduku !

My fluency will be put to good use when we revisit Majorca again in October.

I’d like to tell you about my experience speaking Spanish in Guatemala after studying two of your courses.

I started Synergy Spanish at the beginning of last April and then went on to Bola de Nieve. I completed both courses in ten months

I stayed with a family in Antigua, Guatemala, for six weeks.

For the first three days I wasn’t very fluent as these were my first face to face conversations in Spanish. However, on day four something just clicked and I started making very rapid progress. A few days later I found myself discussing topics with them that I never thought I’d be able to discuss in Spanish on this visit.

I was in Guatemala to help out at two school projects for kids from some of the poorest families in the country. At one school I was given the job of helping out with a survey of the school students being conducted by the school. I ended up interviewing 200 of the school students in Spanish and writing down their answers.

At the other school I was given the job of helping very small children whose first language was Kaqchikel and for whom Spanish was a second language. Some of them were struggling with reading, writing and arithmetic and I gave half a dozen children one-to-one tuition in Spanish.

A splendid course. I agree with others; I’ve tried various courses but yours is definitely the best.

The design of the course is particularly well thought out. What’s especially important is that themes, words and phrases are repeated from time to time, which is invaluable for reinforcing the memory.

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 recently returned from Barcelona and was able to put into use so much of what I have learnt from these great courses.

Every day I feel like I am getting closer to my Spanish language learning goal. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle with a new piece being fitted each day. Great stuff – Keep the lessons coming!

In summary a great way to learn Spanish. I have a holiday apartment in Spain and am much more confident shopping there and speaking to locals.

I have just completed the Advanced Concepts Intensive course and cannot believe the improvement in my Spanish. Until I joined Synergy Spanish my Spanish learning had hit a brick wall. The course has been both rewarding and so enjoyable, your teaching method is amazing. I will miss receiving the new instalment each month.

It is due to your really excellent courses that i can now speak well in Spanish. A friend of mine who is Spanish and lives in Madrid says that she thinks I am 1 in 1000 in the level of Spanish that I speak and understand.

I can travel alone to any area of Spain where little or no English is spoken and I get by very comfortably and most people also help because you are learning their language.

I owe you a massive thank you for the pleasure and ability I did not know I possess to enable me to sit talking late at night over a drink with local business men and millionaires in Majorca who speak with me because I made the effort and was very lucky to meet an accomplished teacher of Spanish.

Thank you once again for giving me much pleasure after retirement (I am 72)

Bola De Nieve is a brilliant course I am a retired language teacher so I know a bit about language teaching and this is the best course I’ve ever come across.

Saludos,

I have to tell you how much I’m enjoying Bola de Nieve! I’ve learned more in the five months or so since I started it that the previous 5 years. I’m actually beginning to believe that becoming fluent in this lovely language is possible!

I have just finished Module 3 for the first time, and I wanted to just write to say that I am really enjoying Bola de Nieve and as a follow on from your other programmes I have bought. I already feel my Spanish expanding greatly. I really like the course content and the way it is structured. I am hoping to move to Costa Rica for a few months this year and I am really looking forward to speaking a good amount of Spanish with real confidence.