Learn Spanish with Paul Noble – Complete Course

by Paul Noble

An exciting approach to learning Spanish with the easy, relaxed appeal of an audio-only product. Over 12 hours of easy-listening.

No books. No rote memorisation. No chance of failure.

This download contains the entire course.
Part 1
• Language ground rules
• The use of the past tense
• Numbers
• Essential vocabulary to use when booking into a hotel, taking a taxi, and eating out

Part 2
• Asking for directions
• Verb revision
• Travelling by bus and train
• Introducing and talking about yourself

Part 3
• Useful phrases when shopping
• Vocabulary for conversing with a pharmacist or doctor
• Practice and revision
• The future tense

Course Review
The course review offers a very useful opportunity to revise the full course and practise what you have learnt. A native-speaking Spanish expert helps you to perfect your pronunciation. Learn over 6,000 words in no time at all and learn how to make your new vocabulary work for you.
A downloadable booklet is also included to use as a reference and revision tool.

A more in-depth course for those looking to improve their language skills, with over 12 hours of audio and handy written revision guide to reinforce your learning.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Language, Education, Personal Development

Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jonathan O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐

A 13 hr Beginner’s Spanish (Crash) Course that might be a serviceable option if you’re a few weeks out from a holiday abroad and just looking to bag yourself a handy-ish swag of Scenario specific phrases, vocabulary and verb conjugations but is otherwise not recommendable for those interested in a proper understanding of the language.

For some reason, Noble prides himself on the lack of grammar-chat in this course. There is grammar, of course, but he is at pains to call the occasional explanation of verb conjugations or masculine/feminine articles etc. what they are. This determination to steer clear of any overt discussions on “big, bad, boring theory” hurts the order and arrangement of topics and doesn’t seem at all an intuitive approach for adults to learn a new language. It’s kind of the ‘Man-Shake’ of language learning courses. You know? ”Lose the beer-gut, without losing all the beers!” Only it’s, learn the language without learning any of the absolutely essential grammatical framework that holds it all together.

The course begins, oddly, in the Present Perfect, which is a compound tense meaning “to have verbed” (eg. He comido, I have eaten or Hemos hablado, We have spoken). I say oddly because that is a highly unusual place to start a complete beginner but it does make sense in getting someone to speak as much as possible in a very short amount of time. This tense combined with the Present tense and the handy word combo ir + a (to go to. eg. ¿Vas a la fiesta?, Are you going to the party? or Voy a gritar, I'm going to scream) allows you to begin constructing sentences very quickly but I’m suspicious of the longevity of memorisation when not coupled with sufficient, orderly explanation of the relevant theory.

For at least, but possibly exceeding, the first 80% of the course you stay within the boundaries of present and present perfect tenses with very few exceptions. You learn to construct sentences, in a very limited manner, within the context of specific scenarios such as booking a room at a hotel, reserving a table at a restaurant and ordering food/drinks, asking for directions etc.

It isn’t until much later in the course that he begins to touch lightly on the ‘simple past’ and ‘future’ tenses but I was confused when, after spending very little time on this, he started recapping heaps of the same things from earlier in the course pretty much verbatim. I thought it was a legitimate recap only it was directly followed by.... Another recap! And then he went through numbers 1-100+, 200, 300... 1000 etc. not once but three times. Once with English, Latin American and Castilian, then again with only Latin and again with only Castilian, and the alphabet! In other words, the last hour or so felt heavily padded. If anything, numbers and alphabet should’ve been close to the beginning of the course but I think that would’ve gone against Nobles “no boring stuff” rule.

One thing I do think is excellent about this audio course is that you are relentlessly prompted to not only repeat sentences but construct them, on the fly, with the knowledge you’re gaining. I turned my audiobook up to 1.5x and made a game of ‘beat the clock’ out of it. Constantly vocalising what you know is always beneficial no matter what level your at. I hadn't used my Spanish in a while and had developed a slight case of GringoMouth™️ (particularly common in Aussies) where i hardly open my mouth to speak. This has helped to loosen up the mouth muscles a bit and I have actually noticed improvement in ar.tic.u.la.tion even in the short amount of time it took to finish the course. So there you go, a silver lining!

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it but if you used this solely as a bit of supplementary material to a greater study plan or, as I mentioned, just as a quick fix if you’re visiting a Spanish-speaking country in the very near future, then it couldn’t hurt! Hell, when you make it to Barcelona and a beautiful woman approaches you and says:


”Hola guapo, Como estas?”

You can confidently reply,

”No, no para mi gracias, estoy llevando los calzoncillos de mi abuelo”


Hasta la proxima, chamos! ;)

[David Rubenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this audiobook, and I am surprised how different it is from other language-learning audiobooks. Paul Noble talks at a very slow, deliberate pace, explaining concepts in detail, and allowing the listener to absorb new concepts. He talks in British English, and after a pause his words, phrases and sentences are then followed by Spanish speakers; a man and a woman. The man speaks with a Latin American pronunciation, while the woman speaks with a Castillian pronunciation.

I enjoyed this audiobook, as Paul Noble is a delightful host, and his pronunciation hints and tips are sometimes a bit humorous--maybe not intentionally so. The pace is good, and the approach fits my learning style. Occasionally I had to use an English-Spanish dictionary, to understand which letters were being pronounced. That is a problem with many audiobooks; it is difficult to be sure which consonants the Spanish speakers are using. For example, I thought that the Spanish word for "card" was being pronounced "carreta", when it actually is "tarjeta".

I recommend this audiobook to other beginners learning to speak Spanish. It's a good approach, not too fast and not too slow.

[Grace B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't be happier! This is, hands down, the best approach to learning a new language yet! By the end of the course, you're able to speak with ease (noticed and confirmed by my Spanish speaking friends), which to me is the hardest part of learning a new language. If you want to start somewhere, start with Paul Noble's courses. Can't recommend them enough!

[Carmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely excellent teach-yourself Spanish course. I just spent three months travelling and volunteering in Latin America and this was my only significant language preparation. The style of formulating the Spanish yourself during pauses on the audiotrack made me overcome my fear of speaking and cemented the language structure and vocabulary in my head. Once I arrived in Latin America I had a great foundation of the language and was able to improve very quickly. A fantastic way to learn. My only quibble is more with Audible than with the course itself as some of the sections were missing from the Audio Book. Thank you Paul Noble for a great way to learn a language!

[Lexus Uhlir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to put this on my good reads since technically I read it. This is a good resource for people that already have an understanding of a Latin language and are trying to learn a new one or need a refresher. Not really for beginners imo
Trying for the 3rd time to learn Spanish so let’s see if Paul lives up to his promise

[Ben Twomey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I needed in my Spanish learning journey, especially loved the emphasis on not *trying* to remember too much, just letting the repetition and reminders lodge themselves in their own time - perfecto!

[Jasmine Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my Spanish grind. This audiobook has helped IMMENSELY. 100% recommend for anyone trying to learn Spanish.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving this five stars because I think it will be truly helpful to someone looking to brush up on their Spanish or to learn helpful terms and dialogue before a trip.

Is it a comprehensive way to learn the language? No, it’s not. As someone who has studied Spanish in school, but needed a refresher, this was perfect. I don’t know how it would have been had a never learned the language at all, but it was extremely repetitive! I like the way Paul frequently went back and reviewed everything he’d covered.

I also appreciated the two translators, one from Latin America and one from Spain, and how the slight differences were highlighted.

The only thing I wanted was a bit more depth and coverage of more common phrases.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've learnt more Spanish with these classes than in "real life" classes. The way it's taught is just so simple and yet genius, showing you how to string along phrases from what you know, and adapt them. I've been trying to learn Spanish for years with classes and Duolingo and have remembered so little, but with this I remember plenty and feel much more confident about actually using it!
Heading into the intermediate class!

[Nathan Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No comprendo nada”


Jokes aside, this is a really engaging and intuitive approach to language learning. Far more efficient than other “self-taught” methods but still find myself struggling to speak or listen at pace. It helped that I had a very basic foundation before beginning, but will have to try the Intermediate one next.

Repeating the same phrases over and over became quite grating, but that being said - I still haven’t mastered it, so I think that’s just part of the process

[Michelle Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noble's audiobook was a great way to continue my learning of Spanish. He uses your existing schema and reasoning to make sense of the rules of Spanish, and shows you how much you already know, perhaps without realizing it. It is more of a common-sense, immersive, practical learning of the language, rather than grammar or spelling rules you may have learned in Spanish class. It was also pretty relaxing to listen to and included a lot of review and repetition. I am going to continue on to his next book!

[Cheyenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great review and refresher course! I’m looking forward to continuing. I do wish that more of the conversations were for everyday language use rather than travel.

[Kira Stahly]

This is a great book for very basic Spanish learning

[Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Muy bien!

[Liselott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than any other language course I have tried!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alrighty so I binged this audiobook in preparation for Spanish 201 im starting in Feb. I have a 330 day Streak on Duolingo, so I didn’t actually learn a whole lot of new things, but it did give me a few tips and explained a few things I never quite understood. It also covered two basic tenses i hadn’t yet learnt…but I definitely could’ve just started on the Intermediate course. My only other gripe is they call this a “complete course” and it is in no way “complete” - it gives beginners a good headstart though. Would I recommend it? Yes. But use in conjunction with something like Duolingo or Babbel so you can see how the words are spelt as well as heard. I will also say that his audiobook has two native speakers. The Latinoamericano voice AND the española voice was useful to hear the two diff variations. Muchas gracias a Paul y los dos hablantes en este curso.

[Christy Chance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I listened to this on audible. That may be simpler than reading it, I cannot compare it. But I will absolutely buy his other language series. He makes it easy and fun! We purchased it to learn basics before a trip to Costa Rica. I feel like when I listen to each section more than once it is really starting to take root and make sense! And I learned more from him about Spanish than I learned in five years of French! He boils it down to simple “rules” of what the language is based on and it just CLICKS. Brilliant.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i studied Spanish for 5-6 years as a teen but lost most of my skills from lack of use. I downloaded this audio book from Audible with a monthly credit. I am really pleased with how well I improving using this program. I am not sure how it compares to other more well known "brands" like pimsleur or Rosetta stone, but I was not willing to pay $200. But since I am very happy with this purchase, I don't think money was even a factor.

[Lot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't actually totally finished this but I'm rating it 5 stars and marking it as read anyway. I'm listening to it as an audiobook and going backwards and forwards as I need to, so it's going to take me a while to get to the very end. It's the best language book I have come across, I've learnt SO much and so many easy tricks, making the whole thing a real pleasure. Very much recommend.

[Anthony O' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this last year. Paul has a good way of getting you to think about the language as if you were about to speak and communicate with it.

I like his style and would recommend it to supplement other resources.

[Nancy Dardarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio language learning. I like the format and learned a lot.

[Chanelle S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've started this set about 6 times over the past 10 years (back when CDs were a thing and I bought them), but this year I decided I was going to get all the way through all of the CDs from start to finish now that I'm frequenting multiple settings in which knowing Spanish would really be helpful.

Paul Noble has a soft, gentle voice, and he explains from the start that grammar isn't going to be stressed and neither is remembering things the first time. He returns to things over and over throughout the course, and the last two CDs are a recap of the entire set so you can review everything you've learned. I felt like there are some things that I'll never need (like reserving a campsite in Spain or even asking for directions, now that we'd just use our phones for that), but most of the lessons were quite useful for travelers, especially.

Traveling or not, however, the method he uses is great. He asks a question, "Based on what I've just told you about taking off the "ation" in invitation and adding "ado," how do you think you would say "I have invited"? and then there's a pause for you to say it, and then two native speakers say it correctly for you (Latin American and Castilian Spanish speakers). By having you say it and then hear it twice, he helps you get comfortable with pronouncing the Spanish yourself and hearing what it will sound like if someone says it to you.

During this course, I felt my tongue got accustomed to how it needed to move to make the sounds I was hearing. In that respect, it was much better than if I was using Duolingo or something like that. It's purely an oral course except for a tiny booklet that goes with it which doesn't cover every word, but it does get you started a little with reading Spanish, too. I'd like to go on to use his other Spanish course materials so I can continue to grow in my understanding of the language.

I'm still hesitant to USE the Spanish in public so far, but I'm pleased to report that I definitely see an improvement in my recognition of Spanish words being spoken in public. I'm a chicken, though. Just gotta be bold and get out there and try it.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have used these courses before, and in the the past have not listed them in my reading, mainly because I thought of them as audio courses and not books. However it is bought as an audio book, and it turns out that a full text version is available as "Unlocking Spanish with Paul Noble". I have thus decided to list this one.

Paul Noble's courses are all very similar to each other, taking a student from the very first steps in a language to a level that is still basic, but where all the major tenses have been introduced and drilled, and a great deal of useful vocabulary has been introduced. Having listened to others, some of this one became predictable, but not boring as long as I paced it appropriately. The marketing hype on his courses is quite off putting. It reads:

"Paul Noble is a genius with a higher IQ than Einstein. Despite this, he still struggled with language learning at school. He found himself feeling confused, incapable and unable to really say anything’. As a result of his negative early experiences, Paul has come up with a groundbreaking new method of language teaching that removes the need for months of study. With Paul Noble, everyone really can speak a language."

Crowing about an IQ score seems a little gauche, and then detracts from what they are trying to say next (that school based classroom study does not work too well. Quite right there). As for his new method... well no. In fact this is the tried and trusted method of pedagogic teaching with clear explanations, plenty of repetition and verb drills. It is not new at all. I see absolutely nothing novel in his approach.

That does not make it bad though. In fact its a pretty good foundation for any language, and if you buy it on iTunes, it is cheap too. That is why I was happy to buy it for Spanish despite having been through the course before in Italian and German. Neither do I regret buying it. Its a good starter.

It is still early days for my Spanish learning, but already I am a little more confident.

[BluLooperBluez · Rating 5 out of 5]

13 hrs 21 mins well used! Paul Noble approach is really great and I can see why his students might have hugged him when his courses were complete. I was a bit skeptical when he mentioned this, because it could be him "selling the product" but his kind non-nonchalant tone and the fact he was publishing this because he was persuaded by the students responses, made me believe him. And I think you should too if your struggling with Spanish. I have been learning it on and off for 2 years and have had minimal previous exposure in school. This audiobook/CD won't solve all your Spanish problems but it can definitely support your learning.

His approach asks you to simply listen to the words and sentences that the Spanish speakers or he says. He also stresses you to not worry about being wrong when. Which I was a little surprised by. It was hard to do at first, but I understood that part of his approach is that he wants you to keep your mind open to the information and not let confusion set in.

Just listen.

Then, at his leisure he will introduce the meaning or concepts behind why the sentences or words are used/structured the way they are. This really cleared things up for me and I'm getting through my Duolingo lessons faster because I can understand the Spanish sentences much better.

I would recommend this for people who have just started there Spanish journey and understand a few things but it might be OK if you know nothing. Also, I think this is something you could listen to again and again to review concepts, which I will do in the future.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I set myself the task of listening to the full course over the summer between taking a beginners and improvers course in Spanish. The idea was to listen to an hour or so a week and use as a bit of a refresher to keep me ticking over. As a consequence I can't really offer a review based on anyone wanting to pick up the language from scratch but the method used is clear and helpful, covering the kind of essentials one might need if travelling around a Spanish speaking country rather than a thorough grounding in what makes the language what it is. The accompanying PDF offers some excellent cheat sheet information between Spanish and English words. Occasionally the pauses in the narration are mistimed, with long pauses for single words and short pauses for repeating / guessing a full sentence but mostly it's well tuned and the golden rule is kept to, it's simple and that's what one is looking for really. It won't leave you conversing in lengthy Spanish conversations but it may just provide the basics for making it easier to get by when travelling, and hopefully encourages further study. I would recommend this alongside other methods of study.

[Candy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our library has this broken into 3 parts via Hoopla audio. It is a wonderful way to pick up the language and a fun way to learn. You do not memorize a list of words!!! Paul provides instruction and information and 2 native speaking Spanish experts help him expose two different dialects and pronunciation repeating the word/words/sentences. There are pauses for you to experiment in trying your hand at the word or sentence then you can repeat after each of the Spanish experts as well.

I've completed Part 1 and my husband and I are looking forward to listening to Parts 2 and 3 on future car rides.

[Hamzah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably one of the best audio based language courses on Spanish out there. Paul's method isn't about cramming and memorising endless words of vocabulary. It's about learning the logic of the language first, sentence structuring then applying that logic throughout. I like how he uses both a female native Spanish (Castilian) speaker and native male from latin America to carefully pronounce the words. It's nice to contrast the different accents and dialects. Paul's words is also very clear and well paced for an an audio book for the beginner. Worth every second and penny.

[Erin Krajenke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had much higher hopes for this book. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and one semester in college. If not for that, I would have struggled through this book. I wanted to see how it was in Spanish before I tried a new language, but I am not sure I will be able to. Not seeing or hearing how the words are spelled (he also didn't spell many of the words for you, at least not until halfway through the book) could make the pronunciations (or reading) challenging for someone just learning the language, especially since the speakers were native and had a strong accent for someone just learning.. I was also surprised with what and how we learned. We never learned to say hello or ask how someone is, basic conversation skills. We learned to ask for name and occupation, but that was towards the end of the book. It started with "I am preparing the coffee" and many things like that which are not that helpful for introductory Spanish. We also learned how to ask where the campground is and how much for a tent. Not sure why there was so much focus on that. Or how to order a donut or baguette in Latin American or Spain. I think more focus should have been given to a wider variety of nouns which are more likely to be used for someone on vacation.

The concept of learning one thing and building off of it was helpful, but I think many necessary parts of first learning a language were neglected.

[Mike Oksenenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best learning order:

1) Spanish for Kids with Paul Noble
2) Essential Spanish in 2 Hours with Paul Noble
3) Learn Spanish with Paul Noble – Complete Course
4) Next Steps in Spanish with Paul Noble — Complete Course

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to digest audiobook where Paul talks through an introduction to Spanish with help from two native speakers demonstrating Latin America and Castilian pronunciation.
The audiobook leaves perfect gaps to answer questions before giving answers, and the method of “don’t stress about remembering everything as we will go over it again later” was perfect for me. Many times I’d make a mistake and then the next thing Paul would say was that we are going over that specific part, it was like a live lesson sometimes in that sense!