While all seasons vary slightly, season 4 is the only season where there’s a big difference between what’s included in the free vs premium courses.Īt season 4, the free lessons are much shorter, lasting only around 10 minutes, whereas the premium lessons include an extended audio section which brings the total length closer to 40 minutes. The audio is basically just translation exercises and the notes include the answers to these exercises. The Encore Audio and Encore Notes are pretty similar to content included in the earlier seasons. So, if you missed something, being able to look it up in the lesson notes is quite helpful. There’s still a lot of straight-forward teaching throughout, including grammar, vocabulary, translations and so on.Īt this level, the notes are pretty useful as not every part of the dialogue is translated. There’s quite a bit of casual conversation between the hosts which I really enjoyed. Instead of having a Spanish learner as a co-host, there was a second Spanish speaker in the lessons.Īs you get to seasons 3 and 4, the amount of Spanish used throughout the lessons is much higher, making the lessons more interesting (at least for me). Moving up to Season 3, I preferred the lesson style quite a bit more. You’ll find pauses between each sentence to give you some time to think and then the answer is explained. There are translation exercises going from both Spanish to English and English to Spanish. They add onto what was taught in the lessons, often by introducing more vocabulary or practicing the grammar. There’s also a bonus audio lesson which seems to last around 10 minutes. You may also find a transcript of the lesson along with some bonus vocabulary that’s related to the lesson. These notes just basically cover everything that was taught in the lesson, including important words and concepts. The video aspect just makes it easier to see the language written out.Īnother premium feature is the lesson notes. This video contains the exact same content as the free audio courses that you can find on itunes or elsewhere. You should definitely participate and speak out loud as you go through the lessons as that’ll be much more effective.Īs I mentioned earlier, the premium version of seasons 1 and 2 includes a video lesson. New vocabulary and sentence structures are introduced and practiced fairly slowly. In seasons 1 and 2, there are two hosts, one of which is learning Spanish alongside the listener. Throughout the seasons, there’s a gradual build-up of Spanish, starting from the absolute basics and reaching somewhere around an intermediate level, perhaps higher. Let’s take a look at what the lessons and premium materials are like now. There are lots of translations, explanations, and examples throughout the lessons.Ĭoffee Break Spanish uses Spanish from Spain but those studying Latin American Spanish would still benefit from the courses as well. There aren’t interactive exercises like you’ll find with Babbel or Fluencia, likewise, although there are opportunities for you to speak throughout, unlike Pimsleur, that’s not really the main focus either.Ĭompared to some resources, it’s a bit slower and less intimidating. One thing you’ll find throughout is that the lessons have a feeling as if you were sitting in on a Spanish class. But obviously, the lower levels are quite basic whereas the higher levels use a lot more Spanish which allows for more interesting lessons. In seasons 1 and 2, each lesson includes the following parts:Įach season is a bit different with slightly different styles. What exactly is included in the premium courses depends a bit on the season. The premium lessons add onto the free materials to make it a bit more comprehensive of a course. It’s one of the best free resources you’ll find to learn Spanish. Coffee Break Spanish has over 200 free lessons available on iTunes. The main audio of these lessons is available completely free. This review will focus on their main courses – Coffee Break Spanish Seasons 1-4, but they also have other courses as well. I’ll help you decide if the free version is worth using and if the premium version is worth paying for. This review will take an in-depth look at what it’s like to use Coffee Break Spanish. I also tried out a free premium lesson, along with the extra materials that are included, at each of the four levels of courses they offer. In fact, I’m actually already familiar with Coffee Break as I’ve also tried out their Mandarin course.įor this review, I tried out a bunch of their free lessons which are available wherever you listen to podcasts. Prior to writing this review of Coffee Break Spanish, I’d already tried out lots of courses to study Spanish, such as News in Slow Spanish, Fluencia, Rocket Spanish, SpanishPod101, Baselang, Babbel, and a few others. Try a free lesson of Coffee Break Spanish
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