A fun class I looked forward to every week. The key was that the other students and Nicolas, the instructor, were all engaged in the discussions and contributed. Under those conditions, I felt I improved my listening comprehension and speaking ability (even if I didn’t sound like it).
Anonymous
5.0
2020-09-19
Much needed practice about interesting / current topics.
Maggie Moroff
5.0
2020-09-10
I really like the way this course is set up -- with plenty of opportunity to speak and introduce new subjects for vocabulary.
Anonymous
5.0
2020-08-26
Basic Conversation is a great way to start your conversation journey. The class is structured to have a lot of participation and to converse with your fellow students. You read articles of current events and speak about them in Spanish - it expands your vocabulary.
Adam Quinton
5.0
2020-08-26
Really enjoyed this class. The mix of everyday conversation, the news discussion and then the theme made the class interesting and also introduced a wide range of vocabulary.
Anonymous
5.0
2020-08-21
The class moved swiftly and everyone was given an opportunity to practice their speaking skills without feeling pressured to do so.
James
5.0
2020-07-16
This class was exactly what I needed. I've taken levels 2-5 at the Berges Institute but what I had originally wanted was a conversation class. The topics for conversation are different every week. Everyone is pretty much in various levels of basic conversation. I've enrolled in Basic Conversation again in order to continue with my progress.
Kristen
4.0
2020-06-25
Rolando is a great teacher and I enjoyed the course. Sometimes the topics are a little challenging (current events are a little intense right now). If we used part of the class to speak about more general topics (things we like to do, people we know, experiences we had) it would a little less intense and easier to speak since current events topics are very challenging in terms of vocabulary And I want to make sure I am using the Spanish I learned in Level 5.
Christopher Mullen
5.0
2020-06-05
The class was fantastic. I wasn’t sure what to expect, given the stay-at-home situation, but it was just as engaging and interesting as an in-person class at Berges.
Darrin
5.0
2020-05-04
The course was good! It was very small (3 people) so that took some adjusting initially but it went very well and the instructor (Edgardo) did a great job leading the class.
Peter Heilbroner
5.0
2020-04-27
Very helpful and well run Spanish conversation class
Andreas K.
5.0
2020-04-09
Course was fun! Andres was a great instructor, engaging, interesting topics, classmates were good contributors of conversation, nice people, great energy, Great overall experience!!
Vera Mehta
3.0
2020-03-19
I think Nicolás did as good a job as he possibly could given the inherent limitations of trying to get any sort of meaningful discussion going with everyone getting a chance to participate equally, in a 90- minute period of time. Perhaps limiting class size to no more than 5 people per group would help, provided there are enough classrooms where each group could meet. Perhaps, even meet in places like cafés or parks when the weather gets warmer!
j
4.0
2020-03-04
I prefer the classes with the textbooks.
Anonymous
5.0
2020-03-04
This course really helped my listening comprehension
Anonymous
5.0
2020-02-11
The content is interesting and Maria is nice. I wish we could learn more vocabulary.
Marios Koufaris
5.0
2020-02-07
Great course. Really helped me improve my comprehension and speaking. I wasn't crazy about the articles that were suggested we read every week but often the discussion veered into other topics anyway, so it was fine. Since this was a small section with only three students, we were all able to speak a lot. Julia was an excellent instructor, as always.
Andrea Cyganiak
5.0
2019-12-27
Very solid class- there is a variety of skill level which can be awkward at times but it worked out well in this particular class.
Quinton
5.0
2019-12-20
This was a great class. I feel like I was able to use and improve on my listening and speaking skills. Andres was also a great, patient teacher.
James
5.0
2019-11-11
I liked how open the classes were - the conversation could naturally flow and head in all different directions. We could always fall back on the prepared questions, though we rarely needed to use these.
A
2.0
2019-11-09
The class lacked structure. The teacher didn't put effort to prepare for classes. Every class was the same and very monotonous. I didn't learn anything new. There was only dialogue between the teacher and student, there was no conversation encouraged between students which would have helped a lot with practicing speaking.
Jazmyn Young
5.0
2019-11-08
Great Opportunity to practice speaking Spanish!
Jennifer
5.0
2019-10-04
This class helped me advance in my speaking skills and become more comfortable using tenses and vocabulary in practice. I intend to take it again!
Kazuko
4.0
2019-10-02
As the class became smaller, I had good chance to listen to and try to speak. The instructor encourages all of us to speak which was good. Yes, it is not easy to learn to speak, but I am feeling positive to continue. The structure of the class, that is, to give topics in advance is good as we can prepare.
Vincent Brancato
4.0
2019-07-11
This course was very good with a good foundation for each lesson with some pre class assignments. The instructor was flexible and paid attention to the deficits of each student - we were very few students but even so I have been in other classes where this did not happen
Natalia Medina
3.0
2019-07-03
In my opinion, there were two issues with the basic conversation classes: there were students, who were not on a basic level, but higher and they would be taking over the conversation way too often the subjects were a little too difficult for basic conversation
Anonymous
4.0
2019-06-13
Enjoyed class and got good practice speaking. Didn't think the homework added value or helped with conversation (and we often didn't talk about it). And sometimes the instructor would talk about controversial topics that could have offended some people.
Anonymous
4.0
2019-06-10
I take this course because there are no other grammar courses available. The conversation class is good to practice but it doesn't help improve grammar. I with each level of grammar classes had more options with more su levels to practice examples and more phrases and useful expressions. Maybe it's a good idea to add more grammar courses and books.
William Mayer
5.0
2019-05-02
The small class, good environment, interesting discussion topics, and good teacher.
Dan B
5.0
2019-05-02
The class is very free flowing and Elena allows you to discuss any topic that you are interested in. I felt I made measurable improvement over the course of 10 weeks.
Shannon Britton
5.0
2019-04-30
Basic Conversation was a good class as it challenged me to really put everything I learned in Levels 1-5 into practice. The class was well paced and the instructor was very patient with us!
Anna
5.0
2019-04-01
We had some really lively debates in class! I enjoyed it very much. Thank you! 😊
Deborah Bigelow
5.0
2019-02-07
I really enjoyed this class, because we students and Nicolas always got it going - with humor - on topics about which we all had strong opinions. Time cut the discussions short every week, and I’m already missing everyone who was in our class. It begins at the head of the class, and Nicolas Zuluaga is, quite simply, a great teacher.
Anonymous
4.0
2019-02-07
very fun and educational. we spoke in spanish the entire time and it was a great weekly refresher.
Ian
4.0
2019-01-02
Really enjoyed the free flow nature of the converstaions
Mary
5.0
2019-01-02
The course was very interesting. The topics discussed were varied and the teacher shared a lot of vocabulary. A great teacher and conversation class!
Robert Hofler
5.0
2018-11-27
I much enjoyed it.
Stacey Tyrell
5.0
2018-10-03
I loved my conversation class and enjoyed the format of the class.
Cindy
4.0
2018-09-28
I thoroughly enjoyed the class and did not experience the complaints I saw online. I enjoyed the flexibility to visit anither class.
Dianne
5.0
2018-09-16
The course was great because the flexibility of the instructor allowed us to focus on current events instead of the book. I learned a ton of new vocabulary because of the interest in current issues and local politics. The atmosphere of the class with Nicolas was very comfortable, inclusive and expansive.
Kathleen keegan
5.0
2018-09-02
Edgardo is an excellent and patient instructor. I very much enjoyed his class. However, I didn’t enjoy the book associated with the class. I think the stories are much too difficult for this level.
Yvette Silver
4.0
2018-09-01
Our instructor was warm and enthusiastic. The mix of students was good. Each week we all had the chance to speak and converse with the teacher and other students
Peter Dichter
5.0
2018-08-12
Although I can improve my vocabulary through books, this course made me feel comfortable actually speaking the language -- my ultimate goal.
Anonymous
5.0
2018-07-01
I took Basic Conversation after finishing Level 4 in order to help solidify the skills I had already learned at Berges Institute. The class was perfectly suited to this. Alejandro always had current topics for us to discuss and practice our Spanish. I felt that discussing current events was preferable to the exercises in the book, as it required us to think in the moment. Overall, highly recommend.
Catherine Unsino
5.0
2018-05-24
This class really opened me up to both think and begin to speak in Spanish. With a lively, supportive, engaging approach, Nelson gave useful assignments that helped improve conversation.
Elliott
5.0
2018-04-05
This course provided an opportunity to practice speaking and comprehension skills with individuals from varying backgrounds.
Roslyn
5.0
2018-04-03
Good course and instructor. Assignments were useful and I liked the flexibility that existed: if you were not interested in any of the topics, you could find your own. Real-world issues, not just pedagogical ones.
Rhonda
4.0
2018-03-31
I liked the fact that Nelson didn't slow down, because I know that native-speakers are not going to stop to accommodate me. I also like the fact that the class was small & it lived up to it's title. We conversed in Spanish for 90 minutes.
Evanah Hill
5.0
2018-03-30
I loved the course. My Spanish has greatly improve. Before I was terrible at Spanish now I'm just mediocre.
michael
3.0
2018-03-02
The class often veered off into English because of political discussions. The reading material had odd subject matter for a spanish course. Also there was no progression from class to class. I hoped the vocabulary used from the previous class (words that came up that were written on the board) would be used again in the next class to strengthen the students' knowledge of new words. No time at all was spent on pronunciation.
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