Reviews for Level 3: The Imperfect Tense

This was my third class with Berges and Nicolás as my teacher. I really love his approach and the way the course is structured. I feel like I have a good handle on the material -- for me, it's always conversation that's most difficult. I can't think fast enough to form sentences! In our class, Nicolas spends A LOT of time working with us on conversational skills. I'm giving only four stars this time because I had to take two classes with a different instructor and found the experience very different. One of the most helpful things about the way our class is structured is that we always review the homework first, taking turns reading our answers and addressing any questions we have about it, before we jump into new material. The other instructor reviewed homework assignments toward the end of class and provided much less talking time and interactivity. They basically read us the homework answers and textbook content. Maybe it's just a personal preference. Everything at Berges is so nicely standardized I expected the class flow would be more or less the same regardless of instructor. Still signing up for Level 4!

I enjoyed the course very much. Gloria was a great instructor. She was able to make grammatical examples that I could relate to and apply it. I think the chapters were on point. This was my second time taking Level 3. I think it was a good move and I learn a little bit more than I knew at first.

Level 3 to me has been the turning point of comprehension. As of now this is my 3rd time in level 3 throughout my journey in Berges Institute/ learning Spanish. The instructors have all been very patient as they understand that not everyone learns at the same speed. Time, focus, and due diligence is the key to becoming fluent in conversations, that I'm participating more and more in conversations with muly coworkers whom mostly speak Spanish

This course was awesome. I really feel like the structure and pacing is perfect.

This course was very solid and provided exactly the amount of explanation and practice I needed.

The course has been very helpful to me in learning Spanish grammar.

Enjoyed the course and the learning material.

I thought the course was great! I was wanting to take it to reestablish my skills and the class was a great balance of grammar and conversation, as well as learning cultural parts of the language. After each class I felt more confident in my speaking, listening and comprehension.

Great class! Finally starting to connect the grammatical dots in order to express myself in longer sentences.

I really enjoyed this course - the logical presentation and reiteration of material/practice is extremely helpful in getting Spanish to "click". I'm excited for Level 4.

Class was well thought out and straightforward. Gloria was a great teacher and kept the class engaging.

Good course and great teacher. Very flexible regarding rescheduling the courses due to business commitments.

The lessons are clear and easy to follow. I appreciate the focus on grammar and concepts, rather than just vocabulary.

It moved along at a good pace to help me retain everything we learned.

I loved taking Level 3 with Nicolás! We learned a lot about past tense and in this level I really started to feel more comfortable with my grammar and speaking out loud. I took Level 2 with Nicolás, and I look forward to starting his Level 4 class this week!

Like many people, I took Spanish all through high school (many years ago now) but could only speak a few words. I have progressed further than ever before in the Berges program. The teachers are skilled and very professional. I am convinced that I will attain conversational ability through the Berges program.

Berges Institute has been one of the best decisions I've made in my recent years. These classes truly are helping me reach my goal of being fluent in Spanish. My sister is now enrolled with the same goal in mind. I highly recommend Berges Institute to anyone seeker Spanish language.

Level 3 is a mixture of Level 2 and of course you should remember level one conjugation; we also delved into level 4. The course is not easy but if you practice and complete the homework you will be able to learn to read and write the language and eventually speak. Dariana is kind and at the same time very strict. You must want to learn and be serious about studying and speaking with the proper intonation and the proper pronunciation. Dariana corrects your grammar and pronunciation in a kind and thoughtful way not in an embarrassing way. I am not speaking fluently as yet but she builds your confidence by making you Speak about what you did today, yesterday, and last night and you forget your grammar until she corrects you.

I'm learning a lot about Spanish. Dariana is a great teacher. The only downsides are that the textbook is now fully in Spanish, which means I don't pick up as much, and lessons when fill-in teachers teach in only Spanish I learn less. Another downside is no in-person option.

I have tried to master Spanish for many years, not very successfully. Then I discovered Berges whose method has helped me make great advances. The Berges approach is based on a logical sequence of development. Rote memory (except for those challenging irregular verbs) is replaced with the more effective method of understanding contexts. By Level 4 the Berges method encourages students and instills in us sufficient confidence to venture into speech and not implode emotionally because of awkwardness and mistakes.

Great course. Can be taken anytime and multiple times. Easy to understand. Structured well.

I have been with Berges from the very beginning, the course is easy to follow, and I will continue with them till the last Level. I am at Level 4 now, it has been a great journey and worth every penny. Thank You Berges :)

I have bad memories of studying Spanish grammar in high school, when I found the subject to be terminally boring. With Berges, I have been able to overcome these negative, decades-old associations. My comprehension of Spanish has improved significantly with Berges, and I plan to continue taking additional classes with them.

This was a challenging course for me as I hadn't taken many Spanish classes in the past. I learned a lot regarding the use of the preterite and the imperfect tenses and am still trying to figure out the nuances. The course is also very practical and we learned about traveling and mealtime.

Good course. I found Andres to be an excellent instructor. He was very good at explaining grammatical rules and concepts, in both Spanish and English.

Great course, I learned a lot. Juan Carlos is the best!

The development of the language skills is well thought out. There is a lot of conversation and an attention to grammar and vocabulary development.

This course definitely kept me on my toes! I'm grateful to be retired so that I had more time to review, review, review. That said, I continue to appreciate the way the Graf Method clearly introduces new concepts. Being no longer at the "Beginner" level, I now realize that some concepts are more complex than originally introduced, but I'm grateful that they were explained bit by bit so as not to overwhelm us students. Also, the examples used to explain grammatical concepts are often a little window into NYC culture and geography which this student from the Midwest enjoys!

The Berges Institute courses provide a well-thought out structured approach to learning the fundamentals of Spanish.

Concise and well summarized text book. I recommend especially for students who already had some exposure to Spanish and want to refresh the knowledge

Level 3 is a great way to build on Levels 1 and 2, as there are new lessons that integrate what's already been taught. Almost without noticing over the past six months, I've become someone who can recognize and use Spanish words and phrases. I'm not saying I'm fluid, but even being able to understand the spoken and written work and being able to speak slowly and haltingly is amazing, having never spoken Spanish other the most basic menu words. Credit goes to the Berges method and to Silvana, who is the most calm, affirming, and upbeat of teachers. She's built my confidence with reassurance when I get things right and gentle correction when I get them wrong. I'm looking forward to Levels 4 and 5 with Silvana as my instructor!

Really enjoyed level 3 with Berges. It was my first time taking class and I will start level 4 next. I found the work book and homework very helpful. These classes are the perfect amount of challenging for those wishes to learn Spanish and not intimidating.

I looked forward to working with Berges on an efficient, cheap solution to learning Spanish since I have basic present-tense and past-tense comprehension. Berges uses the Graf Method, which is great for learning Spanish basics and grammar. The classes, unfortunately, mostly focused on grammar, even though conversation should be embedded in language learning. Each class had various levels of Spanish learning per student, but many slower learners held the class back. This was especially evident in people taking a single trial lesson who disrupted the course more often than usual. I felt Sylvana tried to incorporate them into the class structure, but they never returned. The teachers did their best, and I enjoyed working with one of them. However, in another class I took (Level 2), the teacher was sporadic and was replaced by two teachers on multiple occasions before another teacher completely replaced them. You get used to learning with a certain teacher, and I understand things come up in people's lives, but communication with the students regarding this was not handled appropriately. Regarding the homework and the book, I could have been more impressed with the quality of Berges' book. I had ordered a physical copy from Amazon before the administration put them on the website halfway through my course. When I received the book, it was damaged and felt cheap. The text in black-and-white A4 paper with some grammar mistakes, which the teachers would point out, cheapened the product greatly. The homework also was just translation and paragraph writing, which is good, but it could be better (there's also no answer key). The reading could have been more inspiring and interesting than other language class workbooks I've used. In every class, the homework took 30 minutes to cover. I won't get into the website as I've seen a major improvement since I started. Still, many Berges teachers need to mention the podcasts and other media available, which is a shame because it was very hard to find other media and materials for learning Spanish with Berges. Other teachers at different language schools knew of readily available workshops that Berges lacked. There should be more workshops outside of grammar and conversation that includes culture, happy hour, a book offer, or even doing yoga in Spanish. Overall, it's a good language course and program that can learn much from student reviews.

I definitely progressed in my Spanish mastery in this class, but I find the approach, which relies on identifying words using grammatical terminology, a bit outdated. There should be more conversation in each class.

The Berges approach works for me--someone who came empty- handed--no knowledge of the language. I've learned so much, although having a long way to go, this program provides instruction and practice in specific areas of focus that enable the student to attend to building vocabulary, communicating, and practicing. While I'd like to be more proficient, their textbooks, along with the instructor's tips, equip the student with a handy resource for life. I highly recommend these courses.

Sensibly organized, the course always begins with a cumulative review of previous courses and continues the pattern of introducing and teaching the new tense, new vocabulary by situation, and useful expressions, all manageable. Juan Carlos is a superb instructor. Yet the course falls one star short of 5. I wish there were stories for each lesson and an audio component to practice hearing and speaking Spanish at conversational speed. And my everlasting suggestion: Please change to Zoom. It’s a more flexible format and not as finicky as Bluejeans. Much easier to log on and stay on a class.

The courses have been well designed - moderately challenging, always fun, and always leaving me wanting more!

The content has a thoughtful scope and sequence, and I learned a ton in just 10 weeks.

This is my second class with Nelson and it did not disappoint! Nelson is very attentive and even though the class is a group setting, he really tries to personalize it as much as he can. I feel motivated to continue on with the higher levels in the future.

After completing levels 1 and 2 at Berges, I appreciated that level 3 continued to practice what I learned before while applying new lessons. After this course, I feel confident about distinguishing and applying past, present, and future tenses.

This is my 3rd course with Berges and Ian and it has been a wonderful experience!

I really enjoyed the class and definitely felt myself getting more comfortable with the various tenses. Alexandra did a great job keeping us engaged and challenging us throughout the course. Thanks so much for a great class!

The course was good! I thought the pacing went well and Alejandro did a good job of making sure we understood the concepts before moving on. His exercises took a second to get used to but once I did I found them to be interesting ways of constructing sentences. The homework was also very useful. I wish we would go over it in class more. There were only 3 of us and now that I'm in level 4 with 6 people, I definitely think 3 is a bit more awkward, especially because the masks prevent facial expressions. But he handled it well and it went fine. I think it

I took this class after finishing 2 semesters of college Spanish. This class format is better than my formal college teaching! The small class size and mix of speaking, reading, writing, and conversation really makes the course standout.

The course is ok. It would be very helpful to have audios to reinforce the written content. Languages and music require repeated opportunities to listen.

The curriculum is well designed. New vocabulary and grammar are introduced slowly in order to solidify the concepts before moving on. Enough time is spent on conversation practice and there is a nice balance between conversation and didactics. The homework is very well constructed and aids in learning.

It was a great course where we advanced our knowledge each week. The lessons were very structured yet fun, and I appreciated that our teacher always applied what we learned to the real world. The small class size and format is really helpful.

Level 3 with Andres was excellent. From the very first class we were "90% Spanish" and I appreciated this. We were a small group, which allowed each of us to have a good amount of speaking time. I am ready for Level 4!

I feel like the format and the pace of this course was perfect for my learning style and schedule. I've taken Spanish courses at other institutions, and while those courses were also very good, the course I took at Berges checked all of the boxes for me. I also appreciate that the course materials are provided, and that a discount was given for people to enroll in the next level, as a way to incentivize participants to continue. Anytime I have needed to reach out to the instructor or administrators, they have been responsive and helpful. I highly recommend Berges to anyone who is just learning Spanish for the first time as well as those who have studied Spanish in the past but need to brush up.

Level 3 was great in building upon the foundation that I learned in levels 1 and 2. I'll be taking level 4 as well!