Learn Spanish with Paul Noble

Citation

Noble, P. (2013), "Learn Spanish with Paul Noble", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2013.04421daa.003

Learn Spanish with Paul Noble

Article Type: Suggested reading From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 21, Issue 4

Paul NobleHarper Collins,2010,ISBN: 9780007363971,£24.75

Focusing on communication, Learn Spanish with Paul Noble comprises 12 CDs holding more than 13 hours of audio, an 80-page booklet and a DVD demonstrating the method of teaching used. It particularly targets people who are interested in learning a language but who have failed with other methods – typically because of difficulty in understanding grammatical concepts.

The aim of the course is to encourage language independence from an early stage. It provides learners with the flexibility to formulate their own thoughts in Spanish instead of building up a large a repertoire of sentences that might be useful in certain typical scenarios, but which the learner cannot fully understand and, therefore, is likely to forget.

Like Michel Thomas before him, Paul Noble has devised his method mainly to be applied in intensive sessions, although the published version of these courses allows users to adapt them to their preferences or time availability. Paul Noble’s ground rules and method are similar to those of Michel Thomas.

The main difference is that, unlike Thomas, Noble uses two native speakers rather than two learners. In this, Noble possibly follows the example of the vocabulary courses published after Thomas’s death.

Both courses are based on constant repetition of key grammar structures and very limited vocabulary. There are no visual or practical stimuli; learners are asked to try to forget rather than to make an effort to remember what they are learning and they are encouraged to make mistakes without fear.

Some users have found Paul Noble’s course easier to follow than Michel Thomas’s. To start with, Noble is a young, clear native English-speaker rather than an old man with a strong accent. Secondly, the fact that Paul Noble uses native speakers rather than learners implies that a more accurate pronunciation is being taught and that no CD time is wasted in correcting other people. (Of course, some may argue that those corrections are useful for any learner and form an important part of Michel Thomas’s method.)

Paul Noble’s course is noticeably cheaper than most of Michel Thomas’s courses. Each approach may work well for different people. If you are a potential learner, it pays to know the differences in order to make an informed choice between them. However, be aware that Michel Thomas’s work has itself been altered and rebranded by its publishers and most of what are now available in the market are not his original recordings.

Both methods – along with the courses designed by Margarita Madrigal in the 1950s with which they have much in common – are exclusively designed for English speakers.

Although Paul Noble’s course uses native speakers, the language agenda is English driven, so some of the expressions are not ones a native speaker would necessarily choose. And none of the methods pays any attention to cultural matters that determine how the language is used.

Claims that the method is “really good fun” are overblown. Of course, the mere task of understanding and learning can be enjoyable and both Noble and Thomas are good at facilitating that process. But both of them, and all their learners, are very serious during the lesson.

Despite several failings Paul Noble’s course might have, it does provide an initial understanding of the language. But everyone must accept that this is only a first step in a process that takes much longer.

Nevertheless, it is not a bad first step because, if it works, it can provide the necessary skills to speak fairly independently and the confidence that other courses can undermine. Also, by having started this way, it is possible that learners are more capable of learning outside the class when they finish – although a study with different learners would be needed to test this point.

Reviewed by David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor.

A longer version of this review was originally published in Training & Management Development Methods, Vol. 27 No. 3, 2013.