James Spanish School

Latest News

Latest News

The James Spanish School APP is here!!!

 

For the last month, James Spanish School (JSS) classroom students have enjoyed my new learning platform, with single-click access, high-quality video streaming, faster delivery, and simpler navigation.

 

We had outgrown our initial delivery system and have replaced it with a custom learning platform. My classroom students have been immensely helpful in providing feedback as we tweaked the system. 

 

Now it’s time to release it to the much larger online student group worldwide.

 

The new JSS APP is only available to current students and all new students. So don’t go looking for it in an App Store or Play Store because it is only available to enrolled students. 

 

I will be contacting every one of my online students individually and changing you over to the new system free of charge. Every lesson you have done with me on the old platform will be in the new system. 

 

You will have simple video instructions to show you how to load the JSS APP icon onto your phone, tablet, or computer.

 

By the end of this month, I expect to have all my online students changed over to the new system.

 

The new JSS APP makes learning even easier and has been welcomed by my classroom students.

 

The fifty core lessons, consisting of 33 hours of streaming video, are now listed on a single page and are much faster to access.

 

We have streamlined the presentation of the full lesson notes (you can read them online or download them as PDF and Word documents.)

 

Now essential study materials, detailed lesson indexes, online practice drills and self-evaluation quizzes are just a click away. 

 

The fifty spoken Spanish practice lessons are content-heavy, so it was easy to get a little lost in the organisation of the material.

 

Now with the JSS APP, navigation is much easier. With the lessons broken into two, three or even four parts, more than sixty-five ‘ear tuning’ hours, you can mark the lessons completed as you progress. 

 

Overall, in the JSS course, there is significant progress testing, and now the very important tutor support is integrated with the lessons, streamlining with both public and Private Message (PM) channels.

 

 I have always tried to teach Spanish in the simplest way. 

 

Now with this JSS APP, it’s even simpler!!!

 

Go to my Facebook page  James Spanish School  to see what my students say about the new JSS APP

 

 

Simplified Online Spanish lessons – what the students say

Spanish educated, Bristol-born James Bretherton teaches English speaking adults a simplified, stripped-down Spanish language course. 

With fifty carefully refined and jargon-free lessons, he teaches the basic structure of the Spanish language both online and in the classroom. On completing the core course, students graduate to his intensive Spoken Spanish practice lessons, which offer a fast track towards fluency. 

James Bretherton said, “Around half of my new students are complete beginners. The rest have done some learning, some are advanced. Studied Spanish at school, night school or consumed textbooks, watched online apps, or tried (I shudder to even think about it) rote learning, private lessons, or gone to countless coffee mornings, but none of them has reached the level of Spanish they want. 

‘The problem for most of them is they have not been taught the actual structure of the Spanish language. So I provide that, and then with my spoken Spanish practice lessons, they get the intensive drills they need to tune their ‘ear’ and gain confidence and speed.’  

James added ‘Speed is critical. Many of my students have been taught elements of the Spanish language in a complicated way. They discover that a simpler way means thinking about constructing conversation faster and that improved speed is essential for fluency. 

‘You don’t need to know every word in the language to be fluent. However, you need to know the right words and quickly get them out.

‘With my cast-iron guarantee, intermediate and advanced students can be sure they understand the structure of the language in a short time and then move to the spoken Spanish practice lessons. They have nothing to lose. because I will exchange every core lesson in which nothing is learnt, for a spoken practice lesson, no questions asked.’

Comments from current students…

Sales executive Dominic H. had night school lessons in the UK and coffee mornings in Spain before joining James in the classroom.

 ‘I had ‘basic’ Spanish, although it should’ve been much better! ‘People like me might resist the idea of starting from the beginning with James, figuring we know so much already. But, actually, he is teaching you from ‘his’ beginning. In James’ 50 core lessons, he teaches you the language structure. That is why the course is so successful.

“EVERY person in my class states that James is by far the best Spanish teacher they have ever had.’

Michele (Shell) Butters, a retired UK Personnel Director, said, “To progress to James’ spoken classes, I had to complete the fifty core lessons online. I learned a huge amount. James simplifies things in a way that no one else does, and I am now well into the spoken section of James’ course. 

‘I would say to anyone; it does not matter if you have done several years of study- if you are not confidently fluent, then start at the beginning, refresh, and then really progress.’ 

Rob Kothe, retired pharmacist – ‘Being able to watch the core lessons as streaming video lessons online with the onscreen graphics and complete note set, is excellent. It’s very logical, certainly much more straightforward than any other online course I have done. James online spoken Spanish practice lessons are intense, between 70 and 90 minutes in length, they are in parts, so there is time for your brain to cool. These help you tune your ear, especially with the range of different accents.   

A retired Dorset police officer, Tony Nelson, says, ‘I had basic Spanish. I have been here for years. I should be fluent by now. So I signed up for James’s online lessons. James simplifies the Spanish language learning process. Overall, I found the core lessons immensely beneficial, there were some real eye-openers, and I really enjoyed them. I like his sense of humour a lot too. Now I am making big advances with the spoken Spanish practice lessons.

Property Manager Deborah Tredgold, ‘Go with James, if you are serious about learning Spanish, having real conversations as I need to do daily, ‘The core course is very well structured. The spoken Spanish practice lessons are challenging, but that is what you need. It is all about practice and more practice, which I am getting now. I would highly recommend his course regardless of your Spanish level. 

IT project manager Susan McGough “James online course is ideal for people that want to learn at their own pace. The lesson content is excellent easy to understand. He does not lose you with the grammar – His method of teaching orders and instructions is so much simpler and better than any others. His online tests gave me good targets and showed me precisely what I needed to study more. ‘it’s already making a big difference in daily life. I have found that I now have the confidence to talk Spanish in any situation. 

In summary- Fifty core lessons via streaming video teach you the language structure, with vocabulary allowing you to carry your end of a conversation. In addition, fifty spoken Spanish practice lessons help tune your ear to understand the other end while reinforcing the language structure learned in the core course. 

Lots of progress testing and tutor support. A unique approach, no grammar knowledge needed. 

In a 7.5-minute video, James Bretherton explains how and why he teaches Castilian Spanish in the simplest possible way. (And you see a montage from spoken Spanish practice lessons, so you can see where his course can take you.)

You can start learning Spanish online today or register for the Easter 2022 classroom intakes. (Costa Blanca and Costa Calida) 

To see James’s teaching style, you can watch a free demonstration lesson (it is not a complete lesson, just at taster) at www.jamesspanishschool.com 

Then to understand more about the spoken Spanish practice lessons, watch the video here https://jamesspanishschool.com/spoken-spanish-form/

Online lesson details

Distance learning with James Spanish School

You can complete the first 50 lesson course online, from home, with streaming videos and study notes delivered remotely and then move onto the spoken Spanish course

With online tests confirming progress, this initial 50 lesson course can be completed with as much speed or leisure as you wish. We have some online students completing the full first-year course in less than a month ahead of Spanish holidays or a move there, but others aim to complete the course in a year or more.

The average online lesson length is 45 minutes, that equates to over an hour in the classroom, as there is no whiteboard scribbling from, and no extensive notes being written up by students.

Each block of 10 lessons includes the coursework in both PDF and word format for easy printing. For active students, the lessons can be re-watched as many times as you like, there is no time limit for them.

The course curriculum and index are provided with the lesson blocks. The index allows you to hone on subjects in past lessons for revision. 

There are tests to be completed to assess your progress and homework on certain lessons that need you to practice to get the concept. Not all lessons have homework, but the further you get in to the course the more homework there is, it is corrected on the next video lesson so no need to forward it to me.

The first block of ten lessons only has a test at the end, the last block of ten has homework every lesson!

You can then moved onto the intermediate and advanced spoken Spanish lessons.

To see what is ahead of you, you can look at a short demo on the spoken Spanish lessons. To see that click here

Spoken Spanish

 

The videos are streamed to you, so they take up zero space on your internet device so you don’t need the 400 gigs of hard drive space they occupy, but you can still replay them time after time.

To study remotely, you need reasonable broadband speed and a tablet or a computer ideally. However, some of our students watch streaming video lessons on their smartphones.

A printer to output the downloadable notes is handy. However, some students prefer to handwrite the notes as part of their learning routine.

Online lessons cost €5,50 each in packs of ten or €225 (less than £200 at current rates) for the 50-lesson online course paid in advance.  

You can pay with a credit or debit card, on the website for your first pack, and you can watch the intro video inside 24 hours.

You can order course lesson blocks, either the first ten lessons or the 50 lesson block here.

James Breerton James's Spanish School

.fu