Berges Institute Spanish Classes Arvostelua 

I have been taking classes at Berges for 5 years and recommend them highly. I began at Level 2 and learned *a ton* of foundational Spanish up through Level 5. There are no shortcuts - you have to do your homework and practice outside of class - but the methods, instructors and materials at Berges are strong and very effective; some of the best I've seen. I recommend the conversation classes also. The instructors are great - good conversationalists, interject in English to help us along, and facilitate well to balance the stronger voices with the more shy. It is best to do a little homework outside of class (read an article, watch a show, talk with a native Spanish speaker or a friend who is also learning) so you come to the classes with something to share...at least some of the time. The more speaking you do, the more you'll get out of it. The instructors at Berges definitely create a safe, interesting and supportive space to learn Spanish if you make the commitment.

I took Level 1 Beginner course with Dariana and it was great. She was so helpful and patient with everyone. The course was great to solidify and even fix some of my past learning. I also liked the emphasis on learning correct pronunciation.

I have tried level 1 Spanish classes before, and the Berges Institute course taught by Sofia Medina was the best I've ever taken. Sofia created a warm and engaging environment that allowed me to feel confident enough to try speaking Spanish, and it was also okay when I made a mistake. I feel fortunate to have found her and Berges, and I am already signed up and looking forward to level 2!

I have been studying at Berges for several years. All the teachers are excellent. The text book highly useful. The Graf Method the very best way to learn Spanish.
In my experience, none of the Spanish language courses given in New York City compares with Berges.

I have completed level 1 and I am taking level 2 now. I've taken a lot of language courses and tried many times to learn multiple languages, spending months doing exactly what I was told I needed to do to learn the language. Most programs speak and explain everything in the language you are learning and even after months it all sounds like gobbledygook to me. In every learning style assessment I take, I score 0 in auditory learning, which I think it why I haven't been able to learn languages in the programs that simply speak the language expect you to magically start understanding it. In those programs, I've never been able to learn to form sentences or understand someone speaking even after months of trying. This program focuses on the grammar and forming sentences from the beginning and starts the conversation classes after you learn that. I'm hopeful that this method will allow me to learn Spanish and seem to be making progress.

I have been studying on line the past couple of years and have enjoyed and learned so much from each class. The conversation classes are very gratifying and everyone has enough time to practice and really get to know each other. The grammar classes have been excellent too! Also all the emails with tips and additional info are great! And in addition to all of the above the customer service when you have a question is very prompt and helpful. I highly recommend classes with Berges.

Great language school. I've gone through from Level 1 to 4 and Rolando is an excellent, engaging, funny and brilliant teacher. Always look forward to his classes.

Only lose a star as they closed the in-person location :(

They are completely up front encouraging you to add relevant apps such as flashcards and videos. They are all about building a quick context (homework) and then speaking within it (classwork). The PDF books are succinct and the instructor gave us the idioms and odd words that we came up in our conversations; therefore words were relevant and memorable. You can take as many classes as your schedule allows (NOT KIDDING) and the personalities of the chatbots made my day more than once.

I found the Graf method very effective and quick to pick up. Andres is a fantastic teacher and explains complex concepts very clearly.

Wow wow I’m incredibly impressed by the Berges team and process. They take a really effective approach and I feel myself learning Spanish systematically and quickly. There is a constant reinforcement of the things I am learning with the combination that Berges provides of the online classes where we get to have real conversations and learn important grammar, the really straight-forward and helpful content from the textbook they provide, and the homework after each class. I look forward to my classes every week! Dan & Vanessa really go above and beyond and put their hearts into making sure all students have an impactful experience. They don’t just provide a platform for classes, but are also constantly putting out YouTube videos, social media posts, and sending emails with really helpful tips for improving. I listen to Vanessa’s podcast while driving in between work appointments to improve my listening skills and Dan sends me personal emails to check in on me and my progress- I feel like they really care about my Spanish language journey and it has a really warm, family-like feel. The teachers I’ve had so far have been great too! I’ve already told lots of people about Berges and really recommend it to anyone looking to learn or improve their Spanish. Thanks guys, this has been such a fun and exciting addition to my life and I can’t wait to keep going :)

Nicolás Zuluaga is an amazing teacher. His passion for linguistics shines through in everything he says and does. He loves to explain the nuances of language, and one gets the feeling that he loves to explore language as much as he loves to teach it. I've never had as much fun or learned as much in a language class as I did with Nicolás.

I took the beginning Spanish class taught by Gloria Alveal, and really enjoyed it! Gloria created a comfortable welcoming environment with an appropriate pace for beginners. The online book for the course - which I printed out - was also excellent. I am looking forward to the next level.

I took Beginning Spanish in New York in person classes with Nick Garcia. He is patient and knowledgeable and his background was so helpful. He knew Spanish as in from Spain and Latin American Spanish and could use both. I took Level Two online from Nick Garcia and found the experience very beneficial. It seems like a lot of Spanish is still swimming around in my head, but now it is starting to work on my tongue, too, which is great since I live in Mexico now.I really enjoy the holistic approach to learning, using and understanding Spanish that the Berges Institute uses. Conversational Spanish doesn't answer any of my questions whereas this approach makes sense.

I have taken over ten online language classes from various schools in French, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian. I was looking forward to working with Berges on an efficient, cheap solution to learning Spanish. I loved working with the various teachers, especially Silvana, who kept the bland coursework interesting by offering her anecdotes and conversation practice for the first 10 minutes of each class.

Berges uses the Graf Method, which is great for learning or re-learning the basics and practical grammar for Spanish. I felt the classes, unfortunately, mostly focused on grammar, even though conversation could be embedded in language learning. I understand Berges has conversation classes, but the Basic Course is only available if you are taking or have completed Level 4. The Units in the course are quite long and include a huge amount of grammar in each section that does not coincide with the grammar you learned in a previous unit. For example, in one unit, you learn the imperfect while learning a couple of adjectives, and at the same time, you know some adverbs, but in the homework later, you forget to incorporate those adjectives you learn. I felt the teachers sometimes felt this, and it would slow the other students down when they would ask mundane or erroneous questions that had nothing to do with the grammar at hand.

Each class had various levels of Spanish learning per student (which is understandable), but many of the slower learners held the class back. I felt people taking a trial lesson disrupted the course more often, and I would've preferred they sit and watch when they were called. I felt the teachers did their best, and truly enjoyed working with one of them. In another class I worked with (I took Level 2 and Level 3 simultaneously), the teacher was sporadic and often replaced (a huge no-no in language learning) and was replaced by two teachers on multiple occasions before another teacher completely replaced him. You get used to learning with a certain teacher, and I understand things come up in people's lives, but I felt it was not handled appropriately.

Then this comes to the actual homework and book itself. I honestly was not very impressed with the quality of Berges' book. I had ordered to have the physical book from Amazon, but before they put it on the website halfway through my course, I had no idea where to find it. When I received the book, it was damaged and felt very cheap. I also thought that the black-and-white utilitarianness of the book itself, with some units having more explanations and others having fewer, made it feel quite cheap. The homework also was a bunch of translations, which is good, but it's not that great when you ask for an answer key. They don't have one off hand in case you miss a class and would like to make up the homework because several sentences can be translated in many different ways. I also felt the homework was uninspired and uninteresting compared to other language class workbooks I've used.

I won't get into the website as I've seen a major improvement since I started. Still, many Berges teachers do not 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, I think it's an okay language school that can learn much from student reviews. I have seen improvements with the website, and the staff, especially Victor and Silvana, were amazing with communication. I know much more progress can be made to distinguish Berges from other language schools, as I truly want to see Berges succeed with its great potential.

The Berges Institute is a great option for learning Spanish. They really help cover the material in an easy-to-understand, logical way. My main teacher was Rolando González and he was phenomenal! Made the session super engaging and really focused on having the students speak. I also had Silvana and Juan Carlos Alvarez for a couple of sessions. They were good as well, but not as great as Rolando. One thing that I think really impacted my time with Rolando was the other students. I think the entire group really impacted how great the class was.

I have taken 2 different levels w/ Berges with 2 different maestros (Alejandro N and Edsalbo S.). Both were excellent: professional and patient and dedicated to helping me learn.
I intend to take a third level course as it has been immensely helpful.

I watch movies in English w/ Spanish subtitles, in addition to preparing for class, and can see my ability to read and understand improving dramatically.
Fran

I have taken 2 courses with Berges Institute online, and I definitely plan to take a third! The classes have been very helpful. I knew no Spanish going in. The Graf method of learning which Berges uses is very logical and geared toward helping student make full sentences easily. The Institute also provides many other resources to help learners immerse themselves in the language. I am looking forward to my 3rd course.

This class was such a great experience! I spoke no Spanish at all when I started, and after ten weeks, I have a grasp on the fundamentals of Spanish, can put basic sentences together, and understand basic sentences—if the speaker talks slowly! The class is structured well, and Silvana's teaching style was perfect in helping me learn. She is clear in her approach, warm as a person, encouraging in how she gives feedback, and she creates space for each student in a way that's makes even an online class feel personal. I've signed up for my next class with Silvana and can't wait to get started.