Conversational in Spanish without Grammar? — Baselang Grammarless Review
My name is Tyler Montgomery and I am from Orlando, Florida. I completed the Grammarless Online course with Baselang in June of 2019.
By the end of my freshman year of high school, I had fallen in love with the Spanish language. Then came Sophomore year, during which I took Spanish level two and three. I got an A in both classes, but came out of them without a bit of confidence using some of the most important skills in a language- SPEAKING and LISTENING. I sat through essentially three years of Spanish classes but yet could still barely speak a sentence and had tremendous difficulty understanding everyday speech. On top of that, I had no idea where to even begin to learn these skills. I was extremely frustrated and worried that I wouldn’t be able to move to the next level of Spanish offered at my school (college level). Then, I found Baselang.
I was fortunate enough to find Baselang at the perfect time when they announced a new online program that originally could only be taken at their physical location in Medellin, Colombia: Grammarless. The program immediately caught my eye because it guaranteed conversational fluency in just a months time. This was perfect because I needed to improve my skills quickly in order to be ready for the start of the first semester of school. So, after some deliberation, I signed up for the Grammarless program. At sign up, you get to choose between paying $900 upfront or a payment plan of $250 per month for 4 months ($1000 total). Once you sign up, you’ll be asked to fill out a quick form stating your preferred schedule, any preferences for the type of teacher you want, and also your reason for learning Spanish so that BaseLang can cater the program to your needs. A member of the Grammarless team will then contact you to finalize your start date.
[More information on signup here: https://baselang.com/online/grammarless/]
One thing that I began to worry about leading up to my start date was the daily time requirement: you are on the phone with your teacher for 4 hours straight Monday-Friday for a whole month (**It’s worth noting that Baselang now offers an alternative less intensive Grammarless online program that takes place over two months instead of one for a total of two hours each day). I woke up the day of my first class both nervous and excited. I checked my email first thing for information and I had an email from Baselang support that informed me that my teacher had to be switched due to a schedule conflict. They had selected another teacher for me that they believed was a good match for me (and as you’ll soon learn it definitely was the perfect alternative). So, I sat down at my desk, launched Zoom (the video chat software used by Baselang) and messaged my teacher. She replied within a minute and started the call.
The first class was a lot of introduction to the program and getting to know one another. My dedicated teacher during the program was Cindy Arenas. We did start a bit of the content on the first day but not much. In Grammarless, there are really three main learning tools: you have Core Lessons which teach crucial structures and vocabulary, Situationals in which you learn how to interact in certain situations such as going to the grocery store or the bank, and finally there are huge pages of great subject specific vocabulary called Conversationals. The most important of these three to the program are the Core Lessons which teach structures that allow you to communicate in Spanish from day one without having to worry about the nuances of grammar. For instance, an early structure is “Ir a,” a useful structure that allows you to speak in the future tense without knowing how to conjugate verbs in the future tense.
My concern about the daily time commitment quickly disappeared as each class breezed past. I was having so much fun that four hours felt closer to an hour. My teacher and I worked hard through the content and we decided that Fridays would be “free days” where we talked in Spanish about cultural differences. She shared with me lots of Spanish music and we would work through various materials in Spanish such as Youtube videos and articles. She was patient when we spoke and we actively worked toward improving my speech comprehension (which when I started was atrocious). By the end of the month, I could understand 99% of what she was saying without translating into English. The dynamic of having a dedicated teacher that works with you closely over the month is what makes Grammarless so special. I came out of my classes with even more appreciation for Latino culture as well as life in South America. I find myself using and seeing the structures constantly that were taught in the program, and I (for the most part) can understand them without thinking about how they work or what they mean.
The only potential minor downside I found in Grammarless Online is the focused nature of the curriculum. While this is a GOOD thing for becoming Conversational quickly, if you have questions about any grammar devices or structures, your teacher is unlikely to cover them (after all, it is called GrammarLESS). Not to worry though if you still want to work on grammar- my teacher tried her best to stick to the provided curriculum, but she was also very flexible since I have a bit more experience in Spanish than the traditional student who knows very little before Grammarless. However, when I would run into grammar issues like the need for the subjunctive mood or the difference between por and para, we weren’t able to cover them. This brings me to another awesome part of Grammarless: the Grammarless online program actually includes full access to the Real World service for the entire month where you can meet with other teachers. While they recommend using this feature later in the program for conversation practice, I found that it was super helpful to easily schedule a class on something I was confused about from my Grammarless program and practice/learn that concept in a separate lesson so I didn’t keep making the same errors in my Grammarless conversations.
Of course, I didn’t have success and improve every single call. On multiple occasions I struggled with my Spanish. In fact, some days even details down to my pronunciation were messed up. The key is to keep pushing, and as far as I have found, all Baselang teachers are very pleasant, patient, and work hard to make sure you get back on track. This support system is unlike any educational experience I have found. By the end of my program, not only did I feel like my Spanish had tremendously improved, but also felt like I had made a new friend. Even though my program has ended, my teacher still sends messages checking in on me and my progress with Spanish. The teachers that I have interacted with all seemed like down to earth people who were extremely genuine and a blast to talk with.
Grammarless is a wonderful program. The time spent with a single teacher allowed me to have a meaningful connection with another culture, while also seamlessly improving my comprehension and fluidity of speech. Would I go as far to say that I can now communicate perfectly in every conversation with Spanish? No. Grammarless didn’t morph me into some kind of Spanish genius. But what it did do is allow me to almost always understand and communicate with ease in conversations with regular topics. So, in the end, I think Grammarless did its job and got me to a level that I’m comfortable entering my class when the semester starts. I’m grateful to my teacher, Cindy Arenas, for making my program extremely enjoyable and helping me improve my Spanish a ton.
I firmly believe that Grammarless is one of the absolute best ways to improve your Spanish quickly and efficiently to a conversationally fluent level. Although the cost seems steep at first, the program was the best thing I have done for my Spanish. Considering that you’re getting around 80 hours of one-on-one practice with a native speaker PLUS full unlimited access to extra practice through Baselang’s Real World program for the entire month, the price is an absolute steal. If you can afford it, you should definitely go for it. I promise you won’t regret it.
If you would like more information on Baselang as a whole, you can click the link to explore all of the options that they offer: https://baselang.com/