Michele Thomas language tapes are awesome!

[blueaguave]

I bought the $17.95 Spanish review tape (2 cds) at Barnes. (there is a longer tape that teaches you from scratch if you don't know anything for $80).
Anyway, it is really good. He takes a good approach. He teaches you common phrases that can be strung together many ways. He doesn't use grammar terms like infinitive, past tense, etc, but that is what you end up learning. It is good if you already know some Spanish and need a review. Already, I have been talking more and better Spanish with people at work and in social settings.
The funny thing is, the guy has a gruff German accent, but he does a good job of teaching Spanish. At Barnes, they also had French and Italian cds by him.

[verwon]

Thanks, I will have to mention this to andywon, he has to take two more Spanish classes in college and they are the hardest ones for him, maybe these could help make it easier.

[blueaguave]

I would like to clarify my comments. On further thought, I still recommend this product, however, he makes a few overgeneralized statements about translating words (not every single word ending in -tion in English turns into a -cion word and creates an -ar verb in Spanish, there are significant exceptions to that blanket statement), and some of his pronounciations are a little off (as you might expect). Because of that, I would probably only recommend the review CD. I would not recommend learning Spanish from scratch with him. Also, based on reviews I have read on amazon.com, the CDs sold at Barnes are actually specifically recorded for Barnes, and are significantly better than those elsewhere, so I would ONLY recommend the 2 cd review, and only purchasing it at Barnes or their website.
That said, he has a very unique and entertaining style. Yes, a language tape thats entertaining! Anyone who has ever sat through useless grammar rules in class or on tapes will be pleasantly amused by his approach, and in conjunction with other tapes and learning methods it is very effective.