A VERY Thorough Review of Spanish Uncovered (StoryLearning) Beginner
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Table of Contents
The StoryLearning method
A peak inside the course and lessons
Pros and Cons of Spanish Uncovered
Pros of Spanish Uncovered
Pro #1 - It’s very comprehensive with a clear step-by-step approach
Pro #2 - Great for those new to language learning
Pro #3 - It has both Castillian and Latin American Spanish
Pro #4 - Immersion first, instruction second
Pro #5 - Engaging teaching
Pro #6 - Private Community
Cons of Spanish Uncovered
Con #1 - A lot of explanations might not suit some language learners
Con #2 - It could distract you if you’re not careful
Con #3 - Some lessons tend to be a bit long
Who type of person is Spanish Uncovered for?
Spanish Uncovered Pricing
How far will Spanish Uncovered Beginner take you?
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an in-depth review of StoryLearning’s Spanish Uncovered Beginner, look no further.
This post includes everything you’ll need to know about it.
So that you can get a clear picture if it’s for you or not.
There are 4 levels of StoryLearning Spanish Uncovered.
This review will go through Level 1, which is for those of you who are complete beginners.
The other levels are:
Level 2 - Pre-intermediate (only available to students enrolled in Level 1)
Level 4 - Upper-intermediate (only available to students enrolled in Level 3)
In this review we will go through:
How does the StoryLearning method work?
How is the course structured and what are the lessons like?
What are the pros and cons of Spanish Uncovered?
Is this a course that fits your learning style, experience, and personality?
How much does it cost?
I have checked out several Uncovered courses and they all use a very similar format (except that different languages have different teachers).
This means that most of this review will apply even if you’re learning a different language than Spanish (that they offers courses for), such as:
French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Italian, Turkish, Russian, Latin, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Korean.
Attention!
StoryLearning is right now having a special 50% off summer discount on all their Uncovered Courses! Click here for more info
The StoryLearning method
StoryLearning produce some of the most popular language courses around.
The mastermind behind them, Olly Richard, is one of the most well-known figures in the language learning world. He has produced a very popular podcast, YouTube channel, blog, and a lot of different learning materials. He is frequently a guest in language learning interviews and speaks 8 languages himself.
Olly is personally one of my biggest influences when it comes to language learning. He was pretty much the guy that got me started on the right track when I started learning Cantonese back in 2017.
I’ve always enjoyed his views and thoughts on language learning.
He seems to me to be one of the few who understands that different learners need different things. He gets that what works best depends on your personality and preference, as well as experience.
Many other teachers have more of a “my way or the highway” approach to language learning, whereas Olly is more nuanced in my opinion.
Spanish Uncovered is a combination of immersion and expert tuition. It’s quite a unique approach to learning a language as far as courses go.
The method in Spanish Uncovered is based on immersing yourself in a story.
This story is split up into 10 chapters and each chapter has its own module.
In these modules, each chapter of the story is broken down into several different lessons. Which breaks down the grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary of the story.
Most traditional approaches will teach you the rules of the language first.
StoryLearning does it the other way around.
You first immerse in the story, and then you get the breakdown. These will then answer the questions that will naturally arise after having listened to and read the story multiple times.
A peak inside the course and lessons
To give you an idea of what Spanish Uncovered includes, I’ll walk you through the different lessons of the course.
So that if you decide to buy it, you know exactly what you’re getting (you can however try a free 7-day trial to see for yourself).
The course Spanish Uncovered has a total of 11 modules (10 story chapters + 1 introduction module).
Once you’ve done one chapter, you know what to expect for the next one, as it follows the same structure throughout the course.
Introduction module
Before even getting into the meat of the course (which is the story and its lessons), Spanish Uncovered begins with an introductory module.
This module shows you how to use the course (so you won’t have to get stuck anywhere).
It’s very thorough and clear and gives you instructions on exactly what to do.
Olly himself also gives valuable information and insight on how to learn a language effectively.
This is great for those of you who are new to language learning and want to get guidance from one of the best.
He also goes through things like how to practice speaking.
Olly and his team recommend LanguaTalk (← book a free 30-minute lesson here) for taking language lessons.
Which is a platform I wholeheartedly support (read my post about LanguaTalk vs iTalki for more about why).
You’re also invited to join their private community, which is a place where you can share tips and notes, struggles, and questions with other students. The community also includes things bonus resources.
The story
The story is about 20 mins long in total and split into 10 chapters that are around 2 minutes each.
It’s about a couple of friends going on a journey.
It keeps you engaged enough to want to find out what happens next.
Which gives you the incentive to want to understand what’s going on and uncover the Spanish.
The story is spoken at a speed that is quite fast for a beginner’s course, but still very clearly narrated with crisp and high-quality audio.
Each story is available in both Castillian (or Iberian) Spanish and Latin American Spanish versions (both in audio and text).
You actually don’t get the English translation yet in this lesson.
The idea is that you immerse yourself first and start absorbing Spanish before checking the English translation or breaking down what everything means.
This sets you up for success in the future since tolerating not understanding is a key component in language learning.
Spanish Uncovered however makes this much more tolerable by including lessons that break everything down for you.
That way, you don’t have to be in that state of limbo for too long.
Lesson 1 - Cognates & Translation
This is the first lesson type you’ll encounter.
In these Olly bridges the gap between Spanish and English and highlights the words that are similar in both languages.
To help you see that the two are more closely related than you might think.
How by just changing the pronunciation and endings of English words - they transform into Spanish.
These lessons are a great way to get some quick wins right away.
Which is always a good feeling.
It teaches you how to figure out the meaning of certain new words without having to look them up.
Lesson 2 - Vocabulary
These lessons are different from the previous lesson type in that they cover vocabulary that’s not as related to English.
Which might make it trickier to pick up the meaning straight away.
Olly talks about some these types of words that are included in the story and explains their meaning.
Other things that are covered are things like masculine and feminine.
And also how certain vocabulary is used in Spanish specifically (since not everything in can be translated directly).
Lesson 3 - Grammar
The grammar lessons zone in on some of the grammar points in the story, so you can understand how the Spanish language functions.
I’m personally not someone who likes to learn grammar rules that much, but I get that every learner is different.
What I like about these is that you’ve already listened to and read the story multiple times.
By doing that, questions have most likely started popping up in your mind. Which will then be cleared up in this lesson.
In other words: the grammar that you’re being taught is based on what you have already immersed yourself in.
This makes it much easier to learn.
Compared to taking random unrelated grammar rules and trying to cram them into your brain.
Before even having any context for any of it.
Lesson 4 - Pronunciation
These lessons are not done by Olly but by a Spanish native speaker.
They’re short and sweet (around 4-5 mins) and break down different sounds in Spanish that might be new to you.
The tutor offers tips on how to help you have the correct pronunciation and where to form these sounds in your mouth.
Different words with these sounds are then spoken, with a pause in between each word.
This gives you a chance to repeat after the native speaker and practice pronouncing them.
They’re very helpful as they zone in on just one sound per lesson, so you won’t feel overwhelmed.
Lesson 5 - Culture
These are short lessons in text only.
They are a nice touch as they just offer a little bit of interesting information.
If you know me, you know that I believe that languages are about a culture more than anything, so I find it a nice touch that they have included these.
Lesson 6 - Speaking Activities
These lessons give you different ideas for different speaking activities.
The story is made in such a way that you’ll learn helpful vocabulary that can be used to talk about where you live, what you do for a living, and the type of topics that typically come up first in conversations.
With these activities, you get to put into practice and activate this vocabulary.
This is helpful as a beginner when your vocabulary is still very limited, and you can’t have a full conversation in Spanish yet.
They can be done either alone or (even better) with a tutor or a speaking partner.
They are for example great to take to your tutor at a platform like LanguaTalk (← book a free 30-minute lesson here) if you want to have something concrete to practice.
They come as printable PDFs so they’re easy to just send to your tutor (or language partner).
Olly and his team suggest speaking early. In my opinion, it’s optional (at such an early stage).
For those of you who are more introverted learners, it might be better to wait.
But for some of you highly extroverted learners, it might be crucial for your motivation.
Story Comprehension Checks & Quizzes
The end of each chapter also includes “story comprehension checks” and review quizzes.
I’m personally not a quiz kind of person, but they are there if you want to just do a quick check to see how much you understood of the story.
Pros and Cons of Spanish Uncovered
As with any course, there are pros and cons.
I want to give you an honest view of what could be done better as well as what is working well in Spanish Uncovered.
Some of these will come down to learning style and honestly plain personal preference.
Going through these should give you a better idea whether Spanish Uncovered is for you or not.
Pros of Spanish Uncovered
Pro #1 - It’s very comprehensive with a clear step-by-step approach
Spanish Uncovered contains a lot of material.
A lot.
It hits the language from all sorts of angles.
Olly and his team have thought of pretty much everything.
There’s zero reason to get stuck anywhere in the course. There’s information and tutorials for how to do every single part of the course.
(I’m sure some of it has come as updates through feedback and common questions from students)
You won’t need to figure anything out by yourself when using Spanish Uncovered.
It’s all laid out for you.
It makes it easy to go through each module and lesson.
Because the instructions are so clear.
Pro #2 - Great for those new to language learning
Spanish Uncovered works as a bridge between immersion and traditional methods.
This makes it a great choice for those new to language learning (especially immersion learning).
Because pure immersion is probably going to feel quite foreign to you if you’re new to it.
Uncomfortable too.
This is because of the ambiguity you’re faced with when you encounter things you don’t understand (which obviously is everything when you’re first getting started).
It takes time to get used to this way of learning.
Spanish Uncovered works as a bridge to this methodology.
It provides clarity through the lessons, while at the same time ushering you in towards acquiring the language through immersion.
You’ll only have to tolerate ambiguity and frustration of “not understanding” for a little bit when you’re first going through each chapter in the story.
These ambiguities will quickly clear up when you go to the lessons. Giving you a sense of relief.
So you’re getting used to learning through a natural immersion approach, but you’re still comfortable through the process.
(Or as comfortable as you can be)
Pro #3 - It has both Castillian and Latin American Spanish
Spanish Uncovered includes both Castillian Spanish (spoken in Spain) and Latin American Spanish versions of the story.
This is great since you can choose between the two depending on which version of Spanish you’re learning.
Because there are differences in pronunciation, choice of words, and expressions between the two versions.
There are for sure more variants than these two (Latin America has many different dialects), but these are the main ones with the biggest differences.
Pro #4 - Immersion first, instruction second
If you use Spanish Uncovered the way it’s supposed to be used, then you’re going to first immerse yourself in the language.
Then (and only then) you’ll learn the “why” behind what you listened to in the breakdown lessons.
When learning a language in schools, it’s the opposite.
You start with the rules and why before you have even had any Spanish to listen to.
It’s like getting answers to questions you haven’t even asked yet. Or even thought of asking.
When you first listen to and read the story in Spanish it builds up curiosity. About the things that you don’t yet understand.
Then when you go to the lessons where it’s all broken down and explained you’ll get a sense of:
“Oh, that’s what it means!”.
This way, you’re much more likely to remember things. Because you’ve first had an experience with the language before the theory behind it is being taught.
Pro #5 - Engaging teaching
Olly is a phenomenal teacher.
He’s clear, personal, and engaging in his instruction.
When it comes to teaching, there are few people more enjoyable to listen to than Olly in my book.
This greatly contributes to having a great experience learning Spanish with Spanish Uncovered.
(Note: some of the other languages have other people than Olly teaching. However, the ones I have seen have all been skilled teachers and speakers).
Pro #6 - Private Community
This is a great feature for those of you who want and need that extra support when learning.
Giving you the feeling that “we’re in this together” and that you’re not learning on your own.
It’s also super valuable to get tips and insights from other learners who are going through or have gone through the same course.
Being in a community and sharing the experience with other learners increases motivation by feeling connected.
After all, languages are about connecting with other people.
It’s however optional to join.
Cons of Spanish Uncovered
Con #1 - A lot of explanations might not suit some language learners
There are different types of language learners out there.
Some people love to understand the structure and “why” behind things.
Others don’t.
They don’t want a bunch of explanations, but would rather just let the language become clear over time in a more instinctive way.
For me, while I do ask grammar questions here and there, I tend to be more of the latter 95% of the time.
I just like to let immersion take care of the learning for me and not process things logically very much.
If you’re someone who gets impatient with lessons and explanations, and you don’t need to know the mechanics of how the language works, then you might find it hard to focus on the lessons in this course.
For you, this is going to be a con.
However, some of you might want to have a bit more of that understanding when learning a language.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
My mom for example is this type of person (which is why I gave Spanish Uncovered to her for Christmas).
It’s just good to know your personal tendency when choosing the right language course for you.
Con #2 - It could distract you if you’re not careful
There’s a lot of content and different activities in Spanish Uncovered.
So you’re getting a lot of value for what you’re paying for.
There is a downside to it though.
It could lead you to have the feeling of “I’m learning Spanish” when you’re watching a lot of teaching videos.
The truth is that it’s in the immersion of the stories (through listening and reading) that you’re actually going to be acquiring Spanish (which is repeated throughout the course).
Not watching teaching videos in English or trying to memorize certain words.
The lessons are there to open up and give clarity to all the parts that are unclear to you.
Just be aware to not spend too much time on them that you forget the meat (stories) of the course.
If you can keep that in the back of your mind, and understand what actually moves the needle of your Spanish level, you’ll be fine.
Con #3 - Some lessons tend to be a bit long
This could be a pro or a con depending on your preference.
The lessons tend to be mostly around 20-30 minutes. Some are even 40+ minutes long.
15-20 minutes is an ok length for me, but 40 minutes is a bit long.
However, some students have even requested for the lessons to be even longer!
(Can’t please everyone can you?)
If you’re someone like me who doesn’t have a ton of patience to watch longer video lessons, then you might wanna skip some of them or watch them at 1.5x speed.
Do you want to learn how to learn a language intuitively?
I will show you how to in my guide “Intuitive Language Secrets”
Would you like me to send it you? (currently for free)
What type of person is Spanish Uncovered for?
There are a couple of attributes that would make you a good fit for Spanish Uncovered:
You have found traditional classroom approaches and/or apps like Duolingo ineffective and looking for a fresh approach.
You want to learn Spanish in a way where it’s always clear what the next step is.
like the idea of learning through immersion but the idea still feels a bit foreign to you and you’re not sure how to do it.
If one or more of the above applies to you, then this course is likely to be a good fit for you.
Spanish Uncovered is especially helpful for those of you who are new to language learning.
Because you’re getting such a complete package of what it takes to learn a language from zero.
I personally didn’t use Spanish Uncovered when I started learning Spanish.
I took a bit of a different approach for various reasons. One of them was that I had already learned Finnish and Cantonese.
So I was well aware of the mechanics and strategies of learning a new language.
Which means I could skip some things that beginners are faced with.
However, if Spanish was the first language I was learning it would be a different story.
I would have loved to get something like Cantonese Uncovered when I first started learning languages.
(Since Cantonese was the first language I started intentionally learning from scratch. Cantonese Uncovered doesn’t exist, however, but the more upper beginner/intermediate- leveled Cantonese Conversations from StoryLearning does)
When I first started learning languages, I had to consume so much content to figure out how to learn a language effectively.
It was a lot of trial and error.
(I had already failed to learn Spanish using Duolingo, and not been able to learn much French in school)
With StoryLearning’s Uncovered courses, you get everything organized and packaged in one course.
Which saves you your most important resource:
Time.
You don’t need to spend time figuring out what to do and how.
You just follow the steps that are already laid out for you.
You are also not only getting Spanish learning material, but you’re learning how to learn a language at the same time.
By the time you’re done with Spanish Uncovered will have some new powerful language tools in your belt that you can apply to your learning beyond the end of the course.
Who it might not be for
There’s no doubt that Spanish Uncovered is a very well-structured and well-made Spanish course.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s for everyone.
If you are a more seasoned language learner who already has several languages under your belt, you might have already developed a lot of independence in your language learning.
You want to create more of your own path.
Or if you’re someone who doesn’t like things to be explained very much then you might not have the patience to watch the lessons (which make up the bulk of the course time-wise).
You might already have developed a high tolerance for ambiguity, so you don’t mind not understanding something for a long time.
If that’s you, you might be better off using some of the things that I talk about in my series The Blueprint to Spanish Fluency.
Also, if you don’t like doing courses online then Spanish Uncovered won’t be be a fit for you (for obvious reasons).
Uncovered Spanish caters the most to people who want to have a clear path and understand everything they’re learning.
So it comes down to your experience, personality, as well as your preference.
That being said, no one says you have to do every single lesson and every single activity in Spanish Uncovered.
I’m for example a very independent and experienced language learner, but I’d still be interested in using one of the Uncovered Courses for the next new language I’d be learning.
Because I like the experience that the Uncovered courses provide.
I would just mostly likely skip some of it and just do what I felt like doing.
You are free to choose the activities you want to do and skip the rest.
Spanish Uncovered Pricing
How much does Spanish Uncovered cost?
Spanish Uncovered is priced at $297.
However, the first 7 days are free.
You’ll only be charged on day 8.
You get a free 7-day trial of the course and will only be charged if you decide to continue with it.
You also get lifetime access to the course, which means that you’ll benefit from any future updates done to the course at no extra cost.
Is it worth the price?
Whether the price is worth it for you depends mostly on how important it is to you to learn your target language.
There are cheaper courses out there, but few are as well-structured and comprehensive as Spanish Uncovered.
In my opinion, I think it’s quite reasonably priced for what you’re getting.
Why Spanish Uncovered is zero risk to try
Spanish Uncovered offers a guarantee that no other language course offers (as far as I’m aware).
They offer a 365-Day Double Money Back Guarantee.
What does this mean?
It means that you can take your time (up to a whole year) to finish the course.
If you’re still not happy, they will not only refund 100% of your money. Not only that, Olly also promises to personally pay for a different Spanish course of your choice.
Only someone with strong confidence in their product will offer something like that.
(The most popular Uncovered courses have this guarantee. The rest of them have a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee)
I have never seen someone put such a bold guarantee when it comes to language courses.
I think it’s just fantastic.
Because it gives you as a buyer complete peace of mind.
Not only do you get to try it out for 7 days for free, but even if you do end up continuing after that, you can still get your money back if you’re not satisfied.
Don’t believe me? Click on the button below and see for yourself:
How far will Spanish Uncovered Beginner take you?
I think it’s realistic to expect to go from A0 (complete beginner) to A2 (upper beginner) using Spanish Uncovered Beginner.
(which is the level the course intends and promises to take you to)
You’re mainly getting 3 things:
A solid foundation in Spanish
A good understanding of how to learn a language
A great experience while doing so
You still have a long journey ahead of you to fluency, but Spanish Uncovered will get you off to a great start if you apply yourself to the method.
What do you do after Spanish Uncovered?
By the time you’ve reached the end of the course, it’s a good idea to already have in place what you’re going to do next. So you don’t lose momentum in your Spanish learning.
Here are some examples of what you can do after Spanish Uncovered:
Go to the next level of Spanish Uncovered - “Beginner Level 2” (so-called Pre-intermediate). This one is only available to students who have already purchased Spanish Uncovered Beginner Level 1 (you’ll find the link to it in your Spanish Uncovered Beginner course). This is perfect if you enjoyed the format of Spanish Uncovered and would like to continue using the same method of learning through story.
You can also just jump straight to the Spanish Uncovered Intermediate Course. This is also an option if you’re already past the beginning stage, but you would like to try the StoryLearning method at an intermediate level.
Use LingQ to skyrocket your comprehension through immersion yourself in content you love. This is by far my favorite language learning app.
Use Lingopie (← get up to 73% off through Lingtuitive) and take a couch Netflix-binge-style immersion approach to learning using interactive subtitles. A really fun way to improve your Spanish, especially once you have a bit of a foundation.
Dreaming Spanish - watch videos aimed at learners at a level that’s very comfortable to you (read more about Dreaming Spanish in my full walkthrough)
Take online speaking lessons at LanguaTalk (I can highly recommend Agustina as a teacher!) to put into practice what you’ve already learned. Get good at conversations by speaking with native speakers. You’ll learn new words and phrases in a very organic way. You get a free 30-minute lesson so you can try it out first.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a clear, step-by-step course that will hold your hand the whole way as you take your beginning steps in Spanish, Spanish Uncovered might just be one of the best courses out there for you.
What Olly and his team have succeeded in is conveying the fun and excitement of learning a new language.
This is very important because when you’re having a great time, you’re going to put in the time.
More independent and seasoned language learners, who are not interested in having things explained to them, might not be the ideal fit for this course.
However, if you’re new to learning a language, or you just want everything provided for you in a simple and structured way, then I don’t think you can go wrong with Spanish Uncovered.
The one thing I would caution is to make sure to spend the bulk of the time on the stories, as it’s the immersion (through listening and reading) that’s going to take your language level forward the most.
However, the lessons will provide you with a rock-solid foundation in the language as well.
I personally got so excited about Spanish Uncovered that I wish I was learning a new language right now.
Just so I could go through one of their courses.
This would have been the course I would have loved to have when I first started learning Cantonese (or even Finnish).
If you’re thinking about getting Spanish Uncovered, there’s only one way to find out if it’s for you or not.
Click the button below to start your free 7-day trial:
