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Summary: Innovative and rewarding way of learning German
Review: I studied German in high school for two years, and remembered virtually nothing except how tedious and frustrating I found the class. But by the time I was three or four hours into these CD's, I found myself speaking German with a greater ease and enjoyment than those two years ever managed to instil in me.A reviewer below seemed deeply unhappy with Michel Thomas' way of teaching. I can only assume that if you already have learned to speak "several languages" (as the reviewer said they did) through endless repetition and drilling, drilling, drilling - you may be used to that way of learning. And this may not be the way for you. But myself? I thoroughly enjoyed it. The socratic question / answer method I found a breath of fresh air. At last! No more "The pen is on the table... the child is in the airport..." farcical invented dialogue. True, at times I found myself getting a little frustrated with the progress of the other two students on the CD's; but I learned to enjoy even that - after all, when you find yourself irritatedly shouting the correct answers in German at your CD player because the others aren't answering quickly enough, you must be doing something right.
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Summary: Jump-start approach - effective for learning German
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this German CD course. I completed all 8 CD's straight through without having to repeat any part, and found at the end I had a pretty good command of the material presented. Michel Thomas is an excellent, obviously very experienced presenter of the German language. Focusing mainly on German sentence structure, word order and the verb system, the course progressively builds up sentences of increasing complexity by expansion and substitution. The students must logically construct their own sentences based on prompting by the teacher. Specifically the course tackles the use of conjugated and modal verb constructions, subordinate clauses, separable verbs, and other basics of German. The result is that the course pretty much accomplishes what it sets out to do -- teach a basic chunk of the German language thoroughly in real time without the need for rote memorization, written homework or drills. At first I was somewhat leery of the professor-student interactive approach, listening to the students struggle through pronunciation and sentence formation is at times tedious. However, I soon realized that the struggle is part of the course. Commonly made mistakes were corrected and emphasized as they occurred again pretty much in real time. I wished they would have used all 74 minutes available on each CD (could of had almost 2 hours of additional recorded material on the same 8 CD's!) My only regret is that the course comes to an end! I really hope to see level 2, 3, etc. courses developed using the same format. Obviously, there is a lot more German to learn, but this is an excellent start. The course is especially effective with listening-focused (aural) learners.
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Summary: Wonderful introduction to the German language
Review: If you had a bad experience learning German in school, or if you feel that learning a language is beyond you, please give Michel Thomas's courses a try. I completed his 8-CD German and Italian series, and he offers an amazing introduction to language learning that will have you constructing complex sentences in no time. Vocabulary learning is a bit more limited than what you may find in other instructional series, but that is more than made up for by the understanding of sentence structure and verb construction that you will gain. For example, in the Pimsleur Italian series, over the course of 16 CDs you learn a lot of conversational Italian, and learn how to use a limited number of verb forms. Over the course of the 8 CD Michel Thomas Italian series, you learn much more about verb forms - how to choose the proper verb for the situation, and how to apply it. And he accomplishes this in a very relaxed manner. The CDs are recordings of lessons between Mr. Thomas and two students. Along the way, he asks them how to say a sentence in German, and your job is to pause the CD momentarily before the student answers, work the sentence out in your head and say it aloud, and then continue with the CD. More often than not, mistakes that you make will also be made by the students on the CD. Mr. Thomas gently corrects them, and then continues on. I have found this method a very satisfying way to learn. Not surprisingly, Mr. Thomas feels that it is not only the best way to learn a language, but the best way to instill understanding and confidence. I would have to agree. His approach has been put to the test in inner-city schools with disruptive children to great effect. If you are one who disagrees with or dislikes the teaching methods that were forced down your throat as a child, you may find Mr. Thomas's method a breath of fresh air, and you may find yourself cursing a system that taught you so poorly! I have been informed that Mr. Thomas is planning a second series, which should be out in Spring 2001. I will be first in line to purchase them when they arrive.
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Summary: Ease into the Italian Language
Review: If you've had difficulty internalizing the structure of Italian language with other audio programs, Thomas's is one to try. The pace is very relaxed, and Thomas is an absolute master at giving the learner a deep sense of the language's syntax and rhythms. He is also quite good at engaging and sustaining the learner's interest and participation. The CD builds on relatively simple constructions in Italian without extensive drilling in lists of declension, conjugation or vocabulary. Getting through the 8 CD's of the set, if done according to instruction, gives one some elementary skills in spoken Italian. Some qualifications: (1) The program works entirely on translating English constructions into Italian. It does not develop in any direct way an ear for hearing Italian and understanding it efficiently. (2) There are some elementary grammatical skills omitted; for example, the familiar forms of "second person" use are virtually ignored. (3) To develop substantial skills at comprehending either spoken or written Italian, one would have to supplement one's study in this program with extensive work in vocabulary especially but also in grammar. (4) The program's claim not to require any repetition seems a bit misleading to me. I found myself revisiting earlier tracks on the CD's. But using the CD's in this way does help to reinforce the lessons learned. All in all, I would say that Thomas's program affords an excellent launch into the Italian language and is a confidence booster especially for learners who have trouble getting over certain language-learning threshholds. I hope that he develops the Italian program beyond the 8 CD's of the current set to more advanced levels of comprehension in Italian grammar and vocabulary.
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Summary: Italian Without the Pain
Review: Pop the first CD of "Italian With Michel Thomas" in your player, and the first full sentence you will learn is "E' possibile" (It is possible). That message is constantly reinforced, and soon you find yourself saying "E' possibile per me parlare Italiano," and much more. Such is the expertise of Michel Thomas. As a person whose first foreign language was a non-European one (Japanese), I've tried to teach myself a Romance language and always got bogged down in the grammar. After purchasing and listening to the CDs, I now have a very good introduction to Italian and a desire to learn more. The course is marketed as one with "no repetition, no drills, and no homework," but it's not entirely accurate to say that there's no repetition in the course. It's just that, in this course, the repetition is expertly woven into the course. You're given a variety of sentences, but each new sentence builds on knowledge attained in previous sentences, and patterns you learn in CD #1 are reinforced in CD #7. So you repeat, but it doesn't feel like rote memorization. The course emphasizes understanding and making oneself understood, so it emphasizes grammar at the expense of vocabulary. In summary, expect to supplement this course with other material for more vocabulary and verb forms. But, in 8 hours, you will probably have enough success with Italian to motivate you learn more. I certainly have. Grazie, Michel!
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Summary: Girl on the recording hinders the affect
Review: Pop the first CD of "Italian With Michel Thomas" in your player, and the first full sentence you will learn is "E' possibile" (It is possible). That message is constantly reinforced, and soon you find yourself saying "E' possibile per me parlare Italiano," and much more. Such is the expertise of Michel Thomas. As a person whose first foreign language was a non-European one (Japanese), I've tried to teach myself a Romance language and always got bogged down in the grammar. After purchasing and listening to the CDs, I now have a very good introduction to Italian and a desire to learn more. The course is marketed as one with "no repetition, no drills, and no homework," but it's not entirely accurate to say that there's no repetition in the course. It's just that, in this course, the repetition is expertly woven into the course. You're given a variety of sentences, but each new sentence builds on knowledge attained in previous sentences, and patterns you learn in CD #1 are reinforced in CD #7. So you repeat, but it doesn't feel like rote memorization. The course emphasizes understanding and making oneself understood, so it emphasizes grammar at the expense of vocabulary. In summary, expect to supplement this course with other material for more vocabulary and verb forms. But, in 8 hours, you will probably have enough success with Italian to motivate you learn more. I certainly have. Grazie, Michel!
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Summary: Italian Without the Pain
Review: Pop the first CD of "Italian With Michel Thomas" in your player, and the first full sentence you will learn is "E' possibile" (It is possible). That message is constantly reinforced, and soon you find yourself saying "E' possibile per me parlare Italiano," and much more. Such is the expertise of Michel Thomas. As a person whose first foreign language was a non-European one (Japanese), I've tried to teach myself a Romance language and always got bogged down in the grammar. After purchasing and listening to the CDs, I now have a very good introduction to Italian and a desire to learn more. The course is marketed as one with "no repetition, no drills, and no homework," but it's not entirely accurate to say that there's no repetition in the course. It's just that, in this course, the repetition is expertly woven into the course. You're given a variety of sentences, but each new sentence builds on knowledge attained in previous sentences, and patterns you learn in CD #1 are reinforced in CD #7. So you repeat, but it doesn't feel like rote memorization. The course emphasizes understanding and making oneself understood, so it emphasizes grammar at the expense of vocabulary. In summary, expect to supplement this course with other material for more vocabulary and verb forms. But, in 8 hours, you will probably have enough success with Italian to motivate you learn more. I certainly have. Grazie, Michel!
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Summary: How to Learn Italian with an American Accent
Review: Terrible product.
No native Italian speakers. Students on CD make frequent mistakes emprinting incorrect phrases on your brain.
Lessons are disorganized, follow no pattern, and teach isolated impractical phrases.
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Summary: Girl on the recording hinders the affect
Review: The course is great, but the girl in the class annoys me with her accent.
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Summary: Excellent way to quickly and easily learn Italiano
Review: The Michel Thomas method is very fun and easy to quickly pick up Italian. Two other students are learning the language with you (on the CD), so the pressure is taken off for making mistakes. Michel presents the method behind the language in a very useful, but fun manner. This method is competely unlike the boring standard present and repeat methods from other language courses. One note, you will have to continually practice with this course. No learning is automatic! Keep with it!
Highly recommended!
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