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Michel Thomas | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Languagelover1 Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6430 days ago 63 posts - 63 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 161 of 405 15 July 2007 at 12:59pm | IP Logged |
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I listened to it. It was ok but not really that much substance on how his
method worked, it was more about 'modelling' people for NLP. However if you are still interested the lecture was given by Wyatt Woodsmall is on two CDs and can be obtained from jo@nlpconference.co.uk for about £8. A book is coming out in January about the method and should provide more insight. Have you seen the DVD of Paul Howard's class using the method? The kids seemed to really enjoy it. Edited by Languagelover1 on 19 July 2007 at 2:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stultus Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6345 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 162 of 405 15 July 2007 at 1:22pm | IP Logged |
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Languagelover1,
Thanks to candomneil, I now have a copy of the lecture and have just finished listening to the first half. It's very interesting so far. Yes, I have seen the Paul Howard video, it's part of the whole course pack we have purchased. I actually know Paul; we were on a course together a couple of years ago and have recently got in touch again to talk about this Michel Thomas-based course. There is a chance he could be coming to our school to teach a demo lesson too. Anyway, thanks for your reply! :-) Martin 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6539 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 163 of 405 18 July 2007 at 3:56pm | IP Logged |
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Are the 2 CDs based on Wyatt Woodsmall's talk about knowing the difference between knowing 'what to do' 'how to do'? Does he mention the part about rifle marksmanship?
"A book is coming out in January about the method and should provide more more insight." In his lecture he said that the publisher didn't like the negative view on the "mind prison". Did they change their minds recently? I don't mean to oversimplify MT's method, but could it be explained like this: One remembers what one understands, and it is the teacher's job to be able to ask the right questions and keeping track on what the student needs help on. It's really all about learning a language through translation. Edited by Kugel on 18 July 2007 at 3:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Languagelover1 Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6430 days ago 63 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 164 of 405 18 July 2007 at 4:25pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Kugel,
I'm not sure about the 'rifle' quote as it was a long time ago that I listened to these CD's. They were mostly about Michel's life story and little substance about how the method worked. The book I was refering to is going to be published by Hodder, it is written by Jonathan Solity and is called Michel Thomas: a Learning Revolution (details on Amazon, I believe) The essence of the method is that Michel Thomas stripped down the language to a bare minimum to highlight how the entire grammatical structure of a language works. This was achieved using only around 450 words. You get all the tenses, and moods and positioning of the pronouns etc and this is achieved in just a few hours of study. His theory was that once someone internalised this they (as you suggest) never forget something they truly understand. The first few hours of study involve translation. Apparently at his language schools you would move into L2 entirely at a later stage. The second phase of the method, after developing the grammatical structure was to develop vocabulary by weaving new words into what the student already knew so that you were practicing the tenses and only learning one new word at a time (this means that at no time do you feel overloaded or stressed, which is an important reason why the method works). Cognates are used heavily in this stage. Michel Thomas always said that he just built the structure and it was up to his students to go and 'decorate the house' i.e. add the vocabulary THEY needed I believe that Wyatt Woodsmall has written a book also but for whatever reason he either hasn't found a publisher or doesn't want to release it. Hope this helps Languagelover1 Edited by Languagelover1 on 18 July 2007 at 4:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6539 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 165 of 405 18 July 2007 at 5:00pm | IP Logged |
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I'll have to keep my eye on this in JAN 08. I'm a bit worried, though, because it was Mr. Woodsmall, in his lecture, that said Hodder didn't want to publish his book because of Michel Thomas's negative view on the current educational system. Maybe Jonathan Solity toned it down and censured Michel Thomas's view? Edited by Kugel on 18 July 2007 at 5:00pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stultus Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6345 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 166 of 405 19 July 2007 at 12:36am | IP Logged |
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I emailed Hodder yesterday asking about Wyatt Woodsmall's book. I am a Spanish teacher in a secondary school and I, for one, would love to read the book. I think the current system is a "mind prison". We will be trialling the Michel Thomas method with a few classses next year. I wrote an article on the subject and the Head is totally behind me, he's even offered extra funding for the project.
I'll let you know when/if Hodder reply to my email. Martin 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stultus Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6345 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 167 of 405 19 July 2007 at 12:48am | IP Logged |
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By the way, any language teachers out there who are interested in Michel Thomas' methodology may be interested in joining my Yahoo Group: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ltmt
The article I mentioned above can be found in the Files area. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6539 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 168 of 405 19 July 2007 at 7:33pm | IP Logged |
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I joined the group so I just have to wait until I'm approved to get a hold of the article. I really hope that the book will be way more advanced than the CDs. After analyzing the audio I've found that Michel Thomas didn't really cover anything revolutionary. It was impressive, but not anything spectacular. An error about "zu" on CD 6 track 9 sort of sticks out. Kind of strange that over 700,000 customers might have passed right on through not noticing it. When Michel Thomas is very clear about "thinking" out every word, screwing up on a "zu" can leave you flustered.
MT wants you to be able to express the thought, "I don't know if it is possible to do it that way, but I will try." MT answer is this, "Ich weiß nicht, ob es möglich ist, es so tun, aber ich werde versuchen." There is no "zu" between "so" and "tun". 1 person has voted this message useful |
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