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The Michel Thomas Method? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 25 of 30 29 July 2012 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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And that's the case with most Super Advanced Topics. Ewww.
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| onurdolar Diglot Groupie TurkeyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4654 days ago 98 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Turkish*, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 26 of 30 08 August 2012 at 3:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
I have been studying from MT Mandarin for a couple weeks, I used my usual method of repeating every recording 5 times in different days/etc. I have to say MT for Mandarin doesn't work as it does for Italian be it the case its not Michel Thomas himself doing it or something else but i didn't like it at all. 1st of all their pronunciations is beyond horrible; even though it is expected from MT courses this one is really bad. I think MT method doesn't work for non-european languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| embici Triglot Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4612 days ago 263 posts - 370 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Greek | Message 27 of 30 08 August 2012 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
I have only tried the Greek course but I agree with the above quote. The MTM is like getting a little taste of dessert before the meal. It's very gratifying to be able to put sentences together in no time in a new language before getting down to learning the alphabet, numbers, verb conjugations, etc. It won't do much for your comprehension and there isn't a lot of vocabulary but then, it will only take you a few weeks to complete so you can get to that other stuff soon anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4830 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 28 of 30 08 August 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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One thing I suppose we should remember about Michel Thomas is that for most of his
fairly long life, he only taught his method in person. I think it was only in the last 10 years or so of his life that he started recording the courses that some of us are now familiar with. I don't know exactly what led to his recording them. Perhaps he sensed that the end wasn't far away, and he wanted to leave a permanent legacy. Or someone persuaded him to. But we are obviously not getting the full Michel Thomas Method on those CDs, just a kind of taster. In a way it was an experiment. The fact that so many people like them (including me) probably means that it was a successful experiment, but I would say that they are obviously not complete courses in the way that Asimil apparently is (I've never tried it). The only one I've heard that was made after Michel's death is the advanced German, made by someone who worked with him. It's quite good, but does not quite have his magic touch, sadly, inevitable. I think I have read good things on here about other post-Michel "MT Method" course though. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6905 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 29 of 30 09 August 2012 at 12:12am | IP Logged | |||||
I've been using MT for Dutch for a little more than a week, I'm in the middle of CD4 right now. Let me copy & paste from my log:
My opinion has not changed since I wrote that although when I'm thinking about it now it may be true that the course lacks a little bit of MT's magic touch. Michel Thomas may seem annoying on CDs but his charisma, personality and enthusiasm about the method are very much there in the original courses. The Dutch teacher is nice but quite bland, and you can tell she does not use all the mnemonics with full conviction as Michel Thomas does. This doesn't really impede the learning process or anything but it may explain why not all of the magic is there. //All corrections of my English are welcome - just send me a PM, please.// Edited by Julie on 09 August 2012 at 12:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4891 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 30 of 30 09 August 2012 at 1:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm a big fan of MT, but it's all about context - there are times when his course has
been perfect for my needs. For instance: Jump starting a dormant language - I hadn't studied French in decades, and MT was a quick way to reacquaint myself with the language. Recently I also did the "Base" course for Spanish (with a French base!), and it was also a great way to jump back in. In both cases I think I finished the course in two weeks, going at a casual pace. Becoming comfortable with speaking - A lot of our self-study is focused on reading, l/r, shadowing, and pattern/drill/response - it's hard to learn active conversational skills at home. This is where I would use MT's Language Builder - when I know the language, but I need some triggers to remember basic conversational phrases. In fact, I think the LB series is absolutely brilliant for this - I listened to the French Language Builder off and on while traveling, and the phrases he covered were immediately useful. About a year ago I took a trip to Mexico and had only been using Assimil for a few months. My Spanish language skills, never great to begin with, had completely withered. It was embarrassing. I learned my lesson - I need an oral course to refresh my skills. Pimsleur is much too long for this, whereas MT comes in perfect bite-size morcels. Fast Intro to a New Language - If I were leaving on a plane soon and wanted a fast and dirty into to a language, and had the funds, I would use a combination of MT, Pimsleur, and a standard course. I did this for Italian (twelve weeks with MT, Pimsleur I and II, and FSI FAST to lesson 6), and did amazingly well on the streets of Rome. There are other times when MT has not been the perfect course. If I were aiming for a longer term understanding of a language I would probably skip MT and dive right into the meatier courses. I also find that MT doesn't 'stick' unless I follow it up with something more substantial. Edited by kanewai on 09 August 2012 at 1:02am 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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