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Michel Thomas | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Eric Senior Member Australia Joined 7226 days ago 102 posts - 105 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 9 of 405 15 February 2005 at 1:58am | IP Logged |
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I listened to the first CD of the Spanish one today, I have mixed feelings about it.
It is true what Seth said, Mr Thomas does have an accent but it's not too bad IMHO, one thing that is a bit off-putting is that the other students occasionally make mistakes and are corrected then and there, so if you are gifted (i.e - moi  ) you have to sit there and listen to the other student stuff up 'muy'.
I did get something useful out of the CD though, Michel Thomas claims that every English word that ends in "ent" or "ant" is the same in Spanish you just add another e or a. He warns of never learning by rote or studying outside the program, and claims that the onus of memorization is on the teacher during class, not the student outside class. I like this line, but fear that is all it is ... a line. I'll test it out from time to time, but won't use it daily like Pimsleur, it's not as 'user friendly' as Pimsleur IMHO. Cheers. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| heartburn Senior Member United States Joined 7205 days ago 355 posts - 350 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 10 of 405 02 March 2005 at 10:32pm | IP Logged |
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Err...no studying outside the program???
Then I guess the program must be perfect. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 11 of 405 05 March 2005 at 12:40pm | IP Logged |
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If you have a long trip, and are a beginning spanish
student, and can check it out of the library, I think Michel Thomas is worth listening to. I got it when I was a beginner, and the main thing I mastered from the program was creating sentences using "lo" (it). It's definitely not a perfect program, but surprisingly, he'll be throwing sentences like this at you on the second CD. It's not necessary for me because I don't need it. I'm not going to buy it because it's very expensive. Do you have the confirmation of the reservation for me for tonight? What type of reservation do you want? Why can't you understand me? Nothing is going to be ready for you today, but everything is going to be ready for you tomorrow. To me, being able to create relatively complex sentences like those above inside of two hours of instruction was exciting. The downside is one of the students on the tape cannot keep up for the whole 8 hour course, and that is the biggest problem with the course. I spent a lot of time editing the 8 hour program down to 80 minutes of drills. I still use it occasionally. I don't know exactly why he suggests not studying outside the program. Perhaps he doesn't want you to mentally be reviewing material you've misunderstood. I think if you understand the lesson, it's very beneficial to start making up your own sentences. Nonetheless, the whole Michel Thomas way of teaching a language is clever. I just don't think the recordings quite live up to what the master actually did. I think if you had him teaching you a language every day in school for 6 hours, and the class had 2-3 bright students, Michel would have had you on your feet in a month. In fact, I believe he did something like that for two weeks in a ghetto just to prove that underpriviledged kids could learn a language and have fun in the process. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| nickbos Newbie United Kingdom Joined 7163 days ago 29 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian | Message 12 of 405 13 April 2005 at 9:41am | IP Logged |
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I was looking for views and opinions on Michel Thomas' technique for teaching languages, but was surprised to see that there were no postings relating to this. Does anyone have a view on his audio-only technique ?? Although I am sceptical of claims that it is possible to learn a language without reading and addressing issues of grammar, I found his audio course to be extremely effective and quite inspirational. On his "Advanced German" CDs, he manages to explain the applications of the German verb "werden" in a way that none of my previous German teachers have been able to. I'm surprised that other language tutors haven't incorporated his methods into their own tuition practices. Two tutors I have worked with, who had never heard of him, pulled faces when I played them some of his material. Nick Bos UK. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| lola Groupie Joined 7150 days ago 63 posts - 65 votes | Message 13 of 405 10 May 2005 at 7:05am | IP Logged |
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I've got the French edition. I'm glad I got it with a little discount. I do not yet speak French, but I went through the cds a few times.
I would say it is a painless introduction to the language, to get you to speak. His approach is to make the most of what you've got (e.g. finding the similar words which only differ in the endings). Then he focuses in giving you the most basic sentence patterns which you can then use to construct your own speech. Good points: starts from zero, painless, good as an intro, 8 hours (= 8 classes) Bad points: the lesson format with the other students, limited repertoire, price (£60), lack of text (there is some transcripts, but it was confusing for me) Who is it for: Complete beginners, who want to get familiar with the language sounds, some basic structures and essential words. Good as a teaser, to see if you like the language. How to use it effectively: (I'd like someone else's view since I haven't been successful yet). I reckon you have to shadow and repeat a lot of times the sentences. I would edit it down to make best use of the time. Conclusion: It's ok, but after seeing that you can learn a lot more with Assimil, which's price is a little more than £40 cds included, I believe you get a lot more out of your money with the last. However, if someone is terrified with language learning, Michel Thomas could be just what they need to gain a little bit of confidence. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ebrown Newbie United States Joined 7121 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes | Message 14 of 405 25 May 2005 at 1:10pm | IP Logged |
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I bought Michel Thomas spanish learning CD's.I'm on CD 7 of 8 now. I don't think the CD's were worth the sticker price. If you want to learn how to communicate in spanish. If you want to learn how to comprehend spanish. If you want to learn phrases that you can use in the real world then this CD is not for you. Michele has a thick FRENCH accent ( I think its french) and he forces the students to "push" the "stress" in the words, which doesn't sound like any spanish i've heard. The bottom line is you won't learn how to speak Spanish from those cd's.
The good point is that if you are using pimsleur or some other method, or if you are studying spanish from a text book then it will pay to supplement your primary studies with michele thomas. After you understand whats going on in the language then you should listen to his CD's for reinforcement. Thomas will suggest shortcuts and funny ways to make you remember rules that will make sense. However, without the additional studies, if you are using him as your primary teacher than his examples will not make sense. comprende? This only works once you get into CD's 6-8. Because he starts teaching more advanced spanish. The first 5 cd's are garbage in my opinion Edited by Malcolm on 25 May 2005 at 9:01pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Paul Tetraglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7119 days ago 114 posts - 124 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German Studies: Italian | Message 15 of 405 27 May 2005 at 2:34pm | IP Logged |
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Well first off I borrowed it because I am extremely poor at the moment,
and at £80 a go, he probably made enough money as it is. So the price didn't affect my opinion. I have to say I found his french course invaluable. I was really struggling with all that grammer, and this teaches it to you in a natural way. In a couple of days you can have a basic grasp of sentence structure and the french present tense. It's enjoyable to listen to, if you relax and don't think of the excess comments as a waste of time...Michel is very skilled at creating an pleasent mood for learning. Language learning isn't about cramming as much vocabulary into the shortest period of time. If you stop trying, you can acquire language with little effort, just by being attentive. I thought not having texts was a good idea; it forces you to pay full attention. I went back later with a text book and wrote out the sentences whilst listening to the tape. This consolidated my knowledge and somehow I remembered all the spelling too (and I am terrible at spelling). The Advanced Cd is even better, giving you a grasp of every tense, and again it was so easy to remember, requiring almost no effort. Michel uses a lot of funny little tales to help you remember and form associations. The wonderful thing about the human brain, is that after a while you forget the stories and remember the only the vocabulary and grammar, and it comes back to you without any need to think. Again it taught me the importance of mood. If you're in the mood to learn, then learn, if not don't force it, go and have some fun and return to it later. P. Edited by Malcolm on 27 May 2005 at 4:52pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| arnz Newbie United States Joined 7203 days ago 38 posts - 44 votes | Message 16 of 405 29 May 2005 at 10:46am | IP Logged |
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I think it works best for people who don't think they can learn another language. Obviously not too many of those types from this website, if you are already thinking about your 4th, 5th, or 100th language to learn, you obviously do not need your hand held, or have cute fillers and mnemonics like Michel provides
Michel has made a niche for himself, for those who want a less painful start. I think the success they find from this course will enable them to continue with learning that language. How many language learning courses can you say that about? 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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