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Michel Thomas | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7090 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 33 of 405 18 June 2006 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | ||
I have wondered if the inclusion of the god-awful student was a deliberate confidence booster? You get a nice laugh at their expense the first run through the CDs. The problem with the students is that they stay locked in time and never progress while you learn from your mistakes. When I first completed the course I thought if I could run through them 4-5 times I could have mastered them. I found I could only completed them twice before I was ready scream listening to their same mistakes over and over again. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7102 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 34 of 405 19 June 2006 at 12:19am | IP Logged | ||
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The French course has so many die-laughing moments. I like the one were the woman is hesitating to say something she has already said before and Michel says "say it, say it!" in a loud voice. In another instance she makes an obvious guess at grammar which leads Michel to go on about how you can only guess for vocabulary. The bloke in the class dominates the later units thankfully.
On the plus side, the advanced courses seem to have brighter students that actually get it and aren't nearly as annoying. Edited by Sir Nigel on 19 June 2006 at 12:21am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6907 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 35 of 405 26 June 2006 at 5:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Oh, I'd better finish the (Spanish) course then... :) There have already been a lot of funny moments. The girl is OK and sounds very American, while the boy has a British accent making every -r silent. He also tends to hesitate a lot, and he raises the voice at the end of the words as if questioning Michel Thomas ("Am I doing this right?"). The professor does not like the new pronouciation... :)
<side note> There is a "Merk lick" is the Pimsleur German course - Goethe street (die Goethe Straße) which the speaker (Mr Pimsleur himself?) pronunces GER-TER with very audible r's. :D </side note> Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 26 June 2006 at 5:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shyopstv Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6718 days ago 86 posts - 91 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Esperanto | Message 36 of 405 02 July 2006 at 11:02am | IP Logged | ||
It was hilarous how after several hours and constant reminding from Michel, she still kept pronouncing "Ich" as "Ick". It got annyoing when she kept pronouncing "nicht" as "nick". Maybe listening to Rammstein gave me a bit of an unfair advantage there but it really isn't that hard. Another funny part is hearing them both try to pronounce "wird". Unfortunatly the guy gets pretty close to the correct pronounciation on the 500th attempt therefore ruining the fun That said, after doing the beginner's course, i feel quite a lot more confident about German. The things you can do after it is quite amazing considering it is only an 8 hour course. One slightly annyoing thing is that he covers grammar but without actualing telling you what part of the German grammar he is teaching - he calls auxiliary verbs "handles" and the subordiante clause becomes "the weil situation". I am not an expert on English grammar and don't know any of the fancy words so it would be nice to be told when they are being used otherwise when I use other sources (I will need to) I have no idea what I know :-). There are also a lot of difficult things that he doesn't cover at all. In fact he says towards the end of the course "If you know how to handle verbs, you know how to handle the language. Everything else is just vocabulary," so you can forget being taught cases and genders of nouns. Maybe they come up in the Advanced Course? Also he teaches you next to no vocabulary. In fact, the only noun I remember him teaching me (not including pronouns) is "zeit". By CD 3 you will be constructing sentences like "I want to know why it will not be ready today because I need it" but you never learn how to count from 1 to 10. Another thing is that the language you learn is very formal. One example is that he only teaches the formal address "Sie", totally ignoring "Du". Though I assume, that if you know anyone you would address as "Du", you could just get them to teach you German. If you jsut want to talk to a German business partner or something the "Sie" is all you will need Also, Michel has a very strong German accent when he speaks English. I assume that if you use his other language courses, you will end up speaking that language with a German accent? It is obviously not a problem for the German course though. Overall, it is a good introduction but you will need other material once you have finished with it. On the UK version of Amazon you can get it for £35 (around $60) which is probably worth it. I would look at getting a second hand version though Edited by shyopstv on 02 July 2006 at 5:38pm 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 37 of 405 18 July 2006 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
Both 'Ich' and 'Ick' are valid pronunciations. 'Ick' and 'nickt' being the dialect spoken in and around Berlin. I tend to use both interchangeably to be honest. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| shyopstv Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6718 days ago 86 posts - 91 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Esperanto | Message 38 of 405 21 July 2006 at 1:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Now that I didn't know
Outsmarted by the stupid girl on the Michel Thomas German Language course. My dignity has hit an all-time low 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Dektora Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6702 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 39 of 405 22 July 2006 at 9:10am | IP Logged | ||
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I found the Michel Thomas French course a highly entertaining introduction to the language. I knew next to nothing when I started and it really gave me a taste for the language. Sure, you don't learn much that's going to be particularly useful for a weekend in Paris but it's a confidence boosting start.
The 'dull student' on the French course is hilarious. She gasps with pseudo erotic pleasure every time she learns a new word or rule *gasp*, which thankfully, isn't very often. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| alcina Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6695 days ago 51 posts - 54 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian | Message 40 of 405 25 July 2006 at 6:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Having learned French in school a coughnumbercough of years ago, I found the Michel Thomas courses very helpful. His emphasis is on speaking and creating your own sentences on the fly. Having a basic school French background meant that I actually already knew a lot of what he said (which came as a surprise to me!), but he made it "talk" in a real everyday kind of way....much more flexible than learing set phrases. Having never dared open my mouth in France before (the result of a great many carefully prepared sentences being completely not understood!), after the Michel Thomas courses I found myself feeling confident enough actually to speak to French people! And what's more...they understood me...which all means that for me the method worked. The courses won't make you fluent, but you'll be understood and you'll probably be able to work out what the reply to your question is as well.
I borrowed the CDs from my local library, it might be worth trying to investigate that route if finances are a problem. They *are* expensive, but they're a great boost for the timid learner. However, yes you will need other study aids to learn sufficient vocabulary to hold a conversation without artificially having to steer it to use only the words you know. Michel Thomas is a sort of curmudgeonly old uncle who slightly bullies you, but in a nice way. The two students are helpful inasmuch as you you find yourself willing the slower one on in a "Me Sir, me Sir, I know the answer Sir, Sir pick me" kind of way! So you are, in fact, repeating in your head (or out loud depending on where you are!) the answer many times...which you wouldn't be doing if the slower student got it straight away...a rather sly learning technique eh? But yes, you're probably only meant to listen to the course twice at the most otherwise it can become annoying...which then does make it very expensive if you have to purchase it. When my French improves and I turn my attention to the next language (which will probably be German), I will start again with the Michel Thomas German courses to get a basic "feel" in a rough and ready way, and then move on from there. Alcina 1 person has voted this message useful |
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