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Hugo’s In Three Months: Which One? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| CSIII Newbie United States Joined 5317 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 1 of 8 28 August 2010 at 6:08pm | IP Logged |
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I've been an frequent viewer of Prof. A's Youtube videos. Thanks you Prof. A. for taking the time to help us understand the different language programs.
I have a question pertaining to his video in which he discusses the Hugo's In Three Months courses. I understand the 1970s (dark blue or black cover; book & cassettes) courses have more literature in the target language and are overall very good. The 1980s (colorful cover displaying cultural items; book & cassettes) started to get a bit "phrasey" but still very good. Prof. A also states that the newer versions on CD (probably late 1990s-2000s) are also good. I deduce that they are probably more "phrasey." Are the CD versions (book and CDs) of the Hugo's In Three Months courses worth getting (have as much info as the earlier course) or should I stick with the cassette (1970s/1980s) courses? Edited by CSIII on 28 August 2010 at 6:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5299 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes  Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English | Message 2 of 8 28 August 2010 at 7:38pm | IP Logged |
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Don't know about the CD editions, but I have 3 "In three months" books:
- Japanese by John Breen - Spanish by Isabel Cisneros - Italian by Milena Reynolds I bought Japanese and Spanish some time ago and will start them soon, but I have gone through the "Italian in three months" and I can say that it was very good for a person like me, who was able to say only "Boungiorno" in Italian. Of course it's not a complete thing, because I didn't have the audio materials to them, but it gave me some vocabulary, conversational phrases and grammar in a good way, there are also some writing exercises. These books are a very good for a starter especially about the grammar - somehow these books tend to be less intimidating in giving you grammar. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6039 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 8 28 August 2010 at 7:52pm | IP Logged |
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Ignore Prof A. As a lifelong language learner, he likes books that have more words and rules in a short space than the average beginner can psychologically handle.
A book that he likes will be impossible for either you or me. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5593 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 4 of 8 28 August 2010 at 9:20pm | IP Logged |
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He is also in error if he states that the 70s Blue coloured series of '... In 3 Months' are any different textually to the modern versions. They are exactly the same text just typeset differently. The chapters have been re-divided so they now fit the 3 months of study format (i.e. 12 weekly lessons) and each chapter begins with a 'what you should be able to achieve' summary. The typesetting now make colour division (white and grey) between dialogue and grammatical tables. I suspect that the difference is because Hugo were taken over by Dorling Kindersley in the 80s and their editorial style was different. Although the format is better, I think the old blue books were somehow a bit more stylish, but that is a matter of aesthetics, not content.
The recordings are also the same, save the introductory links in the recordings have had the English public school style narrator removed (I always found this a charming feature of Hugo) in favour of a native speaker (who is speaking English). Although I own the 5 of the '... in Three Months courses' I have never used one but their focus on grammar tempts me - I have used Advanced French (in its 'Blue' book form of 'Taking French Further') and found it really excellent. Does any one have any opinion on the three month courses as I am thinking of using the German one soon. Edited by Elexi on 28 August 2010 at 9:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5380 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 5 of 8 29 August 2010 at 4:54am | IP Logged |
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I did not even know that those courses were available on CD! Last summer I worked through and browsed a lot of the Dutch course, and I found it to be worth while. The course provides some necessary phrases, grammar points, vocabulary as well as a nice amount of translation exercises. IMO, these are much better than the new TY books.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6179 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 6 of 8 30 August 2010 at 4:01pm | IP Logged |
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I recently completed Hugo's French in 3 months. I found this course very useful, and a lot more practical than some Teach Yourself courses. The courses are very grammar focused, which I tend to prefer now. I don't like wading through lots of dialogues with little explanation about usage. The Hugo course will teach your to manipulate the language, and not just parrot sentences.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| re4lover Groupie Egypt Joined 5465 days ago 63 posts - 66 votes Speaks: Arabic (Egyptian)* Studies: English, Russian, Modern Hebrew, Aramaic | Message 7 of 8 30 August 2010 at 9:09pm | IP Logged |
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I agree with DaraghM about his opinion about Hugo series
I'm now studies from Hugo's Russian In 3 Months and I find it very useful , the course focus also on grammar (which is the most difficult part in Russian ) and givin' more Phrases and words which are very important and useful too , also giving Exercises that you need to find the self-confidence about the language I hate too some courses that based on just some phrases without any useful grammar , just use it for accent and gaining some vocabulary but the main course is Hugo for it's amazing grammar and useful expressions Edited by re4lover on 30 August 2010 at 9:14pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| stout Senior Member Ireland Joined 5399 days ago 108 posts - 140 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 8 of 8 03 September 2010 at 8:30pm | IP Logged |
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I agree with the previous threads that the Hugo In 3 Mths courses are very good indeed
for beginners to intermediate learners like myself.I am studying with Hugo French in Three Months course at the moment and I like and enjoy the course very much. It has a good mixture of grammar and convervation and it gives the beginner and intermediate learner a good solid foundation of the target language.I bought the 2003 Hugo French In 3 Months version with the textbooks and 3 CD's for about 40-45 euro.Good value indeed.It certainly beats Rossetta Stone any day. I recommend in buying the whole package.That's textbook with the CD's added and not just the textbook on it's own. The Hugo in Three Months courses are the business...Pretty good courses indeed... 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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