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Berlitz’s "Think and Talk XXXX" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5164 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 1 of 10 14 April 2014 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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A long time ago Berlitz made some beginner courses entirely in the target language. Very early on I listened to the first tape of the Spanish course which I found at my local library. I listened to it over and over and over again and loved it. The library only had the first tape and I could never find any more despite much searching. I cannot find these courses on Amazon or mentioned anywhere.
Now I am looking at the French course. I found the French course under it's Spanish name "Piense en Frances... Hable en Frances" when I was looking for French learning material for Spanish speakers. I think they are very old courses. The audio "feels" like the audio from Assimil's "without toil" era. I am surprised that I have never seen these courses discussed here on this forum because they seem very interesting, useful, effective and fun. Plus they are for absolute beginners and are entirely in the target language. The courses can be used as all-audio, but the French course also has an indepth book (several hundred pages) that is entirely in French (except the introduction and basic instructions on how to use the book). I only had the first hour of the Spanish course but the audio obviously took the same approach as the French course. I have only listened to the first French lesson (about 8 minutes). There are 50 lessons in the French course which must amount to roughly 5-7 hours of audio. I am interested to hear if anyone has started a language with one of these courses and if it was as good as it looks to me. Is this course as good as it looks for a beginner? It looks to me like a great all-audio substitute for Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, etc. I am drawn to these course because they are very interesting and fun. Each lesson has a "scene" in which people speak entirely in the target language. There are "sound effects" and tons of non-verbal audio cues that help the learner understand the meaning. It is really fun to listen entirely in the target language and learn. You need to listen to each lesson several times to understand it, but it really seems to work. For example, almost five years later I still remember some of the things from the Spanish course. They'd have a man with a squeaky voice say "soy un hombre pequeño" (I'm a small man) and then a man in a big bellowing voice say "soy un hombre grande" (I am a large man). You would hear women say something similar so you could piece everything together. Another time they would have someone say "tengo poco dinero"(I have a little bit of money) and you would hear two coins drop and make a pathetically small amount of noise. Then they would say "señor Rockefeller tiene MUCHO dinero"(Mr. Rockefeller has a lot of money) and you would hear an avalanche of money. In the first lesson of the French course you hear someone talking about pets and you hear a dog bark and a cat meow, etc. You also hear someone counting the gongs of a clock striking noon and you learn the numbers and how to say hours, etc. They talk about cars and say "Chevrolet is an American car", "Toyota is a Japanese car", "Peugeot is a French car". It is really cool. The first few times through you simply listen and try to figure out what they are saying. All of the clues build on each other. There are prompts where they ask you to repeat and/or answer a question. After a few runs through each lesson you actually understand it and can respond. The French book has all the scenes written out and uses drawings to explain what is going on. It has exercises also. It is very basic beginning French and everything is in French. Am I the only person that has seen these courses? Why don't we see them discussed here on this forum as a beginner course/substitute for Pimsleur and Michel Thomas? Has anyone used them extensively? Maybe they are not as good as I think and that is the problem? I am contemplating using the French course and, if I do, I will report back. Edited by James29 on 15 April 2014 at 2:00pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5123 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 10 14 April 2014 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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It sounds great the way you describe it, but for me Linguaphone courses from the 70ies with everything in the
target language put me off language courses for decades. I did not actually enjoy a course until I discovered Pimsleur. The advantage of that and Michel Thomas is that you can listen to them on the go - which is how I do most of my language learning. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5572 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 3 of 10 15 April 2014 at 12:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I used Berlitz "Think and Talk" German second level course many years ago the first time I tried (and
failed) to learn German. I borrowed it from the library and thought it was awful because I didn't know how to use it. Looking back, I now think it was an excellent course and I missed a good opportunity. I tried to find it but the library no longer has it. Having said that, the French and Spanish courses you describe don't sound like that at all; they sound very much like this (there's also a French course). ie=UTF8&qid=1397515442&sr=8-245&keywords=berlitz+spanish">Be rlitz Basic Spanish If I'm right there's a telephone call with someone who speaks Japanese, right? Edited by Random review on 15 April 2014 at 12:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5164 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 4 of 10 15 April 2014 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
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The Spanish course looked different than that. Here is a link to pdfs of the French course. The transcripts do not do the audio justice because they, of course, do not show the audio clues.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jpazzz Groupie United States Joined 4834 days ago 54 posts - 76 votes Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 10 15 April 2014 at 4:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Hello, The series is called Berlitz Think and Talk (plus the name of the language, German, French, Spanish and Italian) They are absolutely brilliant; and, like you, I've wondered why they're never mentioned on the Forum. They're commonly and inexpensively available on Amazon. There is also a second series of each language called Think and Talk Advanced. I have these also and think they're very good as well, but not quite as originally done as the initial series. The second series is, also all in the target language, but the books have English explanations of grammar, etc. Sometimes you can find the two levels packaged together.
Cheers, John 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5572 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 6 of 10 15 April 2014 at 4:34am | IP Logged | ||
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Ha ha, brings back memories. I had a look at your transcript, James and it is indeed the same course
under a different name, complete with phone call with the Japanese speaker. Shows how long ago this was that I had forgotten Mr Nakamura- as a Celtic fan, I'd never forget that name now (we had an excellent player of that name in the intervening time). Yeah, I remember it being really good but very basic. I'm glad you made this thread, mate, as I'd completely forgotten about this series (even if I know it under a different name). I should add that the audio for this course is to be found if looked for. Possibly in a Central Asian country... Edited by Random review on 15 April 2014 at 4:40am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5164 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 7 of 10 15 April 2014 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you, Jpazzz for the post. I have edited the title of the thread to reflect the proper name. I found the Spanish course on Amazon and it indeed looks like the same one I did because it has the same photo on the cover... however, I must have done an earlier edition and I did not have a book (only one tape). Nevertheless, I am sure the audio has not changed.
That's cool that there is an "advanced" version. How "advanced" is it? Randomreview, it is good to see you back in the forum. It seems like you have been gone for a while. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5572 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 8 of 10 15 April 2014 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | ||
As I mentioned I used the advanced "Think and Talk" for German: it's absolutely nothing like the beginner's courses of the same name that we are discussing. It has some (very good) dialogues, IIRC also a translation and a few audio excercises. I still remember some of the phrases from tne dialogues: "Da haben Sie eine gute Wahl getroffen" ha ha. It's not too dissimilar to an Assimil or Linguaphone course. Wish I'd known how to use it back then (I was used to being spoon fed by MT and Pimsleur). This must be nearly 10 years ago. Been down lately mate, but still here. I'll try and make a log post tomorrow. Edited by Random review on 15 April 2014 at 3:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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