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Michel Thomas: Revised

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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
ericblair
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4471 days ago

480 posts - 700 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 1 of 4
22 May 2014 at 3:49am | IP Logged 
I came across this:
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Spanish-Revised-Michel-Language/ dp/1444790692/ref=

Anyone used a revised course in any language? I'd be curious to know how much value added
there is.
1 person has voted this message useful



mercutio
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 3603 days ago

19 posts - 26 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 2 of 4
22 May 2014 at 4:46pm | IP Logged 
I used the michel thomas app and found it absolutely the best way to use the course
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Speakeasy
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 3812 days ago

507 posts - 1097 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 3 of 4
24 May 2014 at 4:43pm | IP Logged 
Michel Thomas REVISED Courses
I have used the revised versions of the Michel Thomas German course. It seems that, about a year ago, the publisher, Hodder Education, began issuing "revised" versions of the Michel Thomas Method language courses. As far as I understand, the revisions were of three types:

Packaging and Labelling
All of the courses have been repackaged and relabelled. In some cases, this was the only change. It requires some deft reading of the fine print on the Michel Thomas website to determine which courses received this cosmetic change only and which received changes to the content.

Minor Changes to the Content - Reshuffling of the CDs
In some cases, the lesson units of various levels of the Michel Thomas courses have been reshuffled. For example, the "Total German" version includes the first 7 CDs that are of the previous 10 CD package German For Beginners and the first 2 CDs from the previous 5 CD package Vocabulary Builder. The "Perfect German" version includes the remaining CDs of the two previously-mentioned courses; however, some of the previous CDs seem to have been withdrawn. Note carefully that there were absolutely NO changes to the recordings themselves. You can determine which lessons were reshuffled by comparing the course transcripts of the different versions; these are freely available as pdf downloadable files from the Michel Thomas website.

Major Change to the Content - Inclusion of a CD-ROM for Review
The revised packages include a CD-ROM of the audio lessons. The essential English and German phrases that were covered in the lesson units are displayed as text on the computer screen and are accompanied by the corresponding voice tracks. There are no student responses or other comments on the voice tracks. For example, the phrase "When do you need it?" is displayed on the screen. The German equivalent "Wann brauchen Sie es?" is displayed and the voice track can be played. Each lesson also contains some very simple Interactive Exercises that are meant to test and reinforce the user's knowledge of the material. The material presented in the previous Additional Vocabulary CDs is not included in the review. Technically speaking, the CD-ROM seems to be a collection of html links to the publisher's website where the actual recordings and screen images are stored. Thus, you cannot (or I could not) download the content onto my computer or mp3 player.

Worth It, Not Worth It?
The revised courses are offered at higher prices than the previous versions; however, the latter are disappearing from booksellers' inventories. So, one way or another, new customers will be acquiring the revised versions. In cases where the revisions are limited to packaging only, there is obviously no additional value. Also, in cases where the student would otherwise work through the various levels of the previous programmes, the reshuffling of the CDS does not increase the value of the revised versions either. The only true value in the new versions is in the CD-ROM, which does indeed help the student review the essential course content, for which the only practical alternative would be to create similar audio files using an mp3 file splitter. However, for the student who has already completed the previous Michel Thomas programme, there is no reason to purchase the revised edition.

I hope this helps!

5 persons have voted this message useful



baokieu
Newbie
Vietnam
LangReviews.com
Joined 4401 days ago

18 posts - 19 votes
Speaks: Vietnamese*
Studies: EnglishC2

 
 Message 4 of 4
27 May 2014 at 12:17pm | IP Logged 
Agree with Speakeasy.

The publisher basically rearranges the old courses. The audio content is the same.
One small difference is that the Start course is much shorter (in length) than the old Introductory course.


1 person has voted this message useful



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