Product Description

Michel Thomas took the language-learning world by storm.
With no books, no memorising and no homework, Michel teaches the basic grammar of the language painlessly. Using the method he perfected over 50 years, he shares his secret with the world - and 'makes it simple' (Sunday Times).
In only a matter of hours, he gives you a comprehensive grasp of the structure of the language, enabling you to communicate with confidence. The present, future, conditional and past tenses are covered, and you are taught to think about the ideas that you are trying to communicate, rather than to translate words slavishly.
He points out the similarities of the vocabulary in English and German and gives you the tools to guess the words you do not know, or think you do not know.
Join two students as they learn in real time. Become the third member of the class and experience the excitement of learning a language as if by magic!

This new edition has one, very significant, new feature – an additional ‘Review’ CD. All the main teaching points have been lifted from the Foundation (8-hour) course and are contained on just 2 CDs. The student hears Michel teaching a specific point, there is a pause which allows time for the student to give his/her response to Michel’s prompt, followed by Michel giving the correct response. If the student has struggled or given an incorrect answer, s/he can use the index in the accompanying booklet to locate the area of the main course where the specific language point was being taught in depth and can return to the main course to work through the relevant section again, quickly and efficiently. It can also be used very successfully by those coming back to the course after a lapse of time, either to check how much they have retained or as a quick revision tool. Only Michel’s words and phrases are on the new CD, so the course is summarised succinctly and with a new, snappy pace.
Finally, the new edition is repackaged, with an up-to-the minute cover treatment and robust DVD-type cases inside a rigid card slip case, to ensure that the CDs remain damage-free and are easy to access and use.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9862 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-29
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Audio CD

Review
"* "Ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently." Sunday Business * "A great way to learn; it's fast and it lasts". The Daily Telegraph * "Five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like you're winning." Time Out * "Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed." The Guardian * "Thomas makes it simple" Sunday Times * "Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily" Daily Star * "Hugely inspiring" Red"

Review
"Ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently." (Sunday Business )

"A great way to learn; it's fast and it lasts". (The Daily Telegraph )

"Five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like you're winning." (Time Out )

"Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed." (The Guardian )

"Thomas makes it simple" (Sunday Times )

"Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily" (Daily Star )

"Hugely inspiring" (Red )

Daily Star
"Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily"

Customer Reviews

Grammar without the groans
I used this to brush up my rusty German, so I can't say what it would be like for an absolute beginner. However I am something of a fan of the Michel Thomas technique which for me at least works very well. This is a dialogic approach; Michael works with two learners repeating and practicing short constructions, grammatical building blocks essentially, which can be used to build ever more complex sentences and ideas. The program is `audio-only' on 8 CDs. I listened to it while commuting and got through a CD a day. As this feels like a 'natural' way of learning, there is no real rote memorisation, though it would take a beginner a few listens to really grasp it. The main problem is that it is low on everyday vocabulary; I think it fuctions best as a supplement to a traditional course or vocabulary-based audio course like VocabuLearn or Pimsleur. Also, some of the constructions such as `I would like to have it cleaned' seem a bit old fashioned. That said, I actually find these courses slightly addictive (I have done the Dutch and Italian ones, too) and the sadly departed Michel is quite entertaining in a schoolteacher-ish way, especially when he gets increasingly impatient with one of his (admittedly rather thick) students. Highly recommended.

Great for those in it for the longer term
I have just moved to Germany and did a standard CD course from the local library in the UK (BBC?). It gave me some basics that got me through a few months of being here. I could ask for some coffee and count but it did not give me a foundation on which to build.
I felt that I took a bit of a risk in buying MIchel Thomas because it seems expensive but I am so glad that i did. I have been using the CDs in half term and have managed to get thought half the course without having to repeat anything. I can also practice it straight away and have been praised on my german already!! It is easy to look up words in the dictionary and place them in the correct part of the sentence. I think that the locals here respect the fact that you are being polite.
I would not recommend it for someone going on a short holiday but if you are planning on coming to a german speaking country on a regular basis or living here, es ist wondervoll.

Very disappointing
Michel Thomas's introduction in broken English was hard to listen to, and a very poor introduction to a language course. He rabbitted on so much that I felt I was learning very little, very slowly. The first few lessons left me with only a handful of words, and a lot of frustration. I replaced it with Linguaphone's All Talk which does a far better job and gets you into the usable elements of German quickly.