Product Description

Learn another language the way you learnt your own

You learnt your own language naturally and enjoyably: now you can learn Dutch in the same way.

You'll stick with it because you'll love it

Use the unique method perfected over fifty years by the celebrated psychologist and linguist Michel Thomas.

This method works with your brain, helping you to build up your Dutch in manageable, enjoyable steps by thinking out the answers for yourself.

You learn through listening and speaking without the pressure of writing or memorising.

You pick up the language naturally and unforgettably.

 

The NEW Dutch Foundation Course

An eight-hour, 100% audio method for learning Dutch. Join teacher Cobie Adkins-de Jong and two students in a live lesson and within the first hour you will be able to construct simple phrases. You will learn the language with the students, hearing both their successes and their mistakes to keep you motivated and involved throughout the course. By the end, you will have the confidence to understand and speak Dutch.

Join the millions of people worldwide who have learnt a new language with the Michel Thomas Method

Contents: 8 CDs plus booklet with Dutch phrases in English translation

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112741 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-25
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

Review
"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 )

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

"Moving along at a relaxed, slow pace, punctuated by amusing anecdotes and jokes from the teacher, the new words, phrases and language rules are gently introduced and reinforced through subtle repetition without ever being tedious. In fact, despite a distinct emphasis on non-work, the course proves very effective and enjoyable, and its format is ideal for learning anywhere you like. So, if you only want to learn to speak the language, this course is highly recommended."

(Top Real Travel Product, Real Travel )

"Excellent for learning ... This entirely audio course is easy to use and quickly results in some useful ability in the new language. Great for the car."

(Adventure Travel )

About the Author

Cobie Adkins-de Jong and Els Van Geyte are native Dutch speakers and experienced teachers of Dutch.

Cobie additionally used to teach German to adults at the Brasshouse Language Centre in Birmingham, while Els also teaches English as a Foreign Language at the University of Birmingham.

---

Customer Reviews

Dutch courage
I'm a bit of a fan of the Michel Thomas method and have done his excellent audio courses in German and Italian. This is the first one I've tried which used a different teacher - she's actually better, the real Michel Thomas was often quite grumpy! -, but the method is the same. Each of the eight one-hour lessons comprises a teacher and two students. The teacher introduces phrases and the student repeats them. The difference with normal audio courses, though is that the focus is not just on memorising holiday phrases and lists of words but on practicing simple grammatical `units' that can re-used to build quite sophisticated conversational constructions. To me this mimics how people 'naturally' speak second (and probably first) languages. This I think is why people have a feeling of breakthrough and confidence after a MT course. In this case I had studied Dutch for a year but felt I couldn't speak it. After doing this course I feel I can, at least to some extent. The MT claim that the student doesn't have to work to learn the language is of course total nonsense though. There is just not enough vocabulary in a MT foundation course to survive, and I really have to listen to each course three or four times before it sticks. That said, if you do a MT alongside a conventional course to pick up more conventional vocabulary and phrases, they work brilliantly. As a pretty experienced language learner, I'd say if you want to learn to speak Dutch and don't have a native Nederlander to hand, do this course. Then do the Advanced one when it comes out!

A wonderful course!
I had no intention of learning Dutch when I began listening to this course but as I have completed many of the Michel Thomas programmes I thought that it would be a shame not to give the Dutch course a try. I'm glad I did as I love almost everything about it.

The teacher, Cobie, is calm and clear in her explanations to the two students and also has a wonderful speaking voice, which I greatly enjoyed listening to . The course moves at a nice pace, not too fast or too slow. I do know a little German and sometimes this crept into my answers (and, occasionally, into those of both the students on the CD). Later on though I found myself doing this less and less and so did the other students.

The course seems to have used Michel Thomas' German programme as a template but I believe that the co-authors have done something that many would not consider possible, they have improved on that template to write a course which is in many ways better than that recorded by Michel Thomas himself. I know that some people will consider me saying this as almost sacriledge but I believe it to be true.

I would recommend this course to any beginner interested in learning Dutch or who wishes to have a better awareness of the Teutonic languages in general. The CD's would also be useful to non-beginners who might have a great deal of Dutch vocabulary but who aren't so strong on Dutch grammar.This Foundation course teaches the grammar (structure- to use the term preferred by MT) of Dutch in a very relaxed way. Relatively little vocabulary is taught, probably only around 200 words but this is its strength as one is concentrating on learning how Dutch works rather than repeating lots of words which are soon be forgotten, as happens with most language courses. If you follow my recommendation to buy you will also find, as I did, that the vocabulary and structure really does stick with you.

I am now eager to continue studying Dutch and am looking forward to the forthcoming publication of the Advanced course in 2009.

Warm thanks to both authors for introducing me to Dutch.

Effortless learning - het is heel mogelijk!
I've never travelled that much, mainly because I hate the feeling that I'm 'insulting' people by not learning their languages. So when I booked a weekend break in the Netherlands with just a couple of weeks to go I bought this so that I didn't experience the normal embarrassment - and I feel it has completely transformed my travelling experience! I now have a good grounding in the language and it's set off a new interest in learning languages. I'm going to buy the advanced Dutch course when it's released tomorrow. I'm amazed by how quickly it works.

I find that if I listen to it on the Tube or as I'm falling asleep I absorb so much without trying. In contrast with other ways of learning, you are taught in a way that makes you 'think' in the language you're learning. The Michel Thomas is much easier than any other method I've tried so far - I now intend to follow several of the courses. (Already started on Japanese!)