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 Italian 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 Michels 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 Michels 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. (20080601)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30029 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-29
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: Italian, English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Audio CD

Review
"Progress is speedy and very painless" -- The Daily Telegraph 18991230 "Ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently." -- Sunday Business 18991230 "Five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like you're winning." -- Time Out 18991230 "Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed." -- The Guardian 18991230 "Thomas makes it simple" -- Sunday Times 18991230 "Hugely inspiring" -- Red 18991230 "Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily" -- Daily Star 18991230

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 )

"A compelling teacher ... you really do remember what you're learning"

(Italia! )

'Remarkably effective, addictive even'

(London Evening Standard )

"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 )

"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 )

About the Author
Michel Thomas had an amazing life. Born in Poland, he spent his early years in Germany and then in France, where he studied psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. When war broke out, he fought with the Resistance and suffered imprisonment in slave labour camps. At the end of the war he joined the US liberation army and later settled in the US where he established his world-famous language school. For more than 50 years he taught languages to the rich and famous and became the world's most sought-after language teacher.

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Customer Reviews

Brilliant method, but just an introduction
This eight hour course, just listen, no note-taking or memorising, teaches those tricky basics in a brilliantly effortless way, but buyers should be aware that even the 8-hour course is no more than a very useful introduction to the basics of the language and would be of very little use to the tourist or shopper in Italy. It's a great way for busy people or those who are not good at languages to get past the tricky early stages of learning Italian - you just sit back and listen and it gets through, if not the first time just play that bit again and there you are. You will know how to put sentences together, how to use the most important of the different tenses of verbs, and more. BUT don't expect to be anywhere near conversational after 8 hours. There is very little essential vocabulary, you won't even learn how to count. This is not a criticism, just a caution that this course is not for those who want to get by on a holiday or business trip. As someone who used the course before moving to Italy I found it gave a jump-start to learning the language - I was way ahead of other beginners after just playing the CD's while doing the ironing. But it gives very little vocabulary, it won't teach you how to read and write Italian, and when you phrase your question in perfect Italian you can bet you won't understand the Italian reply. There's a lot more work to for you to do after completing the course.
Highly recommended for beginners but in the right context and with the right expectations.

Seal of approval from a language teacher
I ama language teacher, teaching English in Italy. I found Thomas' course to be by far the finest self-study teaching aid I've yet found. It's important to explode a few myths: there's nothing 'magical' about Mr Thomas' method. He follows many universally-recognised language teaching axioms, chief among them that the student must PRODUCE the language (they're not really learning it if they don't produce it). The 'spin' Mr Thomas puts on his lessons is truly his own, however; I've never come across anything quite like it before. Also, Mr Thomas claims that you will not forget what you learn on his course - well, actually, you might; you can forget anything if you try hard enough! But the rate of recall after using this course is significantly - perhaps exponentially - higher than for traditional book-and-tape courses. Mr Thomas takes some amazing short cuts with the Italian language in his course; but all of them are justified, as the intelligent student will see. Anything he leaves out is easily slotted in later, into the structures he has already taught you. My advice is to listen to this course first, and then buy an 'ordinary' book and tape course, or go to conventional Italian lessons. Mr Thomas' course is not enough on its own, but it lays a foundation of a strength that, speaking as a language teacher, I find unbelieveable. I sincerely hope he brings out an Advanced Italian volume.

Trapper
I am someone who has spent 6 years in School learning French, 5 years learning German and 14 years learning Irish and I am rubbish at them all.
I heard about Michel Thomas from a friend learning Spanish and was very sceptical about her claims of how good he was. However I wanted to see if I was genetically capable of learning a language so I decided to go with Michel Thomas.

Some of the critisms listed by other reviewers are probably correct, lack of antive speaker, limited vocabularly, not suited to someone aiming to go on Holidays this summer. But from my stand point it was
1. Very easy to understand the points he is making.
2. The fact that it is not a native speaker makes it easier to grasp the pronuncation. Its like we're all starting from the same position.
3. The experience gives you a real sense of progression and achievement as you progress.
4. The real strength of this programme is that it gives you a sense of how to construct sentances and much more importantly it gives you the confidence to have a go.

Having recently travelled to Latino and Rome, I was really surprised at how much I could communicate and more importantly that I had the confidence to have a go. For me this programme has given me a great start and great confidence. Most of all it has given hugh enthusiam to progress even further.
Not perfect but I highly recommned to anyone.