Customer Reviews

German with Michel Thomas

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this German CD course.

I completed all 8 CD's straight through without having to repeat any part, and found at the end I had a pretty good command of the material presented. Michel Thomas is an excellent, obviously very experienced presenter of the German language.

Focusing mainly on German sentence structure, word order and the verb system, the course progressively builds up sentences of increasing complexity by expansion and substitution. The students must logically construct their own sentences based on prompting by the teacher. Specifically the course tackles the use of conjugated and modal verb constructions, subordinate clauses, separable verbs, and other basics of German.

The result is that the course pretty much accomplishes what it sets out to do -- teach a basic chunk of the German language thoroughly in real time without the need for rote memorization, written homework or drills. At first I was somewhat leery of the professor-student interactive approach, listening to the students struggle through pronunciation and sentence formation is at times tedious. However, I soon realized that the struggle is part of the course. Commonly made mistakes were corrected and emphasized as they occurred again pretty much in real time. I wished they would have used all 74 minutes available on each CD (could of had almost 2 hours of additional recorded material on the same 8 CD's!)

My only regret is that the course comes to an end! I really hope to see level 2, 3, etc. courses developed using the same format. Obviously, there is a lot more German to learn, but this is an excellent start. The course is especially effective with listening-focused (aural) learners.

I studied German in high school for two years, and remembered virtually nothing except how tedious and frustrating I found the class. But by the time I was three or four hours into these CD's, I found myself speaking German with a greater ease and enjoyment than those two years ever managed to instil in me.

A reviewer below seemed deeply unhappy with Michel Thomas' way of teaching. I can only assume that if you already have learned to speak "several languages" (as the reviewer said they did) through endless repetition and drilling, drilling, drilling - you may be used to that way of learning. And this may not be the way for you.

But myself? I thoroughly enjoyed it. The socratic question / answer method I found a breath of fresh air. At last! No more "The pen is on the table... the child is in the airport..." farcical invented dialogue. True, at times I found myself getting a little frustrated with the progress of the other two students on the CD's; but I learned to enjoy even that - after all, when you find yourself irritatedly shouting the correct answers in German at your CD player because the others aren't answering quickly enough, you must be doing something right.

If you had a bad experience learning German in school, or if you feel that learning a language is beyond you, please give Michel Thomas's courses a try. I completed his 8-CD German and Italian series, and he offers an amazing introduction to language learning that will have you constructing complex sentences in no time. Vocabulary learning is a bit more limited than what you may find in other instructional series, but that is more than made up for by the understanding of sentence structure and verb construction that you will gain.

For example, in the Pimsleur Italian series, over the course of 16 CDs you learn a lot of conversational Italian, and learn how to use a limited number of verb forms. Over the course of the 8 CD Michel Thomas Italian series, you learn much more about verb forms - how to choose the proper verb for the situation, and how to apply it.

And he accomplishes this in a very relaxed manner. The CDs are recordings of lessons between Mr. Thomas and two students. Along the way, he asks them how to say a sentence in German, and your job is to pause the CD momentarily before the student answers, work the sentence out in your head and say it aloud, and then continue with the CD. More often than not, mistakes that you make will also be made by the students on the CD. Mr. Thomas gently corrects them, and then continues on. I have found this method a very satisfying way to learn.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Thomas feels that it is not only the best way to learn a language, but the best way to instill understanding and confidence. I would have to agree. His approach has been put to the test in inner-city schools with disruptive children to great effect. If you are one who disagrees with or dislikes the teaching methods that were forced down your throat as a child, you may find Mr. Thomas's method a breath of fresh air, and you may find yourself cursing a system that taught you so poorly!

I have been informed that Mr. Thomas is planning a second series, which should be out in Spring 2001. I will be first in line to purchase them when they arrive.

After purchasing the introductory (2 CD) set, I bought this set through Amazon.com. Thomas introduces the structure of German sentences in the most painless way imaginable-you don't even realize you're learning grammar until he gives you the terminology after you've already learned how it works. Thomas teaches German by leading two students (you are the third) through a series of sentence building exercises. His handling of auxiliary verbs (will, must, can, etc.) makes them not only easy to understand, but useful as well (because using these "handles" allows you to use the infinitive form of whatever other verb is in the sentence).

Two (minor) quibbles: 1. Despite Thomas' insistence that you are not to take notes or attempt to memorize, one of the students on the recording (the woman) is clearly writing things down and referring to her notes before she responds, because several times she pronounces "Sie" (pronounced "Zee") as "sigh" and "die" (pronounced "dee") as the English "die," something she wouldn't be doing if she were trying to repeat what she'd heard. This mispronunciation is distracting and appears to frustrate Thomas. 2. Early on in the recordings, there is an audible beep where you are supposed to stop the CD and try to figure out the response to Thomas' sentence formation questions, but these quickly disappear (and without warning), and with Thomas' pauses in his speech it is sometimes difficult to tell when you should stop the CD and attempt to translate what you are hearing.

Overall, I found this program very easy to follow. The other two students seemed slow to me-so much so that I felt like yelling at them on occasion-but I wonder now if that was not deliberate, to make me feel as though I was progressing more rapidly than the "rest of the class." Regardless of its minor flaws, however, this is THE set to buy if you know no German and want to get a good start on understanding the language.

Take advantage of this cd system. When Michel Thomas was still alive, he was charging 20K for a weekend course. Not only is this the fastest way to learn a language, you will enjoy it! Within weeks I am able to converse with my German husband^s family and feel confident communicating while travelling in German speaking countries. The resuts have been remarkable and astounding. If you read about Michel Thomas background, it will make sense how his teaching method works (former spy in WWII). My take on it is that he speaks to you on a subconscious level, a place where there is no ego that resists the learning. Regardless, it works.

Michel Thomas' German language CDs are excellent. I am a 38 yr old physician from New York and I love studying languages. This is my first time using the Michel Thomas CDs and I am VERY impressed. Prior to using the CDs, I had been studying German on my own using the Learn to Speak German computer program by The Learning Company (also highly recommended). Using this software program, I had amassed quite a large vocabulary and also a decent understanding of how the sentence syntax works. But I had trouble putting my vocabulary to work when I actually wanted to speak a sentence in German. The Michel Thomas CDs really helped me to make a big "leap" forward with my German. The CD's not only added to my vocabulary, but they also enabled me to think in German and to speak sentences much more fluently than before. And more than that, the CD's are really fun to use. After each CD, I had finished each CD, I just couldn't wait to start the next one. Don't bother with the introductory 2 CD set...you'll regret it. Get the 8 CD set! I'm only sorry that there is not a second series of 8 CDs that picks up after the first one. I'd buy it in a second! And another comment. A few other reviewers have mentioned that they thought Michel Thomas was "drowning in his own saliva" as he speaks. I simply don't know what they are talking about.
In the end, these are great CDs and his method of teaching a language is excellent. I have really improved my German and I had a great time doing it! Highly recommended if you are serious about learning German. Go for it!

As someone with no natural foreign language talent and at school having bunked out of German, this program is outstanding. I have just completed with with an intensive one to one course and I can honestly say that I gained wider - and more indepth learning - from the 60 usd I spent on Michel Thomas' program than the 2500 usd I spent with Berlitz.
If you want practical - rather than theoretical - language training that gives you the confidence to further explore I cannot rate this product highly enough. The only problem is that there isnt a next stage of learning; if he did produce a next level i would be first in the line to buy.

I learned more German in this eight-hour course than in well over 100 hours of audio courses from Learn-in-your-car, Pimsleur, Foreign Service Inst, Living language, and some less known. This course is very pleasant to hear, is conducted solely by one person, and the entire course is one conversation, rather than the boring <monotonous english voice> followed by <monotonous german voice> characteristic of other tapes. Mr. Thomas breaks down the language with his own observations, and makes sense of those subjects (like the dreaded verb) that seem to defy precise definition in other courses. While you won't pick up a huge vocabulary, it's learning how to use the words that sets this course apart from the rest. I already have the next set on order!

First of all, the 2 best learning CD programs are Michel Thomas and Pimsleur. But, for languages that are so similar to English as German is, the Michel Thomas method works better. Also, pimsler is just so sterile compared to Michel Thomas.

If you want to learn German, I'd suggest finishing this CD set, THEN picking up grammar books and dictionaries. Once these CDs make German second nature, the gorier details of the language will be less daunting and intimidating. Don't expect this CD set or any singular learning material to give you complete fluency. Learning a language is going to be an investment in time and money.

I picked up this course to brush up on the German I learned in high school. What I found was a course that taught me more in two weeks than the two years that I took the course in high school. This is a course in conversational German. You don't learn the details of how to conjugate a verb into all the possible tenses and similar scholastic concerns. What you learn is how to communicate with someone who speaks German. Will you be totally fluent? No. But you will be able to get around and make yourself understood. It gives you a better real world vocabulary than any of the other traveling courses or phrase courses that I have seen. I wondered if it was easy for me since I already had some background in German and maybe it would not be so easy for a person who knew nothing about German. So, I purchased and tried the Spanish course in which I had no knowledge whatsoever. The result? I actually learned conversational Spanish in two weeks and can carry on a basic conversation with ease. Great system, great results, and by far the easiest way to learn a foreign language.