Italian with Michel Thomas (Deluxe Language Courses with Michel Thomas) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Michel Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007138166X | ISBN-13: 978-0071381666 | Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | Edition: 1

Anyone can learn a language with Michel Thomas--The World's Greatest Language Teacher.

No books. No writing. No drills. And nothing to memorize--ever! With his unique program, Michel Thomas has taught celebrities, corporate leaders, and schoolchildren--with immediate and amazing results. Now the Language Teacher to the Stars invites everyone to join his class!

Using Italian with Michel Thomas, listeners learn in real time--fully understanding as they go along, turning words into short sentences, and then building them into longer, more complex sentences, until they are conversing in Italian.

Michel will have listeners formulating their own thoughts and sentences from the very beginning, even if they have never succeeded in learning a language before. Michel has used this very method to teach celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, and Princess Grace of Monaco.

Editorial Reviews

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 "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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

No books. No writing. No drills. And nothing to memorize—ever! With his unique program, Michel Thomas has taught French, Italian, Spanish, and German to celebrities, corporate leaders, and school children—with immediate and amazing results. Now, the Language Teacher to the Stars invites you to join his class!

• So effortless, natural, and stimulating is Michel's system for learning, once you get started you won't want to stop. You will learn in real time—fully understanding as you go along, turning words into short sentences, and then building them into longer, more complex sentences, until you are conversing in a foreign language.
• Immediately, you will feel the excitement of understanding and expressing yourself in Italian. Michel will have you formulating your own thoughts and sentences from the very beginning, even if you have never succeeded in learning a language before.
• This Deluxe Edition contains eight hours of instruction on 8 CDs. Starting as a beginner, you can progress to a level of language proficiency that will enable you to converse naturally and communicate comfortably in a wide variety of situations.

Michel has used this very method to teach celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Emma Thompson, Warren Beatty, and Princess Grace of Monaco.

At home or in the car—in any place and at any time—you can learn from a world-class language teacher and become one of Michel's star students today!

"Michel Thomas has developed a truly revolutionary method of language instruction. All you have to do is follow his lead: no memorization, homework, or stress. I was amazed by my success using Michel's method." -- Warren Keegan, Professor of Business at Pace University in New York

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007138166X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071381666
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not bad, but certainly not great, October 17, 2004

By 

puthupa "puthupa" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian with Michel Thomas (Deluxe Language Courses with Michel Thomas) (Audio CD)

I borrowed this from my local library and am extremely happy that I did not pay for it. Other reviewers are correct in stating that verb usage is quite good, while actual vocabulary is pretty low.

Obviously, I'm in the minority with regards to my rating, so I will cut to the chase about what I didn't like about it: 1) hearing the two students make mistakes repeatedly. I don't need to hear someone mispronounce a word repeatedly - I would prefer to hear the word pronounced properly. Hearing someone else flub a term repeatedly is an irritation. 2) the loose structure - I prefer a more organized approach than a conversational one.

I am now trying out Pimsleur and finding that much more up my alley, because the approach is very organized, pronunciation is taught (longer words are broken into their phonetic components so you learn how to pronounce each syllable), and you don't hear another student repeatedly make errors - trust me, you don't need to hear someone else's mistakes to learn how to do it right.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK - for a crash course in basic communication, July 18, 2005

By 

Laura De Giorgio "hypnotherapist" (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Italian with Michel Thomas (Deluxe Language Courses with Michel Thomas) (Audio CD)

On a positive side these CDs contain some good suggestions for accelerated learning of foreign languages (I have purchased sets for Italian, Spanish, French and German). By learning some essential rules of the language, and discovering associations with what you already know, will help you in assimilating a lot of new material rapidly. As such, the program may be ideal if you are planning to go to a country where this foreign language is spoken and you need to learn how to express your basic needs and find your way around - and don't have much time to learn it.

At the beginning of CDs, it is also approproately mentioned that you will learn much faster if you are in a relaxed (and open) state of mind. I have just about every available audio program for the above foreign languages, and I have found this one the least relaxing, mainly because I found it tormenting listening to two people struggle with pronouncing new words. The experience was like learning to speak English language from a person who is stuttering. God knows, if you're having difficulty learning foreign languages and pronouncing foreign words, maybe you even enjoy this method - but even for that purpose I'd rather recommend Pimsleur Programs, or Learn in Your Car series. If you intend to listen to language learning CDs for extended period of time, you may find it more enjoyable listening to CDs with native speakers. There are NO native foreign language speakers on Michel Thomas CDs.

At the beginning of the CDs, when the two students are introduced - it is said that soon you can come to identify with those students. Personally, I think, you'd make faster progress if you start identifying with native spakers.

As far as the language learning CDs in the same price range go, I have found Behind the Wheel series of CDs infinitely more appealing.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Verb structure is all very well, but how about the basics?, September 5, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: Italian with Michel Thomas (Deluxe Language Courses with Michel Thomas) (Audio CD)

This isn't a bad adjunct to another learning course (I would highly recommend the Pimsleur Method), but although you are certainly drilled in elaborate verb structures, you can finish the eight-disc course without even finding out the Italian for "yes" and "no," how to order a meal, or how to ask for the bathroom. (Oddly enough, for all the insistance on the correct form of the verbs, Michel Thomas allows his two-person class to say "Yes" instead of "Si" as they struggle to respond. And, frankly, his own accent does get irritating. It is sometimes a strain to understand his English (at one point, the female student apologizes for misunderstanding him; well, so did I), which makes you wonder about his Italian pronunciation, as he is not a native speaker. If you already know some Italian, or intend to supplement this with a LOT of other studying, this is probably a good buy, but if you simply want to function while traveling, knowing a few more Italian pleasantries and everyday words will get you farther than verb tenses you will probably never be called upon to use, unless you want to live there - in which case, you will still need a lot more study.