Customer Reviews

Italian with Michel Thomas (Deluxe Language Courses with Michel Thomas)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Pop the first CD of "Italian With Michel Thomas" in your player, and the first full sentence you will learn is "E' possibile" (It is possible). That message is constantly reinforced, and soon you find yourself saying "E' possibile per me parlare Italiano," and much more. Such is the expertise of Michel Thomas.

As a person whose first foreign language was a non-European one (Japanese), I've tried to teach myself a Romance language and always got bogged down in the grammar. After purchasing and listening to the CDs, I now have a very good introduction to Italian and a desire to learn more.

The course is marketed as one with "no repetition, no drills, and no homework," but it's not entirely accurate to say that there's no repetition in the course. It's just that, in this course, the repetition is expertly woven into the course. You're given a variety of sentences, but each new sentence builds on knowledge attained in previous sentences, and patterns you learn in CD #1 are reinforced in CD #7. So you repeat, but it doesn't feel like rote memorization.

The course emphasizes understanding and making oneself understood, so it emphasizes grammar at the expense of vocabulary. In summary, expect to supplement this course with other material for more vocabulary and verb forms. But, in 8 hours, you will probably have enough success with Italian to motivate you learn more. I certainly have. Grazie, Michel!

I have been trying to navigate beginners' italian courses for ages, but always came up against the problem of listening comprehension and verb tenses. After 30 minutes of the first lesson of this, I began to sense the light. Really. Of course, this is not a comprehensive course, but it is the best leg-up into comprehension I've had. It is worth more than about six months of classes, perhaps nine, at a language centre (and I should know). That it's done in only 8 hours is quite something.

Yes, the two students get things wrong, and they can be extremely annoying (the man annoyed me more, for the record), but - that's part of the point. If you aren't there realising that THEY are getting it wrong, how are you going to get it right for yourself?

As for some reviewers' comments about the lack of utility regarding the learning of verb structure, I disagree. European languages are particularly verb-driven. You are better off learning how to use the language with verbs, then collecting a vocabulary as you go - like driving a car with an engine, rather than having only maps and a chassis.

To be comprehensive, you'll need to dip your toe into a few other language learning aids, but this is a very very good start.

I took a six-week evening course in Italian before I got these CDs. The class required a lot of memorization of words without the ability to create any meaningful sentences. The CDs are much better. You are not taught random words, counting, etc. In a very logical, easy to grasp, progressive manner you are taught phrases and sentence structure. You are guided in a very uncomplicated way through verbs and tenses. He discourages trying to memorize, and amazingly, you don't have to. It's so logical, it just sticks in your brain. The two students on the CD are annoying at times, but it actually helps you to learn and remember because you're correcting them and urging them on. I definitely recommend these CDs.

I recently traveled to Italy with my Latin class, and my dad bought me this to prepare to speak Italian. I love learning languages and have been studying both Spanish and Latin for several years now. I had previously studied Italian through the Pimsleur tapes, but kept having to return them to the library, and have had little luck with other brands of audio language learning.

Most audio programs start out heavy on vocabulary with very little context, and expect learning of grammar only through example, something unuseful especially if you don't know what to listen for. Thomas, on the other hand, is very grammar-intensive. Unlike learning grammar in schools or out of books, however, you aren't required to learn all persons and conjugations of a given tense and drill it until you know it; rather, pronouns, specific verb forms, etc are introduced in only a few persons, with more being added gradually.

Additional study is indeed necessary to become proficient in a language; numbers, directions, etc are necessary to functioon in day-to-day life, and I found myself understanding a lot more Italian than I could speak because of my Romance language background. However, the Italian I knew was all very useful. One major drawback was the lack of the informal 2nd person, which is used often in Italy, and which I only knew from a poor-quality book and from asking questions of friends who know Italian better. Thomas also gives good advice about what to do when you can't think of exactly the right word; instead of looking up how to express a specific idea, for example, offering to buy food for a beggar (a real-life example, not one of Thomas's), Thomas emphasises that there are several ways to say a specific thing, so that if you can't say "Would you like something to eat?" you can come up with "Can I buy you something to eat?" easily.

Some reviewers have found Thomas's use of students instead of native speakers annoying; however, it is possible to be understood with less-than-perfect pronounciation, and I found it helpful to see the mistakes that other students were making; they may not always have been the mistakes that I was making, but it's useful for grammar to be re-explained. Also, there are sometimes two ways to say the same thing, and while other audio methods choose one of the ways you have been taught as the "correct" answer at any given time, Thomas often asks his students to provide both. The constant grammatical explanation is also useful, because you always know why what you are saying is correct.

The course isn't perfect; Thomas is adamant in track 1 CD 1 about not using memorization to learn a language, or using other methods, but they are necessary to, for example, ask where the bathroom is. There are occasionally some problems understanding Thomas's strong French accent, and at one point in the lessons this does become an issue. However, his teaching style is very natural; he introduces vocabulary as it is used, and supplies it whenever the students recorded falter, similar to the way that one might ask someone more proficient in a language, "How do you say 'tomorrow' again?"

Is this program perfect? No. But in Italy this past week I was able to communicate, and that was mostly due to Thomas's CDs.

Annoyed at first by Michel Thomas' accented speech I was soon won over by the ease with which I found myself learning Italian and the sheer fun of it. I was amazed by how quickly I progressed from simple phrases to more complex sentences. To be able to construct sentences almost from the start was exciting and provided the motivation to continue. I especially appreciated the way some verb conjugations were taught conversationally rather than by the (deadly) drill method still present in some self-guided language learning systems.
I blew through the 8 CD set emerging with ability to speak beyond what I've gained from other more expensive methods. Others, Pimsleur for example, may be better for perfecting pronunciation however you may be bored out of your skull before achieving a workable level of proficiency.
This CD set is, in my experience, one of the very best.

As someone who has worked with Michel Thomas' French and German CDs, I knew what to expect when I received his deluxe Italian course. Once again, his emphasis on structure rather than vocabulary is effective. I believe a key component to the success of his courses rests with the students he teaches. I disagree with some reviewers that the two on the Italian CDs are a bit thick; they seem keen and determined, and usually pick up his points at a reasonable pace. If you want to find a distracting student, check out the woman on his French CDs - incredibly theatrical.

First, let me say that I have to concur with many of the
comments I have seen from other reviewers. For instance, the
"want" and "wont" issue on Disk 3 is indeed irritating - the
"student" heard the same thing I did, and it is Mr. Thomas'
accent that is the problem. Also at times I found the "students"
to be incredibly dumb - how many times does one need the stress
explained for the future tense?? Part of my impatience may be
because I actually studied Italian in university classes, have
worked in Italy briefly and have been singing in Italian for
twenty-eight years, so some of their difficulties seemed odd
to me. On the other hand, with all the other Italian language
tape/CD sets and even in my school classes, I didn't get the
real distinction that I now understand much better in terms of
when to say ho parlato and when to say parlavo, parlerebbe,
and so on. Mr. Thomas' approach at least helped clarify this for
me, and in that case I consider it worthwhile listening to these
CD's once in awhile. I am eager to try some of the other courses
recommended by the online reviewers and have so far been very
disappointed in the lack of availability of those which stress
listening skills rather than speaking skills. I am perfectly
able to say literally anything I wish to in Italian, with nearly
native pronunciation and always clear comprehension on the part
of my Italian audience. What I cannot do is understand the reply
without asking them to repeat it three times and slow down.