Customer Reviews

Speak Italian with Michel Thomas (Speak... with Michel Thomas)

5 star:		(4)
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I tried other language CDs and you mostly ended up repeating what was said. They left me wanting to learn more about how verbs are conjugated and why certain words are where they were. This CD fills in all the gaps, explains how the Italian language works and how it compares to English. This gave me a more complete understanding of how to use the language. Michel Thomas' technique works great too. I felt I was able to expand my ability to speak Italian almost instantly.

I was a little skeptical about a "learn while you drive" product, but this one is very good. I know Spanish and some French, so much of the Italian sounds familiar and flows well from what I already know. The instructor is excellent... not condescending, doesn't move too fast, and inspires confidence. And for heaven's sake- don't even think of buying just the two-CD "intro" version! If you are at all serious about being able to learn and speak Italian, the first two CDs will only "open the box" and whet your appetite without really teaching you enough to make sense.

I've studied German, Spanish, Italian, French, one or two in college, others by book or book/tape alone. Michel Thomas and Pimsleur are both audio-based, bit-by-bit, repetitive courses. Here, Michel Thomas (himself) teaches you a couple hours of introductory Italian ("That's not possible = Non e possibile, "I want to buy it here = Voglio comprarlo qui", "I want the same as that" etc). It's aimed at people who "hate languages" or got nowhere with them in school. I'd add my experience that even though Michel Thomas courses allow you to start from absolute zero, his products can also be great for jump starting real usage and conversation based on words you've already seen from high school, a Berlitz paperback, etc. For example, I can even read Italian at, say, the fourth grade level, and similar Spanish at high school level, but this CD set really helped me think and vocalize in Italian better. Like others have said, if your goals go very far, you'll get the 8-hr version, this is the first 2 CDs of that. If you happened to have a year or two of high school Italian or Spanish, rather than zero, you'll likely get way more out of these CDs than you'd expect.

The method really does work--I was surprised at how much I was retaining. He has a thick accent but is careful to enunciate and spell things out if needed.

I would have liked more travel terms & vocabulary. This CD teaches enough to converse in Italian, but not really needed for our vacation.

I am usually terrible at languages but this CD-set changed that. It is different. It held my interest and the lessens really sunk in. It is actually FUN listening to the CDs. I highly recommend Michel Thomas.

Great approach to learning a language. I was able to learn quickly and had enough of the basics to help on our trip.

These CD's are great--I love his technique of building upon words and phrases. It is a bit annoying to hear him talk--he is kind of slow and having to listen to the other two people who are repeating the answers make mistakes and ask questions is kind of a waste of time, but all in all, I feel more comfortable with sentences now.

These CD's only cover the present tense. Still, a bargain at this price.

To be honest with you, it's hard to find that "perfect" Italian book or audio CD to recommend to students, because I often run into these two situations: 1) the book is too in-depth and too focused on grammar; 2) the book is too superficial and more of a phrase-book for travelers, therefore not sufficient. SO, what I usually do is use a combination of books, including audio CDs, this being one of them. It has some useful information on the culture, as well as practical expressions for the brave traveler. However, my recommendation is to take a basic course before traveling to Italy, because even knowing a few simple sentences can get you a long way. Also, in a group setting you'll be able to ask specific questions and to practice with others. I'm sure that if you check with your local community college, there are some short continuing education courses for foreign languages. Non dimenticare! Don't forget: the trick in learning a language is repetition, so any audio CD that gets you to repeat the words over and over again, is great practice. The more you repeat, the more you'll remember! It's like learning a song: you can't sing a song you've heard only 1 time, but if you hear it over and over, you'll be able to sing all the lyrics!! So, keep up the good work!