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Average Customer Rating:

Grammar without the groans

Customer Rating:

I used this to brush up my rusty German, so I can't say what it would be like for an absolute beginner. However I am something of a fan of the Michel Thomas technique which for me at least works very well. This is a dialogic approach; Michael works with two learners repeating and practicing short constructions, grammatical building blocks essentially, which can be used to build ever more complex sentences and ideas. The program is `audio-only' on 8 CDs. I listened to it while commuting and got through a CD a day. As this feels like a 'natural' way of learning, there is no real rote memorisation, though it would take a beginner a few listens to really grasp it. The main problem is that it is low on everyday vocabulary; I think it fuctions best as a supplement to a traditional course or vocabulary-based audio course like VocabuLearn or Pimsleur. Also, some of the constructions such as `I would like to have it cleaned' seem a bit old fashioned. That said, I actually find these courses slightly addictive (I have done the Dutch and Italian ones, too) and the sadly departed Michel is quite entertaining in a schoolteacher-ish way, especially when he gets increasingly impatient with one of his (admittedly rather thick) students. Highly recommended.

Great for those in it for the longer term

Customer Rating:

I have just moved to Germany and did a standard CD course from the local library in the UK (BBC?). It gave me some basics that got me through a few months of being here. I could ask for some coffee and count but it did not give me a foundation on which to build. I felt that I took a bit of a risk in buying MIchel Thomas because it seems expensive but I am so glad that i did. I have been using the CDs in half term and have managed to get thought half the course without having to repeat anything. I can also practice it straight away and have been praised on my german already!! It is easy to look up words in the dictionary and place them in the correct part of the sentence. I think that the locals here respect the fact that you are being polite. I would not recommend it for someone going on a short holiday but if you are planning on coming to a german speaking country on a regular basis or living here, es ist wondervoll.

Very disappointing

Customer Rating:

Michel Thomas's introduction in broken English was hard to listen to, and a very poor introduction to a language course. He rabbitted on so much that I felt I was learning very little, very slowly. The first few lessons left me with only a handful of words, and a lot of frustration. I replaced it with Linguaphone's All Talk which does a far better job and gets you into the usable elements of German quickly.

"Nice to see you. To see you nice."

Customer Rating:

I found the course to be very uplifting for the learner - eschewing as it did the usual format of other products, which tend to stick to presenting dialogues followed by additional explanatory notes. The interaction between Michel Thomas and his two cohorts definitely allows you to be a lot more involved in the learning process, and this is certainly helped by the fact that the other two people on the discs are genuine learners who pause and stumble a great deal. However, even though Michel Thomas at times provides interesting detail which helps one in remembering the material, his gravelly voice isn't always very clear. I'm now using his Advanced Course and this is an increased but still minor problem with the recordings. The Foundation Course also suffers because of the two learners themselves - at times I found myself a little confused by their uncertain answers, which weren't always cleared up by Michel Thomas himself. This is less of an issue with the Advanced Course. In terms of the Foundation Course's content, it's very much driven by the structure of the language, ie. grammar. This is great since it allows the learner to at least develop her own sentences, but overall the approach isn't one for instilling a lot of vocabulary (the core of language for many people). This deficiency should be understood, and it's probably best to use this and Michel Thomas' other - it has to be said fantastic - courses, with others following a more traditional approach and which require utilization of a dictionary. Be that as it may I'd still wholeheartedly recommend this course.

Superb, gets you up and running by the end of the first CD

Customer Rating:

As you listen to the first CD, you may be laughing a little about how little you are working. And then when you finish and move to the second CD, it hits you; you remember all of that other stuff, and you are way better than the students on the CD who are learning with you! This is really a case of learning by osmosis; you won't be fluent at the end of it, but you'll be confident and happier to blag those bits you don't know - Michel teaches you how!