I have the introductory, foundation, advanced and vocabcourse for russian (which is another advanced course that focuses on the cases) and I love it. I listen to them everyday, especially the advanced and vocab course because I need a lot of work when it comes to using the cases. Far more simpler to speak, hear it and get a feel for what sounds right and wrong when speaking.
I like these courses. Only for the very very veryyy early stages of learning though. Although I can't stand those stupid students!! But on the bright side, I guess it's kind of amusing to get angry at them haha....
About his accent, it doesn't bother me that much (except when he tries to tell me how to pronounce English words :| lol). There are other ways to acquire a good accent.
@laoshu505000 Yeah his method is very good! I like how he makes you piece the sentences together little by little...it makes it so much easier to...think. lol that's the only way I can describe it.
But after viewing your videos, and seeing the advanced progress you have made, it would be wonderful if you could produce the next level. You will have millions of customers. LOL but I'm serious about that.
I'm so glad you reviewed the Michel Thomas course. I have completed all four of his original courses (french italian spanish german). I was so excited by how much I learned and wanted to go further. Unfortunately the new series were not made by him but by others who copied his format but not his unique technique of getting you to remember so much grammar and vocabulary with no effort. And you do not forget what you've learned.
@frenchbecomesyou Lots of the new courses are much better than his Spanish and Italian courses, neither of which were particularly good at the Foundation level due to his insipid pronunciation. His German and French courses were great because he spoke them natively, but he really had no business teaching Spanish and Italian pronunciation (he *did* do a good job teaching their grammar, I'll admit).
The Arabic, Japanese, and Portuguese courses were very well constructed.
I don't like any of the new courses that bear Michel Thomas name but not his teaching. They miss the forest for the trees by focusing too deeply on pronounciation and vocabualry acqusition. So instead of learning the basic grammar to form sentences right away and actually start speaking with people, you are left with knowledge of a few extra words and the ablility to say hi in the target language like a native. Much of the brilliance of the original has been stripped.
@frenchbecomesyou Did we listen to the same courses? Michel scolds the students for improper pronunciation in the German course, while in the Mandarin course, Harold regularly overlooks the students' ludicrously incorrect pronunciation.
The fact that you don't like the Dutch course even though it was literally adapted DIRECTLY from the German course suggests your judgement may be clouded by just a *hint* of bias.
@frenchbecomesyou Moreover, NONE of the courses I've listened to have stressed or even mentioned "hi". The Japanese course does a particularly excellent job of teaching the verb conjugations for the following: I __ / I don't __ / won't you __? / let's __ / shall we __? / I want to __ / I didn't __ / I didn't want to __ / while __ / __ and / and probably a few more I can't recall.
@frenchbecomesyou That's at least 10 useful verb patterns multiplied across at least a dozen verbs (that's a minimum of 120 different verb patterns for the mathematically challenged), complemented by a plethora of useful adjectives and idiomatic phrases. How this amounts to "a few extra words and the ablility to say hi" is beyond me.
@frenchbecomesyou And even more so, the Portuguese course is explicitly modeled directly from the original courses. Virginia Catmur even uses many of the same exact sentences Michel used (that any MT enthusiast would instantly recognize).
So, yeah. Methinks you may either have too much worship for Michel Thomas or too little appreciation for his worthy successors. In fact, many are of the opinion that the original MT courses have indeed been *improved* upon.
@laoshu505000 Yeah, I recall something about how he used his the languages he knew for various intel missions and how also used his language knowledge to escape imprisonment by the Nazi's.
@patt7000 The Foundation and Advanced courses were pretty annoying due to the students' pronunciation, but the Vocabulary course picks up the pace and does a great job of ending the curriculum, although I personally think all three (Foundation, Advanced, and Vocabulary) ought to be considered a "Foundation" course.
Coincidentally yesterday I was going to ask you to do a review on MT bcus to my surprise you didnt have a review on him, but you put it up the next day, how cool is that. I fell in love his style of teaching not just because its effortless but amazingly you retain the knowledge and get a pretty strong grasp as to how to say and pronounce the words. The ONLY problem that i have with Mr. MT.. is that he has a watery mouth and smacks a lot.lol Yea sure.. its petty but it aggravates me to no end.
I have tried this for Arabic and Polish. And I also have listened to couple of CD's of other courses and I can say that it really depends on the students in the recordings if the course is good or not. The Polish one is so good, the students have quite good accents and they get it all done and I feel that they are in the process of learning, on the other side the Arabic course was so painful, because the students made the same mistakes all the time and lots of valuable time was lost.
I've used MT for Italian, Portuguese, and Mandarin. They are great courses for the beginner. The romance language once really help you get verb tenses down pat with almost no effort on your part. I'd recommend them to anyone starting a language.
I listened to Michel Thomas French and Spanish. The advantages are grammar and memorization tricks. The big disadvantage is that there are no native speakers. Also, his accent is bad in all the languages except Polish and maybe German. The student learners have even worse accents, which trains the audience to make the same mistakes. By contrast, Pimsleur focuses on a good accent from the beginning. Michel Thomas recordings are also sloppy compared with Pimsleur, but are more interesting.
@VictimOfBoredom Michel Thomas's real name is Moniek Kroskof, and he is a native of Poland. He has a Polish accent in all 6 languages that he speaks. He doesn't speak Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian or Dutch. Those language programs were made after Michel Thomas died. Michel Thomas teaches the French, Spanish, etc. courses himself with no native speakers, and has a Polish accent in those languages.
I have the MT method for French. It's been years since I last used it, but I remember being distracted by the presence of two student voices. In fact, I felt slightly annoyed with their affected pronunciations. This is not so much a criticism as it is a matter of personal taste. MT's method is highly creative. Would I recommend it to beginners? Yes, everyone has different comfort & joy zones. The interactive play involved in developing a sense of how sentences develop might suit some beginners.
I have the introductory, foundation, advanced and vocabcourse for russian (which is another advanced course that focuses on the cases) and I love it. I listen to them everyday, especially the advanced and vocab course because I need a lot of work when it comes to using the cases. Far more simpler to speak, hear it and get a feel for what sounds right and wrong when speaking.
saesuicide 3 weeks ago
i thought you were a chick with them nails.. eww
pdrums777 3 weeks ago
@pdrums777 Cool. How do you like them?
laoshu505000 3 weeks ago
@laoshu505000 SEXY!!! :D
pdrums777 1 week ago
I think it is great but the teacher`s english with strong accent was too confusing for me to follow the lesson... :/
littlemonyou 1 month ago
@laoshu505000 i dont like him. his voice sounds creepy to me. but you are smart n stuff.
fortknowledge 2 months ago
I like these courses. Only for the very very veryyy early stages of learning though. Although I can't stand those stupid students!! But on the bright side, I guess it's kind of amusing to get angry at them haha....
About his accent, it doesn't bother me that much (except when he tries to tell me how to pronounce English words :| lol). There are other ways to acquire a good accent.
pinkpumpkinn 2 months ago 2
@pinkpumpkinn His lessons are very enjoyable. It's funny because I find myself at times totally oblivious of the students lol
laoshu505000 2 months ago
@laoshu505000 Yeah his method is very good! I like how he makes you piece the sentences together little by little...it makes it so much easier to...think. lol that's the only way I can describe it.
pinkpumpkinn 2 months ago
It's about time you reviewed MT ! lol He has helped me tremendously with my Spanish over the years. He was my 1st jaja!
houlmouth 2 months ago
Thanks for sharing.
themagicofcoupons 2 months ago
Speak French with Michel Thomas DVD Item number: 260905139884 is on Ebay for $2.50 plus $3.99 shipping.
themagicofcoupons 2 months ago
@themagicofcoupons Thanks for the information!
laoshu505000 2 months ago
But after viewing your videos, and seeing the advanced progress you have made, it would be wonderful if you could produce the next level. You will have millions of customers. LOL but I'm serious about that.
frenchbecomesyou 2 months ago 2
@frenchbecomesyou lol That's funny
laoshu505000 2 months ago
I'm so glad you reviewed the Michel Thomas course. I have completed all four of his original courses (french italian spanish german). I was so excited by how much I learned and wanted to go further. Unfortunately the new series were not made by him but by others who copied his format but not his unique technique of getting you to remember so much grammar and vocabulary with no effort. And you do not forget what you've learned.
frenchbecomesyou 2 months ago
@frenchbecomesyou Lots of the new courses are much better than his Spanish and Italian courses, neither of which were particularly good at the Foundation level due to his insipid pronunciation. His German and French courses were great because he spoke them natively, but he really had no business teaching Spanish and Italian pronunciation (he *did* do a good job teaching their grammar, I'll admit).
The Arabic, Japanese, and Portuguese courses were very well constructed.
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
@VictimOfBoredom
I don't like any of the new courses that bear Michel Thomas name but not his teaching. They miss the forest for the trees by focusing too deeply on pronounciation and vocabualry acqusition. So instead of learning the basic grammar to form sentences right away and actually start speaking with people, you are left with knowledge of a few extra words and the ablility to say hi in the target language like a native. Much of the brilliance of the original has been stripped.
frenchbecomesyou 2 months ago
@frenchbecomesyou Did we listen to the same courses? Michel scolds the students for improper pronunciation in the German course, while in the Mandarin course, Harold regularly overlooks the students' ludicrously incorrect pronunciation.
The fact that you don't like the Dutch course even though it was literally adapted DIRECTLY from the German course suggests your judgement may be clouded by just a *hint* of bias.
[cont]
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
@frenchbecomesyou Moreover, NONE of the courses I've listened to have stressed or even mentioned "hi". The Japanese course does a particularly excellent job of teaching the verb conjugations for the following: I __ / I don't __ / won't you __? / let's __ / shall we __? / I want to __ / I didn't __ / I didn't want to __ / while __ / __ and / and probably a few more I can't recall.
[cont]
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
@frenchbecomesyou That's at least 10 useful verb patterns multiplied across at least a dozen verbs (that's a minimum of 120 different verb patterns for the mathematically challenged), complemented by a plethora of useful adjectives and idiomatic phrases. How this amounts to "a few extra words and the ablility to say hi" is beyond me.
[cont]
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
@frenchbecomesyou And even more so, the Portuguese course is explicitly modeled directly from the original courses. Virginia Catmur even uses many of the same exact sentences Michel used (that any MT enthusiast would instantly recognize).
So, yeah. Methinks you may either have too much worship for Michel Thomas or too little appreciation for his worthy successors. In fact, many are of the opinion that the original MT courses have indeed been *improved* upon.
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
I like these CD's a lot. I have the Japanese one of course... LOL...
gogaijin 2 months ago
@gogaijin how long have you been using it for Japanese
laoshu505000 2 months ago
Michel Thomas has an amazing legacy. His military history is especially interesting to me.
chunblue 2 months ago
@chunblue He was in the military eh
laoshu505000 2 months ago
@laoshu505000 Yeah, I recall something about how he used his the languages he knew for various intel missions and how also used his language knowledge to escape imprisonment by the Nazi's.
chunblue 2 months ago
I have used Michel Thomas for Mandarin and i'm still using it. It's very clear and slower than Pimsleur. It's a fun course also!
patt7000 2 months ago in playlist About languages in General 2
@patt7000 The Foundation and Advanced courses were pretty annoying due to the students' pronunciation, but the Vocabulary course picks up the pace and does a great job of ending the curriculum, although I personally think all three (Foundation, Advanced, and Vocabulary) ought to be considered a "Foundation" course.
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
RIP Michel Thomas... you were a blessing to the world.
5Language 2 months ago
Coincidentally yesterday I was going to ask you to do a review on MT bcus to my surprise you didnt have a review on him, but you put it up the next day, how cool is that. I fell in love his style of teaching not just because its effortless but amazingly you retain the knowledge and get a pretty strong grasp as to how to say and pronounce the words. The ONLY problem that i have with Mr. MT.. is that he has a watery mouth and smacks a lot.lol Yea sure.. its petty but it aggravates me to no end.
guallivera 2 months ago
I have tried this for Arabic and Polish. And I also have listened to couple of CD's of other courses and I can say that it really depends on the students in the recordings if the course is good or not. The Polish one is so good, the students have quite good accents and they get it all done and I feel that they are in the process of learning, on the other side the Arabic course was so painful, because the students made the same mistakes all the time and lots of valuable time was lost.
archa000 2 months ago in playlist About languages in General 2
I've used MT for Italian, Portuguese, and Mandarin. They are great courses for the beginner. The romance language once really help you get verb tenses down pat with almost no effort on your part. I'd recommend them to anyone starting a language.
jondesousa 2 months ago
@jondesousa Most definitely
laoshu505000 2 months ago
I listened to Michel Thomas French and Spanish. The advantages are grammar and memorization tricks. The big disadvantage is that there are no native speakers. Also, his accent is bad in all the languages except Polish and maybe German. The student learners have even worse accents, which trains the audience to make the same mistakes. By contrast, Pimsleur focuses on a good accent from the beginning. Michel Thomas recordings are also sloppy compared with Pimsleur, but are more interesting.
LearningFrenchNow 2 months ago
@LearningFrenchNow Huh? He's not even the one teaching the Polish course...
The Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, and possibly Greek course all use native speakers.
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
@VictimOfBoredom Michel Thomas's real name is Moniek Kroskof, and he is a native of Poland. He has a Polish accent in all 6 languages that he speaks. He doesn't speak Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian or Dutch. Those language programs were made after Michel Thomas died. Michel Thomas teaches the French, Spanish, etc. courses himself with no native speakers, and has a Polish accent in those languages.
LearningFrenchNow 2 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@LearningFrenchNow
"He doesn't speak Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian or Dutch. Those language programs were made after Michel Thomas died."
Uh...I know.
My point was that they all use native speakers—not that Michel Thomas teaches them with a native accent. -_-
VictimOfBoredom 2 months ago
some people say this mtm is nothing but a "madrigal's magic key to..." series variation
tmp011007 2 months ago
I have the MT method for French. It's been years since I last used it, but I remember being distracted by the presence of two student voices. In fact, I felt slightly annoyed with their affected pronunciations. This is not so much a criticism as it is a matter of personal taste. MT's method is highly creative. Would I recommend it to beginners? Yes, everyone has different comfort & joy zones. The interactive play involved in developing a sense of how sentences develop might suit some beginners.
surrected4526 2 months ago
Hmmm, never tried it. It looks expensive too. I think I will stick with Teach Yourself and Langenscheidts Praktischer Sprachlehrgang for now.
Iceland1944 2 months ago
how much did it cost?
epsilon910 2 months ago
@epsilon910 $50
laoshu505000 2 months ago
the students are hilarious. once I was able to get past laughing at them then I could really use it. but they are great to get you started.
leaukie 2 months ago
@leaukie lhaha. Yea, it's definitely entertaining. Great method he has there.
laoshu505000 2 months ago