Berlitz: Foreign Language Learning Series Reviews

[SmokenTotalled]

Have you ever used the Step-by-Step series by Charles Berlitz?

I'm thinking of ordering the french edition and just wanted your input if you had any to give (: I've heard from other people that it is also a good series, though perhaps less so than the Self Teachers

[FredrikHeby]

Which is your favourite language? And why?

[ideiafacil]

your Portuguese accent is really strange....but nice video... thnks..

[MissLadyboy007]

The Berlitz books look really good with lots of content. I am studying Italian using the Pimsleur Italian series and I cannot believe the progress I have made. I think that with reading vocabulary books there is the temptation to consciously or unconsciously avoid speaking. Pimsleur gets you talking right away, they also use native speakers which has helped me greatly with the rhythm, cadence and to a lesser extent the pronunciation of the Italian language.

[IDtKw]

Nossa!!!! CÊ não cansa não? Que fôlego, hem?!!!

[russianpushkin2]

how do i speak russian /watch?v=jlI9Lx032pU&feature=c­hannel_video_title?

[darthvaderyoda]

You said that, with this, coversation comes first and there is very minimal grammar.

Wouldn't that just make this a glorified phrase book? How are you actually learning anything by just reading it?

[CyrillKR]

I find your Russian pronunciation good but your accent is funny. Could you tell how much Russian have you learned?

[EddyARB]

The Portuguese accent was not good at all.

[amdan7]

Why do you have to change your voice when you're speaking in foreing languages? Your Portuguese (because of that) was funny to hear. No offence!

[alifia23]

robert maxwell when i worked had micrrophones evrywhere

[YouStoleMyTube]

Did you ever learn your target languages by using the a previously learned foreign language? If English was your first language, did you use English to learn all your target languages? Or did you use English to learn French, French to learn Italian, etc?

[arivas713]

for me i need grammatical explanations, i cant just read something then somehow pick up the rules of a language. i need the ground rules of a language then i can change some words to create a whole new sentence meaning

[abstractshit]

I wish I could someday become as good in languages as you are. J`admire le grand efford que vous avez fait pour apprendre toutes ses langues. Ver vuestros videos es algo que me motiva verdaderamente.

[direccionalista]

Epanish is my native languague and i liked you`r spanish.... but felt sorry for yor portugues.

Neverminding that, Great vid.

[villainousturtle]

I love your videos. It's amazing how you can speak so many languages so well. But you sound like Carl Sagan when you speak English, and he sounded kind of weird. I guess that's just how smart people sound.

[oinkof]

Berlitz Peru is popular amongh ESL teachers for paying very poorly (3 or 4 $ An HOUR) their teachers when they charge extremely expensive rates to their students, generally big companies or affluent professionals. For example NO KIDDING: 2 THOUSAND dollars a week for a personalized class in PERU¡ This is abusive.A european friend told me the same is in Europe , and their "method" is not a big deal. DOnt go there and make this public please.

[ennime666]

thx for bringing these to my attention ^_^

[TimwiTerby]

I'm impressed with your pronunciations; it's a shame you didn't also read something in German, I would have loved to hear your accent (or lack thereof)! :)

[speaklanguages]

Great review! I've always loved those old self-study language courses, and can't help thinking they're better that a lot of the modern material on the market.

[skeptikulo]

"O homem é a maior parte dos animais". Que frase mais estranha, os insetos são a maior parte dos animais... Há até aquela célebre frase, sobre o planeta Terra: A Terra é o habitat dos insetos, e há os humanos, que servem-os de alimento.

[vsa23]

Your Russian is very good. And your spanish was not too bad either. As a native Spanish speaker, I found getting the Russian pronounciation easy. I'm learning French now and I am having a bit of difficulty in that pronounciation even though it is much closer to Spanish... funny how languages work, isn't it?

[daysin1234]

It's Ashame there is no Russian in a reprint edition. I have the reprint of French, Italian, Spanish and German and WOW has it helped me alot!

[DerPoltergeist13]

I think the new versions of berlitz focus on travel phrases and just getting a familiarity with the language rather than actually learing in depth. I think part of this is due to the fact most parts of the world have a familiarity with english and people rely on that, which is sad because people are not being pressed to learn anymore. English has become the new Latin in that it is spoken over such a wide area or at least is familiar.

[zocurtis]

Wow, I just found a german 1950 Berlitz among some books my colleague gave me!

[xgenesx]

omg professor, when you read the spanish text i thought a computer was talking, you were talking so fast, but you didnt have an accent, WOW im impressed, it must have been really hard learning all those languages, and not just that! their accent too!! i dont think i'll ever accomplish that even if i live to be 1000 years old

[mxjgr]

Doesn't that contradict himself: Speaking like computer and having no accent (as speaking like a native)?

Anyway, he has an accent but it is not very strong.

On the hand his Portuguese was kind of weird: It didn't sound neither European nor Brazilian, more like a Spanish learner would pronounce it.

[marina2325]

hi. im a russian speaker and i should say i really enjoyed u speaking my language. :-) u barely have an accent! bravo! :-)

[phoenixsnipes]

I've been learning German for 9 years and I'm a German major in college. It is not an easy language because it is filled with exceptions and irregularities. English also is full of these things, but the ones in german are *different* and thus quite hard.

[mars1763]

Which language is usually easiest to learn for a native english speaker?

[Aeoen]

I'd say German, because they're from the same language family.

[pythonbyte]

No not German. Pronunciation is easy and is phonetic but the grammar takes a while to assimilate. The vocabulary is not that close either, not as close as French fro example, the case system can also be perplexing to native English speakers. Not that German is necessarily "hard" but it's no breeze and there are other mainstream languages that are more beginner friendly if I can use such a term. Spanish, French or maybe Dutch could fit into that bracket.

[Garc1993]

I agree. With all the Gallicisms acquired by English, French would be the "easiest" (if one could classify any language as "easy").

[DerPoltergeist13]

From my experience and gauging the experiences of others, I have heard many say French is harder than German. I suppose it depends on your interest in the language and culture

[RockGuitarizt]

I would have to agree with Aeoen. I've been studying German for about a year and I'm very surprised with how far I've come.

[littlegreymen]

Is this available in French?

[BMTH0084]

Can you tell me where I could find a "hard copy" version of The Berlitz Self Teacher German and a hard copy version of The Berlitz Self Teacher Spanish version? I'm having a really hard time finding the hard copy versions.......

[ProfASAr]

You will have to look in used bookstores. Online ones such as Alibris and even EBay can facilitate the task. The only difference between hardcover and paperback is in three or four lessons at the beginning of each book, which actually use color illustrations in the hardcover versions only (the paperbacks are BW with the words for the color written in). Actual color is far better for the Berlitz principle of "natural learning," but again, the difference only affects 3 or 4 pages.

[eedonnell]

Powell's book store has these original hard covers for around 7.95. Check them out online. I was so happy to see Prof A's reviews on youtube. He's been giving us great help on the Language Learning Forum for a long time.

[danb1215]

i just ordered the 1949-50 versions of the french and spanish self teachers from amazon, they also had german, they'll connec tyou right to a used seller.

[zorksvik]

you can get the French, German, Italian, and Spanish hard cover brand new of Amazon.

[desuplas]

Any opinions on the Berlitz "Think and Talk" series of courses that came out in the 1980's and 1990's?

Not the later software versions that have the same name, but the courses that typically came with six cassettes, an introduction cassette and some booklets.

[ProfASAr]

I am sorry, I do not know that series at all, although I would love to add a copy to my collection.  The Berlitz company has really produced an enormous array of different courses over the years. I think this has generally been more the result of marketing strategy than pedagogical innovation. Charles Berltiz was a great polyglot and those courses upon which he himself worked are generally outstanding, but he sold the company in the 1960's, I believe, in order to write paranormal books...

[kronos77]

I had a copy of the German Think and Talk. It was really well done. From Prof. Arguelles descriptions of the the Berlitz Basic course, they may be similar.

[Abrfitch1892]

Hey!

Thanks for reviewing these self teacher language courses!

I've learned a lot from the videos.I want to ask you two questions, Where are you from? Why do you talk like john stossel?

I'm sorry, you're smart and have a good view on these language learning courses but the way you talk is annoying and I have to say unrealistic...so are you faking?

I'm trying to say in the nicest way possible...don't hate me too much as a fellow polyglot...

[claudiusofrome]

ProfASAr

Would you please do a review on the "language" Made Simple Series

French Made Simple ISBN 0-385-08691-1

Spanish Made Simple ISBN 0-385-01212-8

Latin Made Simple ISBN 0-385-01756-1

[Tritone]

I never realized how similar french and italian were; when you read both they seemed to correspond nearly word-for-word with only difference in pronunciation.

Interesting.

[kronos77]

These are some of my favorites. I wish they would get with the times put out some audio updates to go along with the texts. The lessons were actually interesting to halfway intelligent adults. I also agree with you about the newest Berlitz products. They are just awful.