Product Description

Experience the language learning method millions around the world have come to trust

Unlike most language learning systems, the Michel Thomas Method enables you to naturally and intuitively develop the building blocks for language comprehension. You learn at your own speed--listening, speaking, and thinking through the language. Guided by language teacher extraordinaire Michel Thomas, each CD takes you through an interactive lesson with two other learners. By the end of the program, you will have the ability to put together words and phrases together naturally and make your own sentences. You will have basic vocabulary, conversation skills, and the confidence to speak in Italian.

Contains ten audio CDs-including the two-CD Speak Italian Get Started Kit and two review CDs-and a brief user's guide in a zippered travel case.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70641 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 10
• Binding: Audio CD

About the Author

Michel Thomas taught languages for more than fifty years, developing a unique and revolutionary learning system that made him the world's leading language teacher. His method has been used to teach celebrities, diplomats, dignitaries, academics, and business executives.

Customer Reviews

Very different approach
I purchased this course in Jan. 2007 and have completed the first CD and now on to the second. I must say that Michel's approach is quite different from other courses I have tried on Italian. Most courses start out with the traditional greeting between two people. Ciao! Come sta, etc. The first thing Michel talks about is "there are a few thousand words that are similar in English and Italian". The first Italian word you learn is "possibile" or "possible" in English. Then "è" for "it is", then "per me" for "for me" Put together "è possibile per me". You have your first phrase "it is possible for me." I am on the second CD and have not hear "Ciao" yet! Right away you start learning the spoken structure of a sentence by learning several verbs and how to use them in a sentence.

You are learning with two other people. They are struggling to say it just like you are. Make sure your CD player has a pause button. You will need it and have to press it very quickly. When Michel says "How do you say...." listen quickly and press pause. Try it yourself in Italian, then press play. The other students on the CD will try to say it. You learn much better if you try it first before listening to the other students.

I gave this four stars , since on occasion, there are some phrases that have a word that Michel has not mentioned yet. The students seem to know it somehow. So far this has happened with "con me" and "con Lei" (with me, with you) and "La vede domani" (I will see you tomorrow). Michel says the word "La", but does not say why it is in the sentence. Also, with the first CD, I think Michel is teaching in the "formal" context, using Lei for "you" instead of "tu". However, he does not mention that fact. Even though Michel says not to review, I found myself needing to do that, and would recommend it before moving on with lessons.

Overall I think it is a great way to learn. You find yourself looking around you and thinking how that would be said in Italian.

aka: Italian on the iPod
Since I spend a lot of time driving, this has been a wonderful way to learn for me. I have no other time, and now my otherwise 'wasted' time is useful. Also, the way he teaches is great because you learn useful phrases you can use right away, so you pick it up really quick. Oh and you can put it on your iPod and listen to it pretty much anywhere.

Ottimo!
I picked up a lot of Italian when I was a teenager, although a lot of it was dialect. When I wanted to get a good understanding of the language I bought the Pimsleur courses, which are excellent but molto caro. My significant other, though, dislikes the Pimsleur approach and so, on a whim, i bought her the Michel Thomas Beginners' Program. We started listening to it together, and it's superb. His approach requires that you relax and make no effort to remember. Gradually, painlessly, he imparts grammar (which he calls "structure" to avoid stressing you out with a word that causes many reflexively to clench mentally). Now I have his advanced cds as well and I'm learning things I never knew or never understood properly. It's wonderful how he imparts understanding. So gradual and so effortless. It's fun. I highly recommend his cds. And they're much less expensive than Pimsleur and, in my view, as good or better.