Italian with Michel Thomas (Michel Thomas Series) by Michel Thomas

by Michel Thomas

Michel Thomas has taken the language-learning world by storm. With no books, no memorising and no homework, Michel teaches the basic grammar of the language painlessly. Using the method he has perfected over the last 50 years, he now shares his secret with the world - and 'makes it simple' (Sunday Times). In only a matter of hours, he gives you a comprehensive grasp of the structure of the language, enabling you to communicate with confidence. The present, future, conditional and past tenses are covered, and you are taught to think about the ideas that you are trying to communicate, rather than to translate words slavishly. He points out the similarities of the vocabulary in English and Italian and gives you the tools to guess the words you do not know, or think you do not know. Join two students as they learn in real time. Become the third member of the class and experience the excitement of learning a language as if by magic!

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Michel Thomas (born Moniek (Moshe) Kroskof, February 3, 1914 – January 8, 2005) was a polyglot linguist, language teacher, and decorated war veteran. He survived imprisonment in several different Nazi concentration camps after serving in the Maquis (World War II) of the French Resistance and worked with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps during World War II. After the war, Thomas emigrated to the United States, where he developed a language-teaching system known as the Michel Thomas Method. In 2004 he was awarded the Silver Star by the U.S. Army.

Reviews

[Julius Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you work through this it feels like you're learning the language but, I felt in the end all I'd learnt was the course.
Very limited and I don't remember learning any grammar at all.

[James Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A guy with a French name and a German accent teaching Italian? I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this course, especially since my initial (and continuing) reaction to Michel Thomas himself was not the most positive. However, the format of being "in the room" with a few students as he teaches them was a successful one for me personally, although I can't guarantee that someone with a different learning style would find it helpful. I was particularly surprised at the effectiveness of this listening-only approach, since I usually need to see a word and also read about grammar to pick up a language. Maybe one of the reasons that this course worked so well for me was that I already had done some of the preliminary groundwork. It's essential to try to jump in with your own answers before the students give theirs, but as I did that, I found myself enjoying the experience very much and also learning far more than I had expected to learn. I also enjoyed his German course, and I would imagine that his courses in French and Spanish would also be helpful to those seeking to learn those languages (my French is beyond what he presents in his courses, and I haven't tried Spanish yet). It's a pity that he doesn't offer more languages. If anyone knows of courses with a similar approach in Danish or Swedish, just let me know! :)

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get over the fact that a German is teaching you Italian (makes for some interesting accents!!) then these are great!! Michel Thomas was my introduction to Italian via my boyfriend. I listened to this in preparation for our trip to Italy and it helped to prepare me. I can't use Michel Thomas on it's own though, I have to use it in conjuction with another course as Michel Thomas is all audio with no books so you never see or write the words which I need. These are great courses though.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michel Thomas is an amazing teacher. I highly recommend listening to his audiobooks if you want to learn a language, especially conversational language (rather than simply vocab).