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Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Italian (Michel Thomas Series)
 
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Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Italian (Michel Thomas Series) [Audiobook] (Audio CD)

by Michel Thomas (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
RRP: £68.51
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Frequently Bought Together

Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Italian (Michel Thomas Series) + Michel Thomas Advanced Course: Italian (Michel Thomas Series) + Italian Language Builder (CD)
Price For All Three: £82.19

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Product details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: Hodder Education; 2 edition (29 Sep 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340938943
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340938942
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 14 x 8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,516 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Languages > By Language > Italian > By Publisher > Hodder Arnold
    #1 in  Books > Audio CDs > Languages > Italian
    #1 in  Books > Languages > By Language > Italian > Phrase Books
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Review
"Progress is speedy and very painless" -- The Daily Telegraph 18991230 "Ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently." -- Sunday Business 18991230 "Five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like you're winning." -- Time Out 18991230 "Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed." -- The Guardian 18991230 "Thomas makes it simple" -- Sunday Times 18991230 "Hugely inspiring" -- Red 18991230 "Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily" -- Daily Star 18991230 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently." (Sunday Business )

"A great way to learn; it's fast and it lasts". (The Daily Telegraph )

"Five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like you're winning." (Time Out )

"Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed." (The Guardian )

"Thomas makes it simple" (Sunday Times )

"Michel's methods will teach you effectively and easily" (Daily Star )

"Hugely inspiring" (Red )

"A compelling teacher ... you really do remember what you're learning"

(Italia! )

'Remarkably effective, addictive even'

(London Evening Standard )

"Excellent for learning ... This entirely audio course is easy to use and quickly results in some useful ability in the new language. Great for the car."

(Adventure Travel )

"Moving along at a relaxed, slow pace, punctuated by amusing anecdotes and jokes from the teacher, the new words, phrases and language rules are gently introduced and reinforced through subtle repetition without ever being tedious. In fact, despite a distinct emphasis on non-work, the course proves very effective and enjoyable, and its format is ideal for learning anywhere you like. So, if you only want to learn to speak the language, this course is highly recommended."

(Top Real Travel Product, Real Travel )

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Customer Reviews

52 Reviews
5 star:
 (28)
4 star:
 (14)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (52 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
142 of 143 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant method, but just an introduction, 1 Feb 2002
This eight hour course, just listen, no note-taking or memorising, teaches those tricky basics in a brilliantly effortless way, but buyers should be aware that even the 8-hour course is no more than a very useful introduction to the basics of the language and would be of very little use to the tourist or shopper in Italy. It's a great way for busy people or those who are not good at languages to get past the tricky early stages of learning Italian - you just sit back and listen and it gets through, if not the first time just play that bit again and there you are. You will know how to put sentences together, how to use the most important of the different tenses of verbs, and more. BUT don't expect to be anywhere near conversational after 8 hours. There is very little essential vocabulary, you won't even learn how to count. This is not a criticism, just a caution that this course is not for those who want to get by on a holiday or business trip. As someone who used the course before moving to Italy I found it gave a jump-start to learning the language - I was way ahead of other beginners after just playing the CD's while doing the ironing. But it gives very little vocabulary, it won't teach you how to read and write Italian, and when you phrase your question in perfect Italian you can bet you won't understand the Italian reply. There's a lot more work to for you to do after completing the course.
Highly recommended for beginners but in the right context and with the right expectations.
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135 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Seal of approval from a language teacher, 30 May 2001
By A Customer
I ama language teacher, teaching English in Italy. I found Thomas' course to be by far the finest self-study teaching aid I've yet found. It's important to explode a few myths: there's nothing 'magical' about Mr Thomas' method. He follows many universally-recognised language teaching axioms, chief among them that the student must PRODUCE the language (they're not really learning it if they don't produce it). The 'spin' Mr Thomas puts on his lessons is truly his own, however; I've never come across anything quite like it before. Also, Mr Thomas claims that you will not forget what you learn on his course - well, actually, you might; you can forget anything if you try hard enough! But the rate of recall after using this course is significantly - perhaps exponentially - higher than for traditional book-and-tape courses. Mr Thomas takes some amazing short cuts with the Italian language in his course; but all of them are justified, as the intelligent student will see. Anything he leaves out is easily slotted in later, into the structures he has already taught you. My advice is to listen to this course first, and then buy an 'ordinary' book and tape course, or go to conventional Italian lessons. Mr Thomas' course is not enough on its own, but it lays a foundation of a strength that, speaking as a language teacher, I find unbelieveable. I sincerely hope he brings out an Advanced Italian volume.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Trapper, 27 Mar 2006
I am someone who has spent 6 years in School learning French, 5 years learning German and 14 years learning Irish and I am rubbish at them all.
I heard about Michel Thomas from a friend learning Spanish and was very sceptical about her claims of how good he was. However I wanted to see if I was genetically capable of learning a language so I decided to go with Michel Thomas.

Some of the critisms listed by other reviewers are probably correct, lack of antive speaker, limited vocabularly, not suited to someone aiming to go on Holidays this summer. But from my stand point it was
1. Very easy to understand the points he is making.
2. The fact that it is not a native speaker makes it easier to grasp the pronuncation. Its like we're all starting from the same position.
3. The experience gives you a real sense of progression and achievement as you progress.
4. The real strength of this programme is that it gives you a sense of how to construct sentances and much more importantly it gives you the confidence to have a go.

Having recently travelled to Latino and Rome, I was really surprised at how much I could communicate and more importantly that I had the confidence to have a go. For me this programme has given me a great start and great confidence. Most of all it has given hugh enthusiam to progress even further.
Not perfect but I highly recommned to anyone.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars superb method of learning vocabulary and grammar
the Michel Thomas method to learning a language i found to be superb. it's a method where he almost shows you how to convert the english language into italian, showing how the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Adrian Mc Elholm

5.0 out of 5 stars MICHEL THOMAS - FOUNDATION COURSE IN ITALIAN
A huge fan of Michel Thomas who has already guided me through both foundation and advanced French, I applaud his instant-access, fast-track approach to learning. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. M. H. Luetchford

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy It!!!
I thoroughly recommend this product. Right from the very first lesson you really feel like you're learning something. Great for students learning the language from scratch. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Queen Bee

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not as good as the Spanish course.
The first thing to say is that the Michel Thomas way is perfect for me. I did his Spanish course and it gave me the motivation to take conversation lessons. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. S. Duffy

5.0 out of 5 stars Establishing basic groundwork painlessly
I have the set of 8 CDs & listened to them in my car. This has proved the easiest method I have tried & certainly provides an excellent starting point. Read more
Published 15 months ago by H. R. Williams

3.0 out of 5 stars Could do with some judicious editing!
Others had recommended this course to me so perhaps my expectations were a little higher. On the negative side, it was a bit of a culture shock when compared to other audio... Read more
Published 16 months ago by carla

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant - but perhaps don't begin here!
Michel Thomas has a relaxed teaching style which leads you gently but comprehensively through the basic structure of the Italian language. Read more
Published 23 months ago by J. Morris

2.0 out of 5 stars Painful
I agree with other reviewers. Michel's accent is apalling in English and his structures are so stiff in English that I wonder how the Italian is as well. Read more
Published on 10 Jul 2007 by Lou

1.0 out of 5 stars no!
its harder to understand Michel Thomas' blurred english than it is to hear the italian. his 'students' are obviousy previously coached as they 'immediatley grasp' the meaning of... Read more
Published on 6 Jul 2007 by C. Gillies

4.0 out of 5 stars great method, shame about the students
I really rate Michel's method and his great enthusiasm. Unlike another reviewer, I really appreciate the fact that Michel speaks Italian (and English) with his own accent, and... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by Will Walker

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