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

by Jane Wightwick (Author), Mahmoud Gaafar (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £68.51
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Frequently Bought Together

Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Foundation Course (Michel Thomas Series) + Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Advanced Course (Michel Thomas Series) + Build Your Arabic Vocabulary (Book CD & Flashcards)
Price For All Three: £80.17

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Product details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: Hodder Arnold (28 Sep 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340957271
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340957271
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 14 x 6.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 32,029 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #14 in  Books > Languages > By Language > Arabic
    #75 in  Books > Audio CDs > Languages

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Product Description

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

"Closest experience to a lesson in a classroom ... surprisingly relaxing ... a confidence boost" (6-star review) (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 )

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

"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 )

"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 )

"Remarkably effective, addictive even"

(London Evening Standard )

Product Description

Learn another language the way you learnt your own


You learnt your own language naturally and enjoyably: now you can learn Arabic in the same way.

You’ll stick with it because you’ll love it


· Use the unique method perfected over fifty years by the celebrated psychologist and linguist Michel Thomas.


· This method works with your brain, helping you to build up your Arabic in manageable, enjoyable steps by thinking out the answers for yourself.


· You learn through listening and speaking – without the pressure of writing or memorising.


· You pick up the language naturally and unforgettably.




 


The NEW Arabic Foundation Course


An eight-hour, 100% audio method for learning Arabic. Join teacher Jane Wightwick and native speaker Mahmoud Gaafar and two students in a live lesson and within the first hour you will be able to construct simple phrases. You will learn the language with the students, hearing both their successes and their mistakes to keep you motivated and involved throughout the course. By the end, you will have the confidence to understand and speak Arabic.



Join the millions of people worldwide who have learnt a new language with the Michel Thomas Method


Contents: 8 CDs plus booklet with Arabic phrases in English translation and transliterated into Roman script

(20080601)

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Foundation Course (Michel Thomas Series)
69% buy the item featured on this page:
Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Foundation Course (Michel Thomas Series) 3.8 out of 5 stars (9)
£41.10
Mastering Arabic Book and 2 CD pack (Palgrave Master Series (Languages))
12% buy
Mastering Arabic Book and 2 CD pack (Palgrave Master Series (Languages)) 4.7 out of 5 stars (18)
£22.24
Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Advanced Course (Michel Thomas Series)
8% buy
Michel Thomas Method: Arabic Advanced Course (Michel Thomas Series) 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£29.35
Michel Thomas Vocabulary Course: Arabic (Michel Thomas Series)
6% buy
Michel Thomas Vocabulary Course: Arabic (Michel Thomas Series)
£23.49
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 26 Mar 2008
By Jo (Gloucestershire, UK) - See all my reviews
Despite several frustrating and unsuccessful attempts to learn languages at school, I was resigned to only ever speaking English. Having read the product description on this item stating that it used a unique method of teaching I decided to try it. After only one week of learning for just 20 minutes a day, I could already construct basic sentences. As the course went on it cleverly added words and ideas, so forming ever more complicated sentences came naturally. I cannot recommend this product highly enough, if I can learn Arabic using it anyone can!
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An effective, yet painless method, 14 Jan 2008
(I first posted this review on Jan 14, 2008, but it got deleted)

This is a very impressively effective method.
And it's definitely worth the money. It's actually a cheap method given the results.

I say this from the point of view of an "experienced amateur language learner". Over the last 4 years, I've learnt 3 Romance languages, I have revived and improved the German I had learnt at school, in addition to my mother language (French) and to English. I confess I have learnt some Arabic with Pimsleur's 2 levels for Syro-lebanese Arabic.

I could do this because 1) There are very smart rather painless methods that I discovered and used: Pimsleur and Assimil. 2) I had the time , mostly when driving calmy,or performing some brain-easy activities (running, walking the dog etc...) 3) The methods I used are so rewarding and effective that they prompted a crave for learning new languages. I can now have conversations (general and in my professional environment) in all 3 romance languages and German.

This lengthy introduction is not intended at boasting, but rather at making 2 points:

1) I think I now can identify a good language learning method when I try one.

And 2) there are methods that are very smart and make language learning very easy if you have the wish to learn and enjoy speaking foreign languages.

So far I considered Pimsleur the best to start with because as it's only audio, it's quite natural, and your pronunciation is based upon what you hear, not what you read. When you read foreign words, you read them with a brain that may have difficulties producing an appropriate pronunciation because it will interpret the reading according to your reading experience in your mother language. This is why so many French people pronounce English like Inspector Clouseau (actually worse since P Sellers stresses the words properly). Pimsleur is also very good because it brings you to constructing your own sentences based on other, different sentences. And it is a very quickly rewarding method, you soon realize you can actually speak the language. But thereafter, especially after the ideal Pimsleur method that comprises three 30 lessons levels , each intended 25 minutes, with one lesson a day (I did more, you do not have enough words and tenses to understand the language when immersed in th country. And at times it's quite awkward to identify the sounds and reproduce them. But although you lack words you can express basic needs and have simple conversations. After these usually 3 months, you need to expand your vocabulary a lot, which Assimil is very good at doing especially if you work as much as you can with the CDs. There you will memorise words and many idioms in context . You'll need the booklet to understand the text that you'll need to repeat while understanding it, while listening to the CDs, like an almost simultaneous echo, which some call "to shadow the speech". Well that's how it works best for me..
================

But now I discovered this new "MICHEL THOMAS" Arabic foundation method, based on late Michel Thomas (MT) principles, and designed by a British teacher of Arabic helped by a native speaker of the Egyptian dialect.
THIS METHOD IS MUCH EASIER TO GO THROUGH THAN PIMSLEUR, and gives you more for your time and money. But it has the same huuuge advantage of being only audio (see details above.
The only problem was that only the Foundation course (8 CDs) was available at the time I did it, and remember longing for the "advanced" course" (March 2008) and the "vocabulary " course (2009 Inch ALlah).

But IN 8 CDS, THE ACHIEVEMENTS ALLOWED were REMARKABLE.

Well, my case is special since I had not started from scratch, having done Pimsleur's level one 1 year earlier and level 2 one month earlier in another Arabic dialect. But the Egyptian dialect is somewhat different.

The teaching is quite slow in purpose (I guess) so as not to put the learner under stress. It seems that the quiet environment created by the gentle pace and tone of the teachers, their nice and positive attitudes towards the students, all of this seems to be essential to open our minds and help us memorise and eventually speak. Well you realise this when later in the course you're asked to say something and you actually do say it.

Of course this basic course with it's 8 slow paced CDs does not teach you many words, less than a 30 lessons (15 CDs) of Pimsleur, but I think it's a more effective method for a difficult language like Arabic. I had to spend much more time on Pimsleur than 30 minutes per lesson for level 1, sometimes having to do the same lesson 3-4 times before I could pronounce /identify the words or sentences. In the MT program, it's way easier. And still you are led to build sentences on your own, being fed the bases earlier.

My impression is that those 8 CDs can be used without going again and again through the same "lessons". I did not need to listen more than once.
And after completing it you'll be much more at ease to further progress using either other methods or the aforementioned next steps of the program, pending for release.

I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS "ARABIC FOUNDATION": if you want to learn Arabic it quite certainly is the best to start with and you'll see , it's not very difficult. Then you 'll probably find it easy to move on either with the "advanced course" and the vocabulary course later or with other methods.

RESERVATIONS:
1) I cannot speak from the point of view of a naive learner (from scratch). Nevertheless I found the method not boring at all and I did understand post hoc some details that had escaped me while doing the Pimsleur program.

I did try the Mandarin program from the same publisher, based on the same principles, and hence I'll know the value for the absolute beginner. An American would say it's an "awesome" course. Very impressive how you get out of it being able to construct sentences, with a limited vocabulary though. And believe me Chinese and Arabic are not difficult languages, when smartly taught. My feeling is that Arabic is more difficult than Chinese for the grammar, and Chinese more difficult to pronounce because of the tones. The Chinese writing remains a nightmare.


2) The choice of Egyptian. I think this is a good choice since many sources and Arabic speakers I know indicate that it's understood by almost all Arabs, mainly because so many TV series and films are from Egypt (Hollywood on Nile). Many methods teach you "Modern Standard Arabic". You never hear that Arabic spoken except maybe on TV news on international Arabic channels. I find it better to learn one of the dialects, either Egyptian or Lebanese/Syrian: all those are understood in Jordan, Irak and the gulf, and Egypt. Egyptian might be more understandable in Northern Africa for the reasons mentioned above. .

3) No teaching of the writing. So what? I don't care since I just want to communicate orally. Learning the writing would definitely slow down the pace of learning and make it more difficult. A good learning has to be rewarding so keep that for later, when you speak the language.

4)The 2 students in the course. Strange as it may seem I think they help. First, they have hesitations and make mistakes that you (I ) have or do. Second they help convey the positive empathy of the teachers onto you. This is supposed to ease the learning process in according to MT's principles. I do find the students helpful.

5) As you're exposed to only one speaker who speaks clearly and rather slowly, you are not prepared to understand a flow of Arabic at normal speed, and this is what expects you, because when Arabs will hear you speak well (you will, I think) , they will assume you understand as well as they hear you speak. This is also a problem with Pimsleur that facilitates a nice pronunciation, which exceeds the lower quality of our understanding. But you have to start somewhere and here again this MT Arabic Foundation I recommend wholeheartedly.

CONCLUSION
I think it's an excellent and cheap but effective method to start with. Very rewarding for the short duration it lasts. Hopefully the next levels will be as effective.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes Arabic seem remarkably easy, 5 Mar 2009
By C. Young "Clive Young" (London, England) - See all my reviews
Some people seem to object to the Michel Thomas method IN CAPITAL LETTERS, but once again I am very impressed by the system. I've completed a few MT courses but this is the first I've tried without having had any experience in the language at all from classes or other self study. Arabic has the reputation of being difficult but the very experienced teachers Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar make it all seem remarkably easy. The two-student dialogue works well, picking up most of the difficulties and queries I myself had. The main problem with Arabic is the lack of English cognates (similar-sounding words) so I listened to each disc twice, and somewhat against the MT recommendations learned the vocabulary in the printed booklet. With an hour or so a day, in about a month felt I had a pretty solid grasp of the grammar basics. The focus on grammatical structures means that the vocabulary is quite restricted though, so you'd need to supplement with a good phrase book to learn greetings and everyday survival words. Note that the course is based on Egyptian Arabic, considered the most widely understood spoken dialect, not the formal literary standard Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) you need if you want to learn to write the language.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Arabic, The foundation Course
Thank you very much.

Fantastic product, and very easy to listen too,ie not hard work. Had already listened to the beginners cd so knew what to expect. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Deakin

1.0 out of 5 stars Painless? Painful is more like...
I don't know how anyone can give this 5 stars...its the most frustrating course I have ever used, and I have had access to quite a few courses so thats saying something... Read more
Published 4 months ago by bellydiva

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good course
I heard an extract from this course on You Tube and I felt this was a good way to learn arabic, so I bought it. I already speak some arabic so it was more revision for me. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. A. Jones

2.0 out of 5 stars A massive disappointment for an MT fan.
I'm a great fan of Michel Thomas's courses, so I was very pleased when Hodder announced that he had taught a man called Harold Goodman about his techniques, and that these had... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Treacle

5.0 out of 5 stars I can finally talk to my wife's family
I have been trying to learn Arabic for a few years to talk to my wife's (Egyptian) family. This is the best course I've found by far and I'm finally gaining confidence. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jed

1.0 out of 5 stars Ineffective methodology and very basic Arabic
Read this review carefully BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE!

Learning languages through listening is one of the most effective ways in my opinion and thus I bought this audio... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Richard S.

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