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Product Description
Review
"A genuine breakthrough in teaching Mandarin"
(The Guardian )"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 )
"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 )Product Description
Learn another language the way you learnt your own
You learnt your own language naturally and enjoyably: now you can learn Mandarin 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 Mandarin 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 Mandarin Chinese Advanced Course
A five-hour, 100% audio method for taking your Mandarin Chinese to an advanced level. Join Michel Thomas Method teacher Harold Goodman and native speaker Jingtao Deng and two students in a live lesson and within five hours you will be speaking advanced Mandarin Chinese proficiently and easily. You will rapidly improve your Mandarin Chinese with the students, hearing both their successes and their mistakes to keep you motivated and involved throughout the course.
Join the millions of people worldwide who have learnt a new language with the Michel Thomas Method
Contents: 4 CDs plus booklet with Mandarin phrases in English translation and transliterated into Roman script
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A native Beijinger once told me that she could not understand why English speakers struggled so much with Mandarin tones. Her point was, that every day in speaking English, we use tones to add emphasis to our speech. At the time she told me this I had trouble grasping the point - but this is exactly the premise of this course which will rapidly, easily and almost subliminally teach you correct tones.
Many Mandarin courses will tell you that you should not worry too much about tones because the context will more often than not allow the listener to understand what you are saying. This does have a grain of truth but the reality is that if you want to learn to talk with native Mandarin speakers, you must use the correct tones - there is no shortcut, it is a prerequisite for conversing in Mandarin.
There may be many ways to learn the tones in Mandarin and no doubt we all have our likes and dislikes of the various methods. However, I recommend this course as a painless and intuiative way to conquering the demon of Mandarin tones. This course really does do away with the mystique surrounding the tones needed to speak and understand Mandarin. If you want to learn the language this is a great way to start and if you have tried to learn via other methods and are struggling; try this course, I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Many Mandarin courses will tell you that you should not worry too much about tones because the context will more often than not allow the listener to understand what you are saying. This does have a grain of truth but the reality is that if you want to learn to talk with native Mandarin speakers, you must use the correct tones - there is no shortcut, it is a prerequisite for conversing in Mandarin.
There may be many ways to learn the tones in Mandarin and no doubt we all have our likes and dislikes of the various methods. However, I recommend this course as a painless and intuiative way to conquering the demon of Mandarin tones. This course really does do away with the mystique surrounding the tones needed to speak and understand Mandarin. If you want to learn the language this is a great way to start and if you have tried to learn via other methods and are struggling; try this course, I am sure you will not be disappointed.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Michel Thomas Foundation course review
Having just completed my 4th MT course (Chinese Foundation) I feel an obligation to share my experiences with others who might be considering buying it. First the conclusion. The Michel Thomas Chinese Foundation Course was excellent: 9 out of 10.
Most of us are under the impression that Chinese is a strange alien language that is almost impossible to learn. They are right it is. When I got my first mandarin course I was presented with an array of strange sounds that made me think of a episode of Star Trek and alien encounter of incomprehensible complexity. With this mind-set I approached the Michel Thomas foundation course with some skepticism. Although I did have a fundamental belief in the soundness of his teaching methodology for Indo-European languages, I had no such belief for any other languages.
I have to admit it was a leap of faith. Which with hindsight has now been richly rewarded.
The first barrier to learning Chinese is this strange concept of using tones for each sound that represents a Chinese character. This is beautifully explained at the beginning of the course by the Professor of Chinese with the excellent assistance of a native speaker. To get the message across he tells a series of stories for each tone and allocates a colour to each of them, as well as a hand gesture (Kinaesthetic modality) for each tone, and by using your fist and fingers to re-enforce the learning experience, make it "memorable". This is subliminal suggestion to the brain, something that practitioners of Accelerated Learning who use modality and NLP use all the time.
The speed at which you progress is fine although there are times when you wonder whether you will get the key basic verbs that are so much part of an MT course. The vocab is reviewed and re enforced at regular intervals.
I have been practising with my Chinese friends. In the beginning I found they were correcting me a lot but as I progressed they become increasingly more impressed with my pronunciation and less critical. The secret now is to get my Chinese to a natural speed and that will only come with practice.
Conclusion.
Learning MT Chinese has changed my perspective of learning new languages and thinking outside the box as the teacher said it would. It has given me lots of new perspectives on a number of things. I am getting interested in writing the characters, also Taoism, Sun Tzu the art of war and the culture and history of China. My studies into the historical origins of languages and how they are all connected together has been given new impetus. I feel I am a richer person for the experience and look forward to going to China sometime in the future. Now a brief word on the Pimsleur course which I have tried. I found it useful to bring my Chinese to a more natural speed and flow.
So there is a place for both courses. But if you have a limited budget, go for the MT Chinese course.
Having just completed my 4th MT course (Chinese Foundation) I feel an obligation to share my experiences with others who might be considering buying it. First the conclusion. The Michel Thomas Chinese Foundation Course was excellent: 9 out of 10.
Most of us are under the impression that Chinese is a strange alien language that is almost impossible to learn. They are right it is. When I got my first mandarin course I was presented with an array of strange sounds that made me think of a episode of Star Trek and alien encounter of incomprehensible complexity. With this mind-set I approached the Michel Thomas foundation course with some skepticism. Although I did have a fundamental belief in the soundness of his teaching methodology for Indo-European languages, I had no such belief for any other languages.
I have to admit it was a leap of faith. Which with hindsight has now been richly rewarded.
The first barrier to learning Chinese is this strange concept of using tones for each sound that represents a Chinese character. This is beautifully explained at the beginning of the course by the Professor of Chinese with the excellent assistance of a native speaker. To get the message across he tells a series of stories for each tone and allocates a colour to each of them, as well as a hand gesture (Kinaesthetic modality) for each tone, and by using your fist and fingers to re-enforce the learning experience, make it "memorable". This is subliminal suggestion to the brain, something that practitioners of Accelerated Learning who use modality and NLP use all the time.
The speed at which you progress is fine although there are times when you wonder whether you will get the key basic verbs that are so much part of an MT course. The vocab is reviewed and re enforced at regular intervals.
I have been practising with my Chinese friends. In the beginning I found they were correcting me a lot but as I progressed they become increasingly more impressed with my pronunciation and less critical. The secret now is to get my Chinese to a natural speed and that will only come with practice.
Conclusion.
Learning MT Chinese has changed my perspective of learning new languages and thinking outside the box as the teacher said it would. It has given me lots of new perspectives on a number of things. I am getting interested in writing the characters, also Taoism, Sun Tzu the art of war and the culture and history of China. My studies into the historical origins of languages and how they are all connected together has been given new impetus. I feel I am a richer person for the experience and look forward to going to China sometime in the future. Now a brief word on the Pimsleur course which I have tried. I found it useful to bring my Chinese to a more natural speed and flow.
So there is a place for both courses. But if you have a limited budget, go for the MT Chinese course.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
As someone with no background in asiatic languages (other than counting in Japanese in the martial arts) I was interested to see what the introductory course could do with such unpromising material. Needless to say I do not speak Mandarin Chinese after two hours (the course does not even suggest that), but I did begin to grasp why Chinese is as it is and to begin to grasp the concept of tones. These are great things for a beginner. The importance of mnemonics in the Michel Thomas Method was strongly brought home with the four tones, memorised as sound, colour and gesture. Did I grasp the Two Syllable Metre Rule? That would be too much to hope but I began to entertain the concept.
Over the years I've done French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese with the Michel Thomas method. I found Mandarin Chinese by far the hardest, but I did begin to learn it. I was frankly amazed at the latter. Recommended.
Over the years I've done French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese with the Michel Thomas method. I found Mandarin Chinese by far the hardest, but I did begin to learn it. I was frankly amazed at the latter. Recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not really for me.
I did find this a little uninteresting to be honest, it helped me pick up a few things but is just not my style of learning. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Walker
Not an advanced course
I bought this course as it claimed to be at least GCSE standard, and as i was working towards this exam at the time, I thought that this course would be a useful addition helping... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Aj Sutton
Can't get past the first CD :(
Apologies for this slightly rubbish review but I thought a few words might be helpful to anyone else who frequently tries, and fails, to learn another language. Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Galvin
Misleading pronunciation explanations make this useless for the...
I wanted to like this course. I have previously used and thoroughly enjoyed the French, Spanish and Italian Michel Thomas courses and so I had high hopes for the Mandarin... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. R. K. Platt
So easy
If you want to learn to speak the language then this is just right. I got this just three weeks before going to China and was able to understand very basic conversations as soon... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jo
Mandarin made easy!
I've always been an avid language learner and am able to speak French and Spanish with a high degree of accuracy, plus a handful of other languages at various levels (German,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Doron Cohen
"Hard?...GIVE ME A BREAK!"
The introduction is a little annoying. Like some new age workshop.
It does dispel a myth that Mandarin it inconceivably complex, explaining the concept of tones does make an... Read more
It does dispel a myth that Mandarin it inconceivably complex, explaining the concept of tones does make an... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Useless Article
Clear introduction to a complex language
It's taken me some time since obtaining this to summon up the courage to crack it open and give it a go. Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. C. Cresswell
Mandarin made easy
I'm a great lover of the Michel Thomas method and used this method to help with my French and Spanish. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ladybubbles
Do not buy this course!
I have used all the Michel Thomas courses conducted by the great man himself but this is really not worthy of having his name on the front. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. Stephen C. G. Reid
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