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| Michel Thomas Method: French Vocabulary Course (Michel Thomas Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Michel Thomas
Publisher: Hodder Arnold
Category: Book
List Price: £30.00
Buy New: £16.48
You Save: £13.52 (45%)
New (19) from £16.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 127583
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 2
ISBN: 0340939826
EAN: 9780340939826
ASIN: 0340939826
Publication Date: May 25, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 michel thomas method: french vocabulary course(michel thomas series) August 2, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I agree entirely with O R Freeman. I had actually read his review but still went ahead and bought the CD course. I found it a complete waste of time EXCEPT for the last CD no 5 which was, and has been of help. So not all lost. The main reasons for rating it so low is:
Accent of presenter very English - I fell the course should have been presented by a native speaker - she keeps telling you to speak like Inspector Clouseau..why?
The vocabulary and sentences used in first four CDs very convoluted and of absolutely no use in everyday French. I live in France and I think I know what is useful in everyday spoken language and in my opinion, this isn't it. The presenter was really just using all the old words that Michel had already explained (ending in ..ion etc). I felt she wasted valuable time on the first four CDs and was very disappointed as I think the Michel Thomas courses, particularly the Advanced Course, have been brilliant. In my opinion Hodder & Stoughton ought to rethink the way they produce any new courses as we all want a really good follow on to the Advanced French etc. there is a tremendous market for such a course but any more like this will see sales fade away.
A little less presentation, please July 31, 2007
43 out of 46 found this review helpful
The classic format of the Michel Thomas Spanish series, as represented by the Foundation and Advanced courses, is `live' lessons given to real students. This works for as long as the students' abilities exceed or match your own. Repeated plays of someone else's mistakes will eventually wear anyone down. This does not detract from the quality of the courses: proper use of the CDs will ensure a sound and solid grounding in the language.
The series also includes 'Review' and 'Language Builder' editions. The Review courses are edited versions of the relevant original course, while Language Builder expands on vocabulary and colloquial knowledge. The common factor in these deviations is they feature Michel Thomas alone, talking directly to you, the only student. One-on-one is generally deemed the most effective way of teaching and these courses are no exception: the lack of distraction is a welcome contrast to the Foundation and Advanced courses.
The format in this latest edition is different again: two native speakers replace the students - a great improvement on a good idea - while Rose Lee Hayden takes the role of the great man. One strives to be objective, but from a personal angle, this is where it all starts to come apart.
Even with the conversational possibilities inherent with two students live in a studio, Michel Thomas very rarely strayed from the business of teaching the language and certainly never descended into small talk, all the time keeping a coherent path and displaying impeccable manners, even when his patience was being tested. Rose Lee however, despite only having the microphone for company, takes every opportunity to inject a 'personality' into proceedings, which as the template demonstrates, is utterly unnecessary. Over time and with repeated plays, this constant eager sincerity can become very irritating indeed.
The sort of thing that happens is: you're invited to speak an answer; you respond and get it right. Your teacher says "Right!". Do you feel encouraged? Bear in mind you are conversing with a CD. You try answering another, but maybe this time you get it wrong. Don't worry, because teacher excitedly shouts "Good for you!!!" and never fails to respond positively to every answer. It becomes hard to know which is the most annoying: being congratulated for getting it right or for getting it wrong.
You try hard to resist the invitation to answer back, but then you notice yet another sentence beginning with "As Michel Thomas told us..." - OK, no big deal, she's just pushing the brand, but more than once you will hear Rose Lee claim that she just knows how good your Spanish is (how?) and that you should feel free to go back and check out the Michel Thomas courses and a whole lot other stuff you already know, until it gets really crazy and it sounds like she's being equally patronising to the native speakers, saying "Yes!" or "Right!" every time they chip in with their idea of how it's said, so that in the end, your challenge becomes how to find a way of stopping yourself shouting at your CD machine - "For the love of god, wouldya please just cut the cra p and get on with some godda m Spanish!!!".
Did I mention that Rose Lee speaks in a very broad American accent? Do you think that could be part of the problem?
Obviously, this is a very subjective review and it should perhaps be emphasised that there is no intention to put anyone off the idea of buying this set of CDs, though if you're already a Michel Thomas fan, that's hardly likely anyway. It's great value for money and despite some other minor inconsistencies, a worthy addition to the series, containing a mass of excellent material that will help any diligent student improve their Spanish.
The thing is, they may have to work for it. If you are comfortable in the role of small schoolchild, grab it with both hands. Others of a less malleable nature, be sure to take my tip - practise deep breathing exercises before and after each session and you'll get through.
 An improved approach June 23, 2007
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
I have been a Michel Thomas fan since I started learning French the Michel Thomas way 5 years ago. I have bought every set in his series, applied myself diligently and now living in France I feel comfortable and reasonably confident in everyday encounters with French people.
When I ordered this new CD set I was hesitant when I learned that Michel was not the teacher. However, I agree with the previous reviewer that the presentation of his method is much better without him. I often found his 'pupils' distracting, and their incorrect responses adding to confusion with their reinforcement on repeated playback. The responses given by the French speakers are on first hearing rapid and sometimes incomprehensible, but familiarity on repeated playbacks unlocks the doors of accent and pronounciation, whilst the French of the presenter is clear and reassuring.
Michel's system is still there, and I am totally addicted to this new set in the series, even though quite a bit of the vocabulary doesn't enter my everyday encounters with neighbours, shopkeepers and friends.
I think the set is excellent in content and exceptional value for money.
Excellent course June 22, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
A thoroughly excellent course. I've worked through the previous Michel Thomas German courses and the vocabulary course pulls it together wonderfully well. This time the tutor is not Michel Thomas but one of his language method teachers. She does have a slightly patronising attitude which grates somewhat at first but you soon get used to it. The tutor uses the standard MT approach of asking a question, pausing and then clearly enunciating the answer. Her approach is more structured than some of the earlier CDs and you have plenty of time to hit the pause button if needed and then the answer is always repeated twice.
There is an enormous amount of vocabulary in the course and if you have worked carefully through the earlier courses you will find that you make rapid progress and are constructing complex sentences very early into the course. For example "these days there is no time for sentimentality, reality dominates" - a sentence which I am very unlikely ever to use but a sentence which I would not have expected to construct by the end of the first of the five CDs in this course.
I know that Michel Thomas's recommended method of learning is to sit and relax at home while listening to the CDs. But I have worked through all the CDs in the car in the drive to and from work and found that works very well and makes good use of what would otherwise be dead-time. Doing this for 20 minutes every day gives you really good and regular practice. I usually go through each CD 2 or 3 times before moving on to the next one.
An excellent course which I would definitely recommend.
A wonderful course June 18, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have just finished this and it really has been a wonderful course. I have done both the foundation and advanced and this course follows on very well from them. It rounds off a lot of the areas that were begun in the other two courses. I can agree with the other reviewer though that I only hope a review course comes out soon. It would make this course even better. Still five stars though, because it really does give you a massive number of words and covers a great deal of grammar in just a few hours.
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