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It is a refreshing way to learn Italian. I would recommend these five CDs to anyone wanting to review or build on what he or she already knows. I've used another Michel Thomas CD before so I am familiar with his method of teaching. This advanced level was not too difficult for me, although I'm only at the intermediate level.
A very good grammatical structure course, but work on vocabulary building would be essential for conversation. Sometimes they know the answers so easily, the listener doesn't have a chance to think of the answers. Michele Thomas continues with mastery of Italian verbs. The students in this course have clearly been studying ahead of time.
You get to hear him pronouncing the words with a heavy German accent and then you get to hear his students repetitively mispronouncing the words. Nowhere does it tell you that this teacher is speaking Italian with a very thick German accent and there is no native speaker anywhere in these lessons. The Pimsleur series of lessons is far superior to this. They sucks all the beauty and fun out of the Italian language. Most of your time is spent listening to his students struggling to find the correct pronunciation and sentence structure. He lets them go on way too long to the point where you start to cringe.
I hate to waste $50 Dollars so I think I will donate them to my local Library. He can't help it, but I found myself avoiding the CDs because it was hard sometimes to understand him. Michel Thomas is an accomplished linguist I'm sure, but he should have had someone else speak for him on these CDs. After listening to his voice you'll just wish he would CLEAR HIS THROAT.
Because he explains how the language developed, you find yourself remembering the verb endings. I've also used Pimsleur. I was intrigued by the Michel Thomas method--understand the language rather than memorize verb endings. All this is explained in the beginning. I guess you could say I am obsessed with learning Italian.
I've tried the Rosetta Stone. I bought the beginner and advanced series. A lot of drill. They were both good in their own way, but I have to say Michel Thomas is the Best on the Market. It is also interesting. He is the teacher, an excellent teacher, with two students.
I have been to Italy more than several times. It is top notch. You are the third student in the room. I have a solid command of "tourist Italian." I wanted more. The format of how the information is presented is also low key. Without memorizing.
I was also impressed that he had been the teacher of so many Hollywood stars. If you're willing to stick to it, and let's face it, you have to listen to each CD at least a few times for things to sink in, you find yourself automatically putting together words and phrases and speaking quite fluently in the present, imperfect, future, and conditional tenses.
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