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French is still
one of the most popular languages to learn in the UK today. Unfortunately
for me, I didn't really like French at school and didn't use any
French until a few months ago when I met my French boyfriend's parents
for the first time! My almost forgotten bits of 'school' French
from all those years ago, were just not enough to hold a conversation
with them. So I set myself the task of learning some French phrases,
using the Michel Thomas French 2-hour Introductory language pack.
It is available on CDs and on cassette.
My pack is made
up of two tapes - it's a two hour introductory course to the longer
8-hour Michel Thomas French course. It prides itself upon its mantra
of 'no books, no writing' and 'just confidence - in hours'. Having
always learnt languages the academic way, by going to classes and
studying grammar books until dawn, I was very curious to know how
you could learn a language using this seemingly very unacademic
way!
The first side
of tape one begins with Michel Thomas talking about how languages
are ordinarily learnt (via studying books with grammar and verbs
and so on). Michel claims that you can build up your knowledge of
a language just by breaking things down and thinking everything
out step by step. He also encourages us to listen and learn whilst
in a relaxed state, as stress or outside influences will detract
from our learning.
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Michel
claims that you can build up your knowledge of a language
just by breaking things down and thinking everything out step
by step.
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So I spent the
two hours listening to the course and making my own notes now and
again. Although you are not encouraged to memorise anything or write
anything down, I felt inspired to write down interesting comments
or ideas that Michel mentioned during the tape.
After Michel's
introduction we are then introduced to his two learners who are
both at the same level as us: the beginner. As the tape went on
I felt that I was there with Michel and the other two learners,
which made me feel more involved in the learning process.
Michel teaches
us words and then phrases by building on them step by step. He treats
the words as building blocks to phrases. Before you know it you
are saying an incredibly long sentence purely based on the words
that you have learnt and built on. On the first side of the first
tape, we are encouraged to pause the tape after a bleep. This is
so that we have sufficient time in the early stages to repeat the
words and phrases at our own pace. Later though, the bleeps are
gone and we are left to pause it if we want to.
What I found
particularly helpful was the way that Michel associated many French
words with English words. Throughout the course, he would use sound
and cultural recognitions to help us remember certain endings or
words. For example, English words ending in 'ance' or 'ence', he
says, come from French, such as 'difference' or 'importance'. By
changing the pronunciation we are suddenly speaking French! How
easy is that?!
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English
words ending in 'ance' or 'ence', he says, come from French,
such as 'difference' or 'importance'. By changing the pronunciation
we are suddenly speaking French! How easy is that?!
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Or he would use French words that are currently in our everyday
English such as 'soirée', 'alley' (from aller - to go), 'encore',
or 'au revoir' which helped build up my confidence because I realised
that I actually knew a lot of French without even knowing it!! This
word association really helped me to remember the French words.
It would also help me in the future to recognise the similarities
between English and French. I thought this was a particularly useful
way of learning a language.
Throughout the
course, there is a gradual introduction of verbs and verb endings,
as well as pronouns, adjectives, word gender and question words.
However, Michel does not want to bog us down with the grammatical
side to French. He is more interested in ensuring that we build
phrases and understand the links between English and French words.
Everything is
broken down into bite-size pieces which make it a lot easier to
understand and to build long sentences. I learnt how to ask for
a glass of wine or coffee to suddenly asking 'what impression do
you have of the political and economic situation in France today?'.
How impressive is this for a beginner?! Nothing is forced and nothing
is really difficult to remember because all the word and phrase
learning flows really well and that's why you find yourself saying
long sentences without much difficulty.
After having
completed the two hour tapes, I felt that I had learnt an awful
lot of French and would be happy to continue studying French as
I now feel quite confident in what I have learnt so far. Even my
French boyfriend was impressed by how much French I had learnt in
such a short space of time. The Michel Thomas 2-hour introductory
course is just that: an introduction to the language. It's great
for complete novices or beginners who want to get a feel for the
language. A bientôt!
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Even
my French boyfriend was impressed by how much French I had
learnt in such a short space of time.
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Click
here for more information about all Michel
Thomas French language courses.
Michel Thomas is the world-famous language guru, who has taught
the stars to speak another language in record time. He has taken
his ground-breaking audio-only technique and put it on CD and cassette
for us all to enjoy. There is a beginner
8-hour Michel Thomas language course available in French, German,
Italian and Spanish and then a follow-on intermediate
2-hour Michel Thomas Language Builder available in the same
languages. He has recently released Michel
Thomas Advanced language courses in French, German and Spanish.
Click here for more information about all Michel
Thomas language courses.
Click
here for more information about the best and most innovative French
language courses.
If
you require any further information, please contact
us.
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