Books : Michel Thomas Advanced Review Course Italian: Italian (Michel Thomas Series)

Rating: - Michel Thomas Advanced Review Course Italian
A worthwhile set of CDs if you want to learn another language and Michel Thomas seems a knowledgeable linguist but don't believe you'll be speaking like a native in a few short hours
I found some of the comments by my "fellow students" on the CD quite irritating as time went on as they seemed to stumble over the simplest tasks Michel asked them!

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Rating: - Just Michel and you!
This programme is a one CD distillation of the 5 hour advanced course (see my review below this paragraph, as it covers the same material). The advanced course covers all of the tenses in the Italian language and gives you the opportunity to practise. It is fantastic! However, there was always a problem that when you came to review the material you had to listen to the two students thinking out their answer (as the tapes were recorded real-time and not scripted). The editing process has removed the two students and just leaves Michel asking a question in English and then giving the answer in Italian. It is a fantastic resource for really over learning this material so that it becomes second nature and will improve your fluency. A recommendation to buy.

I read in the accompanying booklet that there will be a Vocabulary course introduced in March 2007, 3 CD's providing over a 1000 words with Native speakers. This will be a very welcome addition.


Advanced Course Review:-

This follow-on from the 8 hour course and two hour language builder course has lived up to expectations, it is excellent!

As the name of the course suggests it is designed for students that have either completed the first courses or acquired a grounding in Italian through other means. If you are an absolute beginner you should come back and purchase this course when you have picked up the basics, its not for you yet.

Michel uses the same technique as the 8 hour course, two students (one male and one female) and himself.

There isn't much new vocabulary in the course but what you do get is a thorough analysis and chance to practice quite advanced Italian grammar . He spends a long time going over the past tenses in Italian which were only lightly touched on in the first course. In addition, every students dread, the subjunctive, is covered in a way that I can only describe as brilliant. My fear of the subjunctive has now gone!

There is a small booklet that accompanies the course but there is no more than a summary of the course content on each disc so if you are looking for a written explanation of the grammar you would be better buying something like Italian Made Simple.

A word of warning for those looking for advanced vocabulary, there is not much in here. If you are familar with Italian grammar then you should buy other materials to improve your vocabulary but for intermediate learners this course is definitely good value for money and should be high on your list of Italian materials to buy!