Michel Thomas Language Software Review

Michel Thomas Review

Michel Thomas is language course that is mainly based on audio lessons. It does come with a booklet and a visual review to reinforce learning but audio lessons remains to be its main methodology.

The course was developed by Michel Thomas a linguist whose career included teaching old Hollywood celebrities. The entire program runs for 24 hours of audio on CD and students are expected to learn and master the language by breaking down the language into its components and letting the students to reconstruct the language for themselves.

What’s included?

The course is audio heavy and it comes with a booklet. In the past the product only consisted of audio CDs and a transcription booklet, making it a tad boring by today’s multimedia standards. However, it now comes with a “Visual Learning” feature that contains interactive exercises for your PC or Mac.

The courses are divided into four levels (start, total, perfect and master class).  Each course contains an Audio CD which usually only usually runs for a few hours.

This also includes interactive exercises and a review course for PC or Mac but not available on Start (entry level course). Advanced courses (master class) are only available for French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Format

• CD/ DVD
• Booklet
• Mobile App
• Visual review and exercises

How does it work?

Michel Thomas method promises to teach students a new language without the need for memorizing and writing.  This is a tall order indeed since you have to at least build your vocabulary first by memorize before learning to combine this into sentences or phrases.

It emphasizes on audio learning. Courses are contained in Audio CDs. It claims to breakdown a certain language into its components allowing you to construct sentences for yourself.

This is done in a classroom atmosphere, where you listen to coaches and students and attempt to assimilate all the knowledge without memorizing or writing things down.

Michel Thomas now offers “Visual Learning” that includes interactive exercises and for the first time allows you to see the actual words. While it’s previous offering offers no attempt to even read a single word it now gives you the ability to not only speak but read a new language.

Costs

Its introductory course (start) goes for $14.95 and contains one hour of audio on CD. This goes up to $120 to $135 for its “total” and “perfect” courses. These contain 12 hours of audio on CD for “total” and 9 hours for “perfect.” It throws in “visual review” for both courses. “masterclass” goes for $75 and contain 2 hours of audio. All in all, the whole course costs $329.95 for 24 hours of audio.

This is certainly expensive compared to other languages courses which costs anywhere from $250 to $350 but contains tons of media (Audio CD, DVD, apps, booklets and online support) and that’s for a similar complete course (beginner to advanced).

Start $14.95 One hour of audio on CD - learn at home, in the car or on the move with your mp3 player

Total $120 - $135 Up to 12 hours of audio on CD, Visual review course and interactive exercises for PC or Mac, Over 2 hours of vocab help

Perfect $120 - $135 Up to 9 hours of audio on CD, Visual review course and interactive exercises for PC or Mac, Over 3 hours of vocab help

Masterclass $75 2 hours of audio on CD - learn at home, in the car or on the move with your mp3 player (only available for French, Italian, German, Spanish)

Bottom Line

Michel Thomas promises students a convenient method of learning a new language through a series of audio CDs. The method relies heavily on audios and only requires students to simply plug in wherever they are.

Listening is just one component of learning, some students may prefer visual cues to reinforce learning one thing which is sadly lacking in the program.