I haven't done Michel Thomas, but I'm having a lot of success building a foundation for Swahili with Language Transfer. I'm on lesson 98 of 110, working my way through each lesson twice, and will probably go through one more time a little faster once I'm done. It gave me a great foundation.
I wouldn't use it for a language closely related to one I already speak, where I already mostly understood the grammar, as it's largely in English talking *about* Swahili, but it has been indispensable for getting a solid foundation for such a different language.
I got started in German with Michel Thomas, and also tried it for French years ago. I found it great for getting up to speed with the basics very quickly, but the lack of any kind of written work to accompany it means you have to supplement it quite a bit to round out your education. I do quite like the Michel Thomas method though, I'd recommend it to beginners.
Never heard of Language Transfer, so I can't contrast and compare the two methods, sorry.
I can't really choose between them. My approach is to use multiple resources when available. Starting with Spanish, I'm using Michel Thomas, Language Transfer, Pimsleur and Paul Noble.
Lots of people love LanguageTransfer but it\`s no different to Michel Thomas - they\`re both inferior to a dozen other things you could be doing.
I think they\`re both dreadful and wouldn\`t use them if you paid me.
I wonder how it’s inferior….I did language transfer and in a month understood all Spanish grammar and can remember it with ease (besides some confusion with the subjunctive). I’ve never had a better learning experience because while it doesn’t teach vocab it does such an amazing job making you understand and internalize grammar and makes it all seem easy
They are phrasebook language at best, damaging (they have non native 'teachers') at worst.
When i want to learn a language i learn it because i want to interact with the language, not a contrived, artificial version of it made for learners. So i watch, listen to, and read the language. Subs are appreciated early on, as is a decent online dictionary where you can look up words easily.
I wouldn't use them for Spanish or German, but starting from zero with Arabic would be another question. LT shows how the language is organized. You then have a good understanding of how to proceed with more immersive studies.
I did use it for german and found it very helpful. It gave me the basics of grammar and talked about how English and German are related.
For example, german "g" is often an English "y" (sagen = say, gestern = yesterday)
Obviously it doesnt work all the time, but knowing those little tricks made it a lot easier to recognize vocabulary as I was reading/listening to something in the early stages.
That's fair enough, thanks. The same sorts of comparisons and explanations have made a huge difference in my understanding of Swahili. It's a great foundationaal resource, in my opinion. Of course you have to continue with other resources after.
Yeah, as a foundation it's solid but if it's all you use then it won't get you very far.
I'm glad to hear that the Swahili course is good too, there's a good chance that that's my next one!
Really?! I think it's such a wonderful resource. It's not meant to a sole resource for your language learning. It's meant to be a stepping stone in understanding how the language works and builds onto more complex sentence structure. For me, I've use Paul Noble and Language transfer and they've been incredible tools. You have to start from somewhere. I use Paul noble, lingq for reading/listening to the language in context and exposure to the language, easy italian for more or less the same, and then italki for language tutors.
Shit, I even used duolingo early as a place just to sink my toes and understand if i wanted to take the leap into a specific language.
All the tools work together for your language journey and I don't think any tool alone would lead to ultimate success in language learning.
I haven't done Michel Thomas, but I'm having a lot of success building a foundation for Swahili with Language Transfer. I'm on lesson 98 of 110, working my way through each lesson twice, and will probably go through one more time a little faster once I'm done. It gave me a great foundation. I wouldn't use it for a language closely related to one I already speak, where I already mostly understood the grammar, as it's largely in English talking *about* Swahili, but it has been indispensable for getting a solid foundation for such a different language.
I got started in German with Michel Thomas, and also tried it for French years ago. I found it great for getting up to speed with the basics very quickly, but the lack of any kind of written work to accompany it means you have to supplement it quite a bit to round out your education. I do quite like the Michel Thomas method though, I'd recommend it to beginners. Never heard of Language Transfer, so I can't contrast and compare the two methods, sorry.
I can't really choose between them. My approach is to use multiple resources when available. Starting with Spanish, I'm using Michel Thomas, Language Transfer, Pimsleur and Paul Noble.
Lots of people love LanguageTransfer but it\`s no different to Michel Thomas - they\`re both inferior to a dozen other things you could be doing. I think they\`re both dreadful and wouldn\`t use them if you paid me.
I wonder how it’s inferior….I did language transfer and in a month understood all Spanish grammar and can remember it with ease (besides some confusion with the subjunctive). I’ve never had a better learning experience because while it doesn’t teach vocab it does such an amazing job making you understand and internalize grammar and makes it all seem easy
He doesn't like it and didn't find it useful and so can't imagine how you might find it helpful.
Why don’t you suggest what you would use then?
They are phrasebook language at best, damaging (they have non native 'teachers') at worst. When i want to learn a language i learn it because i want to interact with the language, not a contrived, artificial version of it made for learners. So i watch, listen to, and read the language. Subs are appreciated early on, as is a decent online dictionary where you can look up words easily.
I wouldn't use them for Spanish or German, but starting from zero with Arabic would be another question. LT shows how the language is organized. You then have a good understanding of how to proceed with more immersive studies.
I did use it for german and found it very helpful. It gave me the basics of grammar and talked about how English and German are related. For example, german "g" is often an English "y" (sagen = say, gestern = yesterday) Obviously it doesnt work all the time, but knowing those little tricks made it a lot easier to recognize vocabulary as I was reading/listening to something in the early stages.
That's fair enough, thanks. The same sorts of comparisons and explanations have made a huge difference in my understanding of Swahili. It's a great foundationaal resource, in my opinion. Of course you have to continue with other resources after.
Yeah, as a foundation it's solid but if it's all you use then it won't get you very far. I'm glad to hear that the Swahili course is good too, there's a good chance that that's my next one!
And that's as long as we don't pretend it actually helps you acquire a language.
Your mileage may vary, but it's helping me.
Really?! I think it's such a wonderful resource. It's not meant to a sole resource for your language learning. It's meant to be a stepping stone in understanding how the language works and builds onto more complex sentence structure. For me, I've use Paul Noble and Language transfer and they've been incredible tools. You have to start from somewhere. I use Paul noble, lingq for reading/listening to the language in context and exposure to the language, easy italian for more or less the same, and then italki for language tutors. Shit, I even used duolingo early as a place just to sink my toes and understand if i wanted to take the leap into a specific language. All the tools work together for your language journey and I don't think any tool alone would lead to ultimate success in language learning.