Prime Ways - Language Reviews

Language Reviews

Learning languages has never been easier today with the vast improvement over school methods of "listening and repeating" To learn a language you must understand its structure and its verb system. Once you can do this then adding vocabulary to your knowledge, becomes simple. You cannot learn a language by memorizing it!

This week we are reviewing the Assimil "With Ease" Series

French	German	Spanish	Italian
Assimil language books have been around since the early 1900's and have maintained a high standard in language learning. Each book consists of 100 or so short lessons in the target language with the English translation conveniently written opposite. There are also notes to explain some words and phrases as well as a phonetic section underneath the main text to help with your pronunciation. The dialogues are interesting and lively and incorporate cultural information. These courses do take at least 6 months to complete and achieve B2 level of the Framework For European Languages The learning structure consists of two phases, a Passive phase whereby you read, listen and learn the lesson of the day. After 50 or so lessons the Active phase begins whereby you do a Passive lesson then you go back to the first lesson, listen to it again, cover the translation and translate it yourself. Once you reach the Active phase you will be spending an hour a day on this. Its well worth the effort. I have completed French and Italian Assimils' and I'm very comfortable in both languages. I have just started the Spanish and German courses and will report back on those ones. There are Assimil language books for other languages which you will find in main review pages of this site.

If you purchase the Introductory course you can claim a refund when you upgrade to the foundation course.

This week we are reviewing the highly popular and effective Michel Thomas range. See our language reviews for the rest of the range. We found some videos for you to find out a bit more.

I strongly recommend Michel Thomas courses first, if you are completely new to the language.

Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!

The Michel Thomas method is unique and very addictive. For French there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners), Advanced, Language Builders (Vocabulary) and a second vocabulary course. The method is simple in that Michel breaks down the language and feeds it to you in small bits, asking you to say a particular sentence each time. After just a short while you will find yourself speaking French confidently and naturally through understanding not memory. The Michel Thomas method has only been mainstream for the last 10 years, previously it was only accessible to the super rich who paid around $18,000 for lessons with the great man. The only downside to this are the two students he uses in the courses. They are learning from scratch too and can be incredibly annoying at times! The courses are all audio. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!

Another excellent course from the Michel Thomas range. By the time you reach advanced you are speaking German! For German there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners), Advanced, Language Builders (Vocabulary) and a second vocabulary course. This is not parrot learning of phrases but actually learning structure and formulating your own sentences! Michel Thomas is especially suited to those who struggle with language learning. He makes it so easy! The courses are all audio. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

	Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!
	The Italian series by Michel Thomas is another extremely popular and effective course which is again taught in small pieces and gradually build up. For Italian there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners), Advanced, Language Builders (Vocabulary) and a second vocabulary course. After just an hour you will yourself being able to say long and fluent sentences. The Michel Thomas method has only been mainstream for the last 10 years, previously it was only accessible to the super rich who paid around $18,000 for lessons with the great man. You will understand why when you use it! Again though the students can be annoying but its all part of the learning experience and is truly wonderful. The courses are all audio. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!

The last course produced by the great man himself. This has to be his most popular course and we can totally recommend it for anyone wanting to speak Spanish. For Spanish there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners), Advanced, Language Builders (Vocabulary) and a second vocabulary course. Although he focuses on Latin American Spanish, he does teach you about the different pronunciations you will encounter in Spanish speaking countries. This is not parrot learning of phrases but actually learning structure and formulating your own sentences! Michel Thomas is especially suited to those who struggle with language learning. He makes it so easy! The courses are all audio and are expensive to buy on CD. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

Italian (Review)

Japanese (Review)

Spanish (Review)

French (Review)

German (Review)

Chinese (Review)

Hot Items

 See our language reviews for more of the Smart series