About the Book
'The thrill is that you're actually figuring it out on your own. You're engaging with another language, not just parroting it... It's an excellent way to start, and leaves the listener thinking, Hey, Ich kann do dis.' - New Yorker, David Sedaris, humorist and author, on learning German with the Michel Thomas Method
Looking for a convenient language course that fits your lifestyle and gets you speaking a new language in a matter of weeks, not years? The original no-books, no-homework, no-memorizing method is in tune with the way the brain prefers to receive, store and retrieve information. You'll stick with it because you'll love it.
* Pick up Japanese naturally and unforgettably without strain or stress
* Learn from listening and speaking, without the pressure of writing or memorizing
* Build up your Japanese in manageable steps by thinking out answers for yourself
* Progress to the full Foundation Japanese course with confidence in the method.
WHY IS THE METHOD SO SUCCESSFUL?
'What you understand, you know; and what you know, you don't forget.' - Michel Thomas
Before there was machine learning, there was Michel Thomas. For over 50 years he worked on decoding languages by breaking them down into their most essential component parts. These 'building blocks' are introduced to the learner sequentially in such a way that you reconstruct the language for yourself - to form your own sentences, to say what you want, when you want. This unique method draws on the principles of instructional psychology and works with the way your brain prefers to receive, store and retrieve information. Knowledge is structured and organized so that you absorb the language easily and don't forget it. The method is designed to eliminate the stress which prevents you from relaxing and allowing the brain to work in the way which accepts learning in a seemingly painless, very exciting and highly motivating way.
HOW DO THE COURSES WORK?
'All stress inhibits true and effective learning' - Michel Thomas
During the course, you will join Michel Thomas Method Teachers Helen Gilhooly and Niamh Kelly, and two students in a live lesson, learning from both their successes and their mistakes to keep you motivated and involved throughout the course. You, as the learner, become the third student and participate actively in the class. Within the very first hour you will be able to construct simple phrases by listening and thinking out answers for yourself without the pressure of writing or stress of having to memorize. You will learn at your own pace, pausing and repeating where necessary, and complete the course in about 3-5 hours.
WHAT WILL I ACTUALLY ACHIEVE?
'I am the architect who builds the house. It's up to you to decorate it.' - Michel Thomas
The Michel Thomas Method will help you kick-start, continue, and flourish in your Japanese language learning journey. It is not intended to get you perfectly fluent, but it will get you speaking and using Japanese, with proper pronunciation, faster than most any other method. It is designed to give you a strong foundation and good working knowledge of a language from which you can expand and later 'add decoration' to. It is a rapid method for learning, but still requires effort and concentration on the part of the learner.
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE COURSE?*
Start Japanese includes one audio CD. The booklet is available to download from www.michelthomas.com.
LEARN ANYWHERE AND ANYTIME!
Reclaim your pockets of free time to learn a new language! Don't be tied to chunky books or your computer, Michel Thomas Method audio courses let you learn whenever and wherever you want, in as little or as much time as you have.
WHERE DO I GO NEXT?
Foundation Japanese follows on from the Start course.
Table of Contents:
: pronunciation of Japanese sound structure
: -masu (verbal ending for affirmative verbs) tabemasu, nomimasu, shimasu, yomimasu, kakimasu, kaimasu, hanashimasu (I, s/he, you, we, they eat/ drink, do, read, write, buy, speak)
: shigoto o shimasu postposition o, placed after the object of the verb
: kyou/ ashita time expressions
: tokidoki (sometimes) as verbal quantifier
: yomimasu soshite kakimasu, with soshite as sentence joining conjunction
: nani + ka (what do you ......?)
: desu copula
: nan desu ka (what is it?) / doko desu ka (where is it?) / itsu desu ka (when is it?) / dare desu ka (who is it?)
: kore/ sore/ are/ kare/ kanojo pronouns and their use
: wa as topic marker
: omoshiroi / oishii / nemui adjectives (interesting / delicious)
: -masen (verbal ending for negative verbs) mimasu
: -masen ka (won’t you watch/ eat/ read/ .....?)
: nanimo + masen (do/eat, write etc nothing)
: verbal quantifiers amari / zenzen + masen (rarely/ never do etc)
: kara (because .......)
: ga conjunction (....but.....)
: mashou / mashou ka (let’s / shall we .....?)
: ikimasu/ kimasu/ kaerimasu (go, come, return- verbs of motion)
: ni postposition following a destination .. ni ikimasu (go to .....) / doko ni ikimasu ka (where do you go to?)
: doshite+ka (why do you...?)
: to (together with my friend, I ....)
About the Author :
Helen Gilhooly worked for 25 years as a Japanese teacher and languages director in secondary education, and for 10 years as a teacher trainer at Nottingham University. She continues to write Japanese language teaching materials and to audio-edit Michel Thomas language courses.
Niamh Kelly is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics in Dublin City University, where she has taught Japanese language and translation for over 20 years. She has lived and worked in Japan.
Michel Thomas (1914-2005) had an amazing life. Born in Poland, he spent his early years in Germany and then in France, where he studied psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. When war broke out, he fought with the Resistance and suffered imprisonment in labour camps. At the end of the war he joined the US liberation army and later settled in the US where he established his world-famous language school. Languages, being his strength and passion became the focus of the next 50 years of his life that he spent developing a method that he hoped would change the way we teach and learn - so that everyone could succeed. He developed this method 'that works with the brain'. After creating several courses of his own, he passed on his method so that other teachers might use it too.
Review :
'The thrill is that you're actually figuring it out on your own. You're engaging with another language, not just parroting it... It's an excellent way to start, and leaves the listener thinking, Hey, Ich kann do dis.' - New Yorker
I've used Michel Thomas to get off the starting block for French, Italian and Spanish and I'm always surprised by how much I can say after only a few hours of listening. The Michel Thomas Italian course organises verbs into logical groups which helps you pick them up fast. And perhaps more importantly, it shows you how to use this grammar to build useful sentences. - Joyoflanguages.com
I experienced the same sort of pleasure that you got from suddenly getting a crossword clue right or cracking a code...the finger-snapping moment of, Oh My God! I've just understood what you've said to me in Spanish or you've just understood me!
The most extraordinary learning experience of my life
Thomas makes it simple - Sunday Times
Works like a dream - Daily Telegraph
Michel Thomas is a precious find indeed - Guardian
Five minutes in and you already feel like you're winning - Time Out
