Berlitz General Discussion
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 4:43 pm
Berlitz General Discussion
The Berlitz language courses are of only passing mention here on the Language Learners’ forum (LLORG) and on the How-To-Learn-Any-Language forum (HTLAL). By way of contrast, Assimil, Linguaphone, Living Language, Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, and the FSI/DLI courses appear much more frequently. Perhaps the main reasons are that (a), for the most part, the numerous products offered by Berlitz serve the purpose of phrase books, language guides, and very basic introductions to an array of the more popular languages, and (b) the organisation itself operates more as a language school than it does as a publisher language courses. Nevertheless, a few of their self-study language courses have received favourable reviews over the years and, as member n_j_f has recently rekindled my interest in a few of these courses, I thought that other members might wish to explore them via a general discussion thread. First, a couple of useful links:
Berlitz Corporation -- Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlitz_Corporation
Berlitz (U.S.)
https://www.berlitz.us/
Berlitz German Coast Guard Trainee - YouTube
While this publicity video is not germane to the discussion, I could not resist sharing it.
Reviews and Discussions of Berlitz Courses
Several decades ago, I became familiar with the “Berlitz Self-Teacher” course book (without audio) and the “Berlitz Comprehensive” (with audio) introductory courses. Although my motivation to learn French and German was high at the time, I did not respond well to the teaching style. Several decades later, I came across Professor Arguelle’s reviews which inspired me to add a few of these courses to my own collection.
Berlitz Foreign Language Learning Series Reviews - YouTube
Berlitz 2 Foreign Language Learning Series Reviews - YouTube
Berlitz’s Think and Talk XXXX - HTLAL – April, 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38570&PN=12
Perhaps the most extensively-reviewed Berlitz course on the HTLAL was their “Think & Talk” series. James29’s opening comments, supported by Professor Arguelle’s review, prompted me to purchase both levels of the “Think & Talk German” series and, despite my previous doubts concerning their method, I would now say that this series was well-conceived, most particularly the second level. As doubts persist concerning the continued viability of the HTLAL, I have taken the liberty, without permission, to copy/paste James29’s opening remarks.
“A long time ago Berlitz made some beginner courses entirely in the target language. Very early on I listened to the first tape of the Spanish course which I found at my local library. I listened to it over and over and over again and loved it. The library only had the first tape and I could never find any more despite much searching. I cannot find these courses on Amazon or mentioned anywhere.
Now I am looking at the French course. I found the French course under it's Spanish name "Piense en Frances... Hable en Frances" when I was looking for French learning material for Spanish speakers.
I think they are very old courses. The audio "feels" like the audio from Assimil's "without toil" era. I am surprised that I have never seen these courses discussed here on this forum because they seem very interesting, useful, effective and fun. Plus they are for absolute beginners and are entirely in the target language.
The courses can be used as all-audio, but the French course also has an indepth book (several hundred pages) that is entirely in French (except the introduction and basic instructions on how to use the book). I only had the first hour of the Spanish course but the audio obviously took the same approach as the French course. I have only listened to the first French lesson (about 8 minutes). There are 50 lessons in the French course which must amount to roughly 5-7 hours of audio.
I am interested to hear if anyone has started a language with one of these courses and if it was as good as it looks to me. Is this course as good as it looks for a beginner? It looks to me like a great all-audio substitute for Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, etc.
I am drawn to these course because they are very interesting and fun. Each lesson has a "scene" in which people speak entirely in the target language. There are "sound effects" and tons of non-verbal audio cues that help the learner understand the meaning. It is really fun to listen entirely in the target language and learn. You need to listen to each lesson several times to understand it, but it really seems to work.
For example, almost five years later I still remember some of the things from the Spanish course. They'd have a man with a squeaky voice say "soy un hombre pequeño" (I'm a small man) and then a man in a big bellowing voice say "soy un hombre grande" (I am a large man). You would hear women say something similar so you could piece everything together. Another time they would have someone say "tengo poco dinero"(I have a little bit of money) and you would hear two coins drop and make a pathetically small amount of noise. Then they would say "señor Rockefeller tiene MUCHO dinero"(Mr. Rockefeller has a lot of money) and you would hear an avalanche of money.
In the first lesson of the French course you hear someone talking about pets and you hear a dog bark and a cat meow, etc. You also hear someone counting the gongs of a clock striking noon and you learn the numbers and how to say hours, etc. They talk about cars and say "Chevrolet is an American car", "Toyota is a Japanese car", "Peugeot is a French car". It is really cool. The first few times through you simply listen and try to figure out what they are saying. All of the clues build on each other. There are prompts where they ask you to repeat and/or answer a question. After a few runs through each lesson you actually understand it and can respond. The French book has all the scenes written out and uses drawings to explain what is going on. It has exercises also. It is very basic beginning French and everything is in French.
Am I the only person that has seen these courses? Why don't we see them discussed here on this forum as a beginner course/substitute for Pimsleur and Michel Thomas? Has anyone used them extensively? Maybe they are not as good as I think and that is the problem? I am contemplating using the French course and, if I do, I will report back.”
The Berlitz language courses are of only passing mention here on the Language Learners’ forum (LLORG) and on the How-To-Learn-Any-Language forum (HTLAL). By way of contrast, Assimil, Linguaphone, Living Language, Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, and the FSI/DLI courses appear much more frequently. Perhaps the main reasons are that (a), for the most part, the numerous products offered by Berlitz serve the purpose of phrase books, language guides, and very basic introductions to an array of the more popular languages, and (b) the organisation itself operates more as a language school than it does as a publisher language courses. Nevertheless, a few of their self-study language courses have received favourable reviews over the years and, as member n_j_f has recently rekindled my interest in a few of these courses, I thought that other members might wish to explore them via a general discussion thread. First, a couple of useful links:
Berlitz Corporation -- Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlitz_Corporation
Berlitz (U.S.)
https://www.berlitz.us/
Berlitz German Coast Guard Trainee - YouTube
While this publicity video is not germane to the discussion, I could not resist sharing it.
Reviews and Discussions of Berlitz Courses
Several decades ago, I became familiar with the “Berlitz Self-Teacher” course book (without audio) and the “Berlitz Comprehensive” (with audio) introductory courses. Although my motivation to learn French and German was high at the time, I did not respond well to the teaching style. Several decades later, I came across Professor Arguelle’s reviews which inspired me to add a few of these courses to my own collection.
Berlitz Foreign Language Learning Series Reviews - YouTube
Berlitz 2 Foreign Language Learning Series Reviews - YouTube
Berlitz’s Think and Talk XXXX - HTLAL – April, 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38570&PN=12
Perhaps the most extensively-reviewed Berlitz course on the HTLAL was their “Think & Talk” series. James29’s opening comments, supported by Professor Arguelle’s review, prompted me to purchase both levels of the “Think & Talk German” series and, despite my previous doubts concerning their method, I would now say that this series was well-conceived, most particularly the second level. As doubts persist concerning the continued viability of the HTLAL, I have taken the liberty, without permission, to copy/paste James29’s opening remarks.
“A long time ago Berlitz made some beginner courses entirely in the target language. Very early on I listened to the first tape of the Spanish course which I found at my local library. I listened to it over and over and over again and loved it. The library only had the first tape and I could never find any more despite much searching. I cannot find these courses on Amazon or mentioned anywhere.
Now I am looking at the French course. I found the French course under it's Spanish name "Piense en Frances... Hable en Frances" when I was looking for French learning material for Spanish speakers.
I think they are very old courses. The audio "feels" like the audio from Assimil's "without toil" era. I am surprised that I have never seen these courses discussed here on this forum because they seem very interesting, useful, effective and fun. Plus they are for absolute beginners and are entirely in the target language.
The courses can be used as all-audio, but the French course also has an indepth book (several hundred pages) that is entirely in French (except the introduction and basic instructions on how to use the book). I only had the first hour of the Spanish course but the audio obviously took the same approach as the French course. I have only listened to the first French lesson (about 8 minutes). There are 50 lessons in the French course which must amount to roughly 5-7 hours of audio.
I am interested to hear if anyone has started a language with one of these courses and if it was as good as it looks to me. Is this course as good as it looks for a beginner? It looks to me like a great all-audio substitute for Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, etc.
I am drawn to these course because they are very interesting and fun. Each lesson has a "scene" in which people speak entirely in the target language. There are "sound effects" and tons of non-verbal audio cues that help the learner understand the meaning. It is really fun to listen entirely in the target language and learn. You need to listen to each lesson several times to understand it, but it really seems to work.
For example, almost five years later I still remember some of the things from the Spanish course. They'd have a man with a squeaky voice say "soy un hombre pequeño" (I'm a small man) and then a man in a big bellowing voice say "soy un hombre grande" (I am a large man). You would hear women say something similar so you could piece everything together. Another time they would have someone say "tengo poco dinero"(I have a little bit of money) and you would hear two coins drop and make a pathetically small amount of noise. Then they would say "señor Rockefeller tiene MUCHO dinero"(Mr. Rockefeller has a lot of money) and you would hear an avalanche of money.
In the first lesson of the French course you hear someone talking about pets and you hear a dog bark and a cat meow, etc. You also hear someone counting the gongs of a clock striking noon and you learn the numbers and how to say hours, etc. They talk about cars and say "Chevrolet is an American car", "Toyota is a Japanese car", "Peugeot is a French car". It is really cool. The first few times through you simply listen and try to figure out what they are saying. All of the clues build on each other. There are prompts where they ask you to repeat and/or answer a question. After a few runs through each lesson you actually understand it and can respond. The French book has all the scenes written out and uses drawings to explain what is going on. It has exercises also. It is very basic beginning French and everything is in French.
Am I the only person that has seen these courses? Why don't we see them discussed here on this forum as a beginner course/substitute for Pimsleur and Michel Thomas? Has anyone used them extensively? Maybe they are not as good as I think and that is the problem? I am contemplating using the French course and, if I do, I will report back.”