Customer Reviews
Fills out some gaps once you're more fluent - By: Tim Higgins, 11 Dec 2007 
I commented on a previous review, then realised I hadn't reviewed this myself, despite giving 5 stars to both the Advanced course & 4 to the Foundation course. The reason I forgot was that I DID look over this BEFORE I used the Advanced course, having bought them together, & this being shorter. Wait, in my opinion. This Language Builder is where Thomas goes over many useful & common words & phrases VERY quickly, so there's a lot in the 2 hours. Using the booklet helps a lot, as you can read what you're hearing & visualise it.
A problem I'm seeing in some reviews is that some seem to have missed the Advanced course, which does cover past & future tenses very well. The lack of emphasis on 'tu' against 'vous' is due to the method here, in that Thomas tries to get you to hear similarities in spoken French for simplicity, & points out how the 'tu' form almost always follows the sound of the third person, so can be quickly deduced for speaking. For better grammar/ written French, you DO need more.
I decided to wait until I finished the Advanced course, then gain more from this once I had more confidence. If you're not confident enough, the speed will overwhelm you, & it needs to be paused & revised well, in sensible chunks. NEVER try it alll at one sitting!
5 stars again, since I just think Thomas had the best method for efficiently mastering spoken language. Pity he's no longer with us to further his material! A great man & a genius - I must read the story of his life in the French Resistance. See my other reviews on the other courses.
Ça vaut la peine de le faire, mais.... - By: jamesewan, 24 Apr 2007 
This language building CD is great as long as you are not under the delusion that you will attain anything other than some very useful expressions. These tools are only effective as an aid to more conventional teaching / speaking environments, they are obviously not sufficient on their own. One problem I have with Michel Thomas is that he only gives you the formal 'Vous' structures, which is fine if you are taking to strangers but less useful when talking in informal contexts - in which case you would have to find out how to conjugate into the second person as it is not given here. I am currently living in France, with my bilingual fiancée, & she has expressed doubt at some of the expressions given which she feels are a little old-fashioned & not idiomatic enough. Therefore you may find in France that although these CDs give you some good structures to start a conversation, you will be baffled by the responses. Thomas touches some of the collocations in speech but nothing will prepare you for the speed of modern spoken French. Absolute immersion is obviously the key but it depends on what level you want to attain. For adding to your repertoire of vocabulary & expressions this is a fantastic tool although I would second a former reviewer's criticism that this doesn't begin to tackle the past tense.
Michel is Marvellous - By: Mrs J M Ashton, 05 Jan 2006 I have just read a review from one of your customers who does not rate the Michel Thomas Language Builder as very good at alll. I think it is just the opposite & has helped me enormously. I have lived in France now for just over one year, am in my 60s, & alll my French friends tell me that I have improved enormously over the past few months - due, I believe, to the Michel Thomas Language Builder which has built on my previous knowledge of the language. To me he is like Alistair Cooke the "Letter from America" genius explaining everything very slowly & succinctly so that it makes good sense to idiots like me !! Thank you.
WARNING!! - By: Andrew R Kent, 09 Jul 2004 
Firstly, let me say I am a huge fan of the Michel Thomas method, & found his 8-hr French course an absolute joy. This Language Builder, however, is not what you might be expecting. The 8-hr course is lacking in two basic things - simple vocabulary (bread, apple, up, down, one, two, etc) & the past tense. It is touched on very swiftly towards the end of the final tape, but only with can/could, want/wanted & must/had to. I was hoping that the Language Builder would continue with more of the same teaching method & fill in these two missing areas. Unfortunately not - it is simply Michel reading out a phrase book, & very quickly at that. Without your finger on the pause button, it is very difficult to follow - which makes it impossible to use doing the housework, or driving the car. Michel's method in the 8-hr course is completely ignored, there is no variety of examples, & you need to listen over & over, doing exactly what you are not supposed to - memorising & learning by rote. I'm not saying it's a bad course - but it's nothing like the 8-hr tapes. If you think it's going to be, be prepared for a disappointment.
worked for me - By: , 11 Jun 2004 The bloke's a genius. This is a fast & furious follow up to the 8 cd course which refreshes & adds to what you've done so far. I then went to france & impressed alll my french friends & relatives with my new found language skills!!! Don't hesitate to get this.
