Michel Thomas, Michel Thomas Foundation Course: French

The Michel Thomas Foundation level French course is a fantastic course with an excellent method. The foundation course is suitable for those completely new to French or for those who have done a little before but need a refresher.

The format is Michel Thomas teaching two students, with you as the third. He asks them to answer questions, which you have to answer yourself first by pausing the CD. This is a useful format, as any mistakes you make yourself are usually replicated by the students and then explained by Michel.

He takes a very clear and unique approach to teaching you the material, with the emphasis on listening, understanding and then creating your own sentences with no writing down. He gives you the essential building blocks of grammar (although stays away from any grammatical 'school-like' terminology in favour of building an understanding of how it is actually used in language) and it is very enjoyable to progress in this way, by realising you can quickly construct meaningful sentences in French.

The version I purchased included a Review CD, which was a very useful addition and really increased the value of the package. It is basically an overview of each key section, with Michel reading certain phrases in English which you have to repeat in French, then he repeats the phrase in French for you to check if you were correct. There is also a handy index booklet included to help you return to the original course if you need to review a section.

I would absolutely recommend this course to anyone who wants to either start learning French or wants to pick it up again after a long absence. It may be a bit basic for anyone with more than a basic understanding of French but is still a very good introduction to Michel's method and useful if you want to progress to any of his more advanced courses.