Foundation Swedish (Learn Swedish with the Michel Thomas Method)

'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 Swedish naturally and unforgettably without strain or stress
* Learn from listening and speaking, without the pressure of writing or memorizing
* Build up your Swedish in manageable steps by thinking out answers for yourself

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 Roger Nyborg and Håkan Rosenqvist 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 20-30 hours. By the end of the course, you will understand and have the confidence to speak basic Swedish.

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 Swedish language learning journey. It is not intended to get you perfectly fluent, but it will get you speaking and using Swedish, 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?*

Foundation Swedish includes 8 audio course CDs. The booklet is available to download from www.michelthomas.com.

LEARN ANYWHERE!

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.

Roger Nyborg has taught Swedish as a second language for over 30 years at different institutions including Stockholm University, Hull University and UCL. As a lecturer, he has trained teachers and given talks in Europe, Australia and America. He has published several courses for learning Swedish, including print coursebooks, a grammar and a course for Swedish radio. When he is not teaching, Roger plays the guitar and the accordion in a band.

Håkan Rosenqvist has taught Swedish for more than 40 years, to immigrants and university students, as a lecturer abroad and moreover in Swedish teacher training programmes. He has published material such as a course book on Swedish prepositions (Prepositionsboken), a pronunciation manual (Uttalsboken), a course in Swedish syntax (Syntaxboken). He is managing the oral part of the Swedish language academic entrance test, named Tisus, given twice a year at Swedish universities and at a number of institutions around the world.

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.