Now let’s talk about the materials available for self-learners.
The complete course costs about US$ 200 and the basic one about US$ 30. Does worth the price? Well, if you’re a disciplined person, sure. Linguaphone method follows this simple methodology: to listen,to understand and to speak.
There is more than one type of course, and you should be aware of the differences.
The aims those people who want learn the basics, contains 4 CDs and the vocabulary guide.
The series contains 16 CDs and a small vocabulary guide. Aims people who doesn’t have regular time to study and affirm take the learner to the intermediate level.
The PDQ and AllTalk series are the cheaper, but I do not recommend them. The older versions would be a much better purchase, but they are a little bit hard to find. The series below are currently the best courses from Linguaphone:
The and the 2nd Stage CD course; both courses claim take the student to the advanced/expert level. Besides the CDs they also have textbooks ad exercise books.
Positive aspects: you can study almost anywhere and covers multiple aspects of the language. The pronunciation is clear. Apparently, the older courses are better, so if you have the chance buy the books of the 50’s to 70’s.
Negative aspects: Learners describes that the new series like PDQ are for “tourist” type of student, as they not deepening in the main aspects of the language. Besides that, some students complain that isn’t an easy course for beginners and have a fast pace, with not enough repetition. It’s only available for the main languages. And the audio only courses aren’t good as the traditional material.
Teach Yourself series are available in several languages (60) and that is probably the series major quality. Compare to others methods it’s also cheaper, the price range between US$10-US$ 70, however some courses can be a little bit more expensive.