I wanted to get every ones thoughts on the teach yourself series "Complete" previously known as Teach yourself (Language Name)
The books claim to bring learners to a B2 level. After completing the series for Norwegian, I moved on to a B1-B2 book Stein Pa Stein and felt it was definitley more difficult. I am already half way through Complete Italian I am no where near what I would think was a B level even though the chapters are telling me the type of level the things they teach are (for example: being able to give and take directions with a map is "B2" according to chapter 14.)
What does everything else think? Is the B2 claim misleading?
Listen, I don't know about this particular course, but these sorts of claims are generally ludicrous and preposterous. Don't give heed to them. With these kinds of self teaching courses you're not even discovering the tip of the iceberg: you're just being vaguely informed that there is an iceberg somewhere...
In my opinion, they have to be considered as an introduction to the language, nothing more.
I agree with what "drrdn" says.
Any person or persons can put together a "language course" .
Language is such a vast and extensive thing that one could put together all kinds of written material and call it "lessons".
The problem comes when somenone tries to remember what their lessons taught them.
What any "canned" program can do, is lay a foundation. I think that the real learning takes place when a student "adds to" their canned lessons with other learning experiences. So the subject becomes a matter of whether or not the canned programs are worth the price you pay, just to create a foundation of knowledge.
What we know factually, is that much language study material is already published for free on the Internet. Certainly this is true for English. It may not be entirely true for other languages.
Some language programs may be reasonably priced.
