When starting to learn a foreign language, the way for some methods seems to be to start with the specifics of the new language, and particularly its grammar which provides a foundation from which to build up. This method tries to frame an insider’s perspective.
Chancing upon Berlitz’s “intro” resources at the public library recently in order to refresh one of the Romance languages, the impression is it tries to flip the above method and approach. It starts with the perspective of an outsider: what would you need to know to get around in Rome, for example. Presumably technology has failed you and now you must ask.
Maybe this is why the circulating belief is that Berlitz is more suitable for dusting up fleeting past knowledge rather than for starting out as a complete beginner in a foreign language. Maybe that’s true, but maybe that’s true for all foreign language learning methods, in that once you have had a grasp on the language most methods would help to regain parts of that language. On the plus side, the Berlitz method is affordable and easy to access as it has been around for years and years and a free copy of most media formats can be found at any library.