a few tips, November 27, 2001

I'm currently using Pimsleur to learn Japanese and Cantonese, and I'm thrilled with my progress. Pimsleur has a truly effective system for learning language painlessly and effectively.

I've noticed, though, that on many Pimsleur reviews here on Amazon, people say they needed to listen to each tape 4-5 times before they felt they knew the material. Fortunately, that's not necessary. Here's how to make equal progress on just one listening: Each time you're prompted to come up with an answer on your own, *stop the tape* and give yourself time to think before you get interrupted by the soundtrack. If the tape gives you the answer before you've come up with an answer yourself, you haven't learned anything.

(...)

After pim1 and 2..., October 24, 2001

I say no more. I would have bought pim3 but as I come to the end of pim2 Japanese, I think I will find another path. I do these lessons everyday, I work hard at it. Some say this method is too repetitive. Well, yes, but many important things are skimmed over, barely covered. And some very simple things are thrown in your face every single lesson. If only I could find a live online site with tutors, I'd pay money for that. Lucky for me I have several other progs I havent really used yet, like complete japanese and the living language stuff. At least those will keep me into it until I find a tutor or something that really works.

Best intermediate course, May 28, 2001

Ok. Even Pimsleur III won't get you very far, is expensive as hell, and is somewhat cumbersome to work with. So the rest of this review will be about how in hell did I get to giving it five stars. There are several ways to go about when wanting to learn a language in an audio-only manner. You can get the "Learn in your car" from Penton Overseas. You can get the audio-only course from Living Language. Or you can take Pimsleur. From the lot, Pimsleur would be the ONLY decent answer for the utter beginner, and Pimsleur III will give the best stability with the language for beginner to intermediate level with the other options, you will find yourself replaying the tapes a couple of times. Does any language course that is a self learning course worth this kind of money? No. That's why we have the next paragraph.

Money. First of all, by all means get it used. It is an audio course that I recommend going through only once. So if you're lucky enough to find a CD version used, it will be exactly the same (of course - assuming that the seller is decent enough to sell unscratched CD-s). As for used audio cassettes, well, as much as we want to hear the correct pronounciation, we have to remember - this is not Mozart, it is only recorded speech. However even if you don't find it used, you can buy it, and after completing the course, sell it as used. As this is suitable for first time learning, and is too much for review purposes (perhaps the other audio-only courses will be better for review).

One last thing. Usability. I'll talk technology, but it's essential here. When I bought the heavy package, the first thing I've done was to move it to MP3. So then I had the entire audio collection on a single CD. In such a way you take a single disc to your car, play it with a mobile MP3 player, and stock the valuable course in your closet for backup. In that way, when you finish with the course, the originals stay in a good enough state to be sold as used. However, if you won't convert to MP3, the need to each time take another cassette/CD to your car would be a serious drawback, since storing the entire course in your car doesn't sound as a sensible alternative to me.

To wrap it up, buy it, MP3 it, learn it, sell it.

A Good Introduction to Japanese, September 30, 1999
Reviewer: A reader
I have covered all of the Pimsleur Japanese language tapes. I was initially satisfied with the Japanese tapes but then I listened to Pimsleur's Chinese tapes. Listening to those, I realized that there is far less of a systematized approach to the Pimsleur system than I had originally thought.

Japanese III is asking listeners to compose/repeat simple five word sentences. Furthermore there is insufficient reinforcement of some of the materials used in earlier sections. For example in Japanese II listeners learn how to use the rather complex phrase for asking someone to hand over something. However, after this expression is introduced in a few of the Japanese II tapes, it disappears into oblivion.

What particularly surprised this listener was that the sentences which students are expected to compose in the basic Pimsleur Chinese I tapes are far longer and more complex than the sentences which students are asked to compose in intermediate/advanced Japanese III. This reviewer feels that the Chinese phrases are too complex and the Japanese phrases are too simplistic. Thus Pimsleur is inconsistent.

I had greater expectations from Pimsleur. I still find that their stuff is the best audio material that is available but it is this reviewer's opinion that they do less than they claim to do. If you need to learn Japanese in a hurry, however; they will be a valuable help.