I've discovered Pimsleur language courses surfing the Web (I live in Italy, and they are not available in the bookstores). Languages study is my hobby and before knowing Pimsleur I wasted a lot of money in books and tapes with any results. I learned German and Spanish with Pimsleur and I'm fluent in both languages.
I've studied Chinese for two years with a tutor's help (very expensive) and I dare say I learned more with this Pimsleur Chinese Cantonese course and with less pain than with a qualified teacher.
This set is expensive, but shop around for teachers and ask for fees!!!
Moreover you can choose when and where to study provided you have available a cassette or a Cd player.
The snag is that after the 30 lessons you need to continue your study and unfortunately so far they haven't published set 2 and 3 (available in German, French, Spanish, etc....).

A Worthy Investment, June 23, 2004

I originally started learning Cantonese when I was little, since my parents are both native speakers. But over the years I used the language less and less, until we only spoke English at home. Sadly, as much as I am able to understand in Cantonese, my speaking and pronounciation are not where they should be. After I convinced my parents to look into the Pimsleur Method, they agreed to buy the course for my sister and me. With just one lesson, I am happy to say that it did not disappoint me and my levels of tones have greatly improved. The only drawback I find is that the lessons are more formal that what I'm used to hearing and the accents of the Cantonese speakers are extremely thick. Overall, this style of learning a language is much more effective than others out there.

Awful to the ears of a Cantonese native!, May 30, 2004

As a Cantonese native speaker born and raised in Hong Kong, I find the recording (the conversations, tones and ways the speakers speak) unnatural, not authentic and to sum up in one word: awful!
I felt embarassed as a native Cantonese speaker when I listened to the tapes as the recording sounded ridiculous to me. The expressions used in the recording are dated and are from,I guess, the generation of our grandparents. And the way the speakers speak... I would say you won't hear genuine Cantonese native speakers talk like that in realistic conversation in Hong Kong (well perhaps in Canton they talk like that?!)
Perhaps the way the speakers speak (their tempo and intonation etc.) is good for pedagogical sake, that's fine. Just wanna warn those who would like to have "a taste of Cantonese" that Cantonese doesn't sound that awful and ridiculous in real life. Rest assured and go ahead if you want to learn Cantonese, though probably not with this Pimsleur program, Cantonese doesn't sound that ugly at all in real life!

The best to give you a taste of Cantonese, May 28, 2004

This is the best program to begin learning Cantonese. The recordings in this set will mainly give you just the taste of Cantonese, or rather if you considered learning Cantonese hard and even impossible, this program will convince you that you can learn Cantonese easily.

Yes, you will definitely want to continue with Pimsleur's Cantonese I. If you're committed to learning Cantonese, you may as well just go and get Cantonese I, since all the lessons in this package are repeated in Cantonese I.

Simply the Best, February 3, 2004

You will not find a better language course than Pimsleur. I've tried several other courses for Cantonese and struggled with them without really learning much. Since Pimsleur focuses on pronounciation and speaking, you really get into the language itself, without having to learn someone's system of writing tones and vowels. My Chinese wife and her family tell me I speak without an accent.

The only way to learn Chinese., July 3, 2003
Reviewer: A reader
If you want to learn Chinese, forget writing. That is a totally separate slow, tedious process that may or may not reward you depending on your diligence. To learn to speak such a language as Cantonese you really have to focus a lot on listening and mimicing native pronunciation. I know this because I already had basic speaking ability of Cantonese having grown up in Australia to Chinese parents. Changing the tone of a word slightly can effect the meaning entirely so it is really good to listen to the Pimsleur CDs to check my own pronunciation and knowledge. Even though I knew alot of the stuff on most of the CDs, I felt that my fluency improved a great deal and I was able to build up my vocabulary. After each CD you can really feel slight progress, especially if you take some time between dialogues and substitute the words on the CDs for different ones. Maybe from a dictionary or something.

These CDs are really great for learning Cantonese but I really think they are too expensive. I would buy all the sets plus other languages if they were cheaper. Oh well, gotta keep saving! It would also help to have some easy vocabulary printed in Chinese characters to help visual recognition in case you need it when you travel. There is a vocabulary list for the Spanish CDs so I don't know why they haven't included one for these CDs.

I would really recommend this package to anyone wanting to learn the Chinese languages and to people like myself who speak Chinese at home but have low confidence in speaking to others in public. It has really boosted my confidence and I can't wait until the next time I go to Hong Kong and road test my communication abilities!!

As Usual - Great Program; Excellent Teaching Method, June 30, 2002

Reviewer:

L. Curtis "Millicent Y. Curtis" (Memphis, Tennessee)

Of all of the languages that I've learned so far, Cantonese is the most difficult. Pimsleur makes learning such a complex language enjoyable and stimulating. I really like the way the narrator goes into detail about the Cantonese word order and the variety of tones associated when speaking the language. So far, my progress has been excellent. When I speak the small amount of Cantonese that I've learned, people tell me that I sound like a native speaker. Who knows, I might even purchase the Mandarin in order to be knowledgeable of both Chinese dialects. I think that anyone considering to study an Asian language should definitely try the Pimsleur Chinese programs. It would give that person such an advantage to a complex language.

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.

Also, as much as I love Pimsleur courses, they're still wildly expensive, even with Amazon's sometimes-substantial discounts. (...)