 Pimsleur - by far the best foreigh language teaching method |
| Review Date: July 17, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Charlie, |
I've been trying to learn the German language for 1 1/2 years because my parent company is based in Germany and I speak/correspond with them almost daily. I've tried Hueber, Langenscheidt, PONS and Rosetta Stone courses, but even though I was averaging 2 to 4 hours a day studying the language, I found these courses tedious and never came to the point where I could actually say anything beyond "Guten Tag" on the telephone. After a week using the Pimsleur method, I was able to hold simple conversations with my German co-workers. The best thing about this course is I am able to listen to it on the way to work, while getting dressed for work, sunning at the pool, etc. I am spending far less time studying but I'm learning at a much, much faster pace.
I liked this course so much that I gave away my Rosetta Stone course, which cost a great deal of money, and I purchased the complete Pimsleur method (levels 1, 2, 3 and plus). A couple of my co-workers have borrowed my Pimsleur courses. I am currently mid-way through level 2 and I'm amazed at how quickly my vocabulary and understanding of the German language has increased. I now consider the hundreds (possibly thousands) of dollars I've spent on other language courses a complete waste of money and effort.
If I could give this course 100 stars, I would! In all fairness to the other courses, I have to say I did learn many words, but I could not form sentences correctly. It would take hours to compose a simple e-mail before and I could only do so if I had one of my German dictionaries beside me. Trying to speak to someone in German was impossible for me to do. I would never have believed I could learn so quickly. I am amazed. If you want to learn a foreign language - skip the other courses until after you've tried Pimsleur. I think some of the others are okay, but do the Pimsleur first. You'll understand the others much better. Other methods try to teach grammar first. But when you first learned to talk, you learned to speak it first - then you went to school to learn grammar. Summary: Get this course! |
If you are ready to learn German, this is the course for you!!
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| Review Date: July 26, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Kevin Deal, |
I took German in high school (30ish years ago) and was taught the way many of us have been taught...the ball, the bed, I am hungry,etc. but this course was a pleasant surprise. Basic conversational words and phrases are repeated and gradually built upon.
If you are sincere about brushing up on or learning German then this is the course for you! However, after doing the Conversational German, which is lessons 1 thru 15, I was hungry for more and bought the German 1 course. German 1 is lessons 1 thru 30+. So if you plan on getting serious, save your money and jump into German 1.
I was actually pleased with the fact that with the purchase of a German verb book, the Pimsleur courses really teach you basic conjugation without boring drills...ich bin, du bist and so forth.
With Pimsleur, you are getting what you pay for. An incrdible product!! |
Learning for "dummies"
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| Review Date: July 30, 2006 |
| Reviewer: L. Farestad, Madison, TN United States |
This has been and is great. It is taking me several reviews of each lesson to feel comfortable in speaking and not having to "think" of my response, but it just comes - which is amazing. The only drawback, is that sometimes the pronounciations seem to change, especially between the female speaker and the male speaker, and I'm not talking about the way you are to say a word, but when they break it down and then say it whole, the next time they say it is sounds different.
But, I would recommend this to anyone. I haven't listened to any other languages, but if I need to, I would go to the Pimsleur programs first. |
Great for the beginner!!
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| Review Date: March 20, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dugger, Ohio, USA |
| I was looking for something to get me started speaking German quickly, and this was the perfect choice! I come from a generation that expects instant gratification, so these CD's were the way to go. I drive about 45 minutes to work each way, which is a little more than one lesson. They reccommend only covering one lesson a day, to which I agree. After the very first lesson I was really excited and was amazed at how much I took away from it. I was walking around the office reciting to myself like an idiot. Just this week I finally got done with the 16th (and final) lesson of this series, and my opinion of this series is still the same.It rocks! Complaints? There are some things that are drilled over and over that seem fairly trivial, but when it comes to putting it all together in a complete sentence, it seems a little rushed. I also wished they would have drilled more on the different ways to put some words together and better explained the multiple usages for certain words. I like the fact that they offer a male and female speaker that mostly recite the same word or sentence so you can hear different pronunciation differences to confirm you're getting it right. One other thing I appreciated is that most of what is taught on the CD's was just enough to be able to just barely survive in a German speaking environment. You can greet people, ask for food, get directions, and even order a drink for someone. It should be noted that I also purchased the Berlitz Method German book, and it did NOTHING for me. I have been told, and I now agree, that you should hear and speak the language before ever trying to read it. I am currently waiting for my order of Pimsleur's German Level 2 & 3. based on my experience with this CD set. I highly recommend it! |
I Thought it Would be Harder
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| Review Date: August 3, 2007 |
| Reviewer: K. Black, Westchester, NY |
When I decided I'd like to learn some German, I bought these because they had good rating and a great price. I wasn't disapointed! I can see why Pimsleur's method is "Scientifically Proven"... They start off with a phrase, tell you what each word means, and then repeat it word by word (very clearly pronounced) and you repeat it back, until you can say the whole phrase just as it was spoken to you. Then they add some variations or extra words to the phrase so you get an idea of the grammar (ie. how to turn a phrase into a question, or add "not," "no," "please" or "very" to it.)
Pimsleur uses both male and female speakers so you can hear the realistic ways of saying the female/male words and also you get some variety in the way the words sound.
The method is so effective, that you probably won't even have to listen to each half-hour lesson more than once if you pay attention, as each subsequent lesson build upon what you've just heard and has you continue to repeat it. At the beginning of each lesson the tape has you listen to a conversation, and then you learn how to say the things they just said. At the end, they have you partake in the conversation, and you realize how much you learned.
I highly recommend Pimsleur to anyone. Now I speak German to my family to confuse them, and I'm looking forward to someday going to Germany. |
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