 Essential...if you know how to use it. |
| Review Date: October 8, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Mark, Raleigh, NC |
This is actually a review for more than one product (Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone)
If you are willing to spend 1-2 years learning a foreign language but have limited time (weekly), lack the ability to immerse yourself in that culture for 1 year (the best way to learn the language), can't attend classes, can expend some budget, and want the process to be challenging yet fun, here's how to do it:
1. Buy a good English-Foreign Language Dictionary.
2. Get the Pimsleur Course for that language. (Check Ebay for used copies)
3. Buy the Rosetta Stone Program for that language. (Costly. Try the online monthly subscription option if your budget is tight.)
4. Get a Basic Grammar Language Book (Barron's highly recommended)
Putting it all together.
1. Listen to the Pimsleur Program during your daily commute-1 lesson per day. (Take the weekend off) DO NOT go to the next lesson until you have a 80% recall of the material. THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AT 100% RECALL before going to the next lesson. (Trust me on this on-avoid my pain)
Using this method, you can get through ALL Pimsleur lessons (Levels I-III)in 12-18 months. THE FOCUS OF PIMSLEUR IS SPEAKING SKILLS.
2. At the same time, use the Rosetta Stone lessons on the weekend, with one 60-90 minute session. Go through the guided exercise followed by the test. THERE IS NO NEED TO GO THROUGH EVERY LESSON (TYPE) for each program. After you buy the product, you'll know what I'm talking about. THE FOCUS OF ROSETTA STONE IS LISTENING SKILLS.
3. Review the basic grammar of the language as you go through the 2 above.
4. Contrary to what Pimsleur says, look up any words for spelling, and likewise, for Rosetta Stone, look up any words for definition you don't understand.
Bottomline: Despite what they advertise, these are not stand-alone programs. Also the secret to recall is anticipation, meaning an 80% success rate for Pimsleur is ok and 70% success rate for Rosetta Stone is okay before moving to the next lesson.
You don't get any extra points for making 100% and this effort can be counter-productive (burn out, boredom, and frustration before finishing the lessons.)
Your goal should be to get through all of the programs and lessons and the experience should be challenging and fun. Afterwards, you can take your trip to that country for the total immersion experience, and after the first 2 weeks, you'll see how well spent your time was with the programs.
After you complete the above, and you are learning one of the romantic languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using the Michel Thomas programs-which are essentially Verb Conjugation 101 lessons-it is the glue that ties everything together you learned with Pimsleur/Rosetta Stone.
Note: I've used the Japanese, German, and Korean Pimsleur Courses, and Rosetta Stone German and Japanese Programs. I've also spent extensive time in all 3 of those countries. Learn from my mistakes.
Good luck and have fun. |
Pimsleur Japanese I
|
| Review Date: October 17, 2001 |
| Reviewer: W. Bittle, Florida |
| I bought the 4 tape version originally, then purchased this full version and find it a great way to begin a study of the Japanese language. This system does not require that you follow along with a study guide or write things so it is ideal to use during the wasted hours most of us use up while commuting to work. But, this is in no way a complete system. Although you will get a basic knowledge of the language, if you ever hope to become truly proficient in Japanese, you will need to buy several books to study from along with this course. Using the Pimsleur system and a few text books enables you to not only see and learn the correct structure of the language, but also (via the tapes) hear the spoken language in a logical progression of lessons. So, the bottom line is that this is a good starting point, but it must be supplemented with good text books and if at all possible, exposure to actual people fluent in Japanese. |
Great Substitute For Classroom Japanese
|
| Review Date: January 31, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Perry, AZ, United States |
Atually, I would give it 4 1/2 stars, but that is not possible. It's not perfect (but then, what is?) My wife and I (kanai to watashi) are going to visit Japan in a few months and we wanted to get a basic working knowledge of the language. I though we really would be missing too much if we didn't know any Japanese.
After going through several audio courses (some spoke so fast we were about ready to give up in complete despair), I found Pimsleur and this course has been by far the best of any. Yes, they are expensive, but the quality is far superior to others and generally the teaching speed is about right (although by the end of the first set and the start of the 2nd set), the pace really picks up. Sometimes, phrases are not repreated, which is frustrating, but all in all, it's very good. We found that we can actually have some simple conversations in Japanese - pretty amazing for two people who didn't know a word a few months ago.
I would recommend though that if at all possible, make it a point to get a good Japanese/English dictionary and also a good grammar book. "Japanese for Busy People" is excellent. Both of us are "visual people" and we need the reinforcement of the written word. We're also doing reading in Romanji - maybe technically not the "correct way", but then again it will be "close enough." Maybe our accent won't be quite right, but so what. Does it matter that much? At least we are making the effort and trying to do our best.
Other reviewers also have the right idea when they recommend "practice, practice." In the car is fine, but wait until after you have heard the lesson at least once before. It's too hard and dangerous to try to "get it" the first time while driving. I also try to conduct simple dialogs in my head while at work, doing other things and so on.
We also wish we could practice and learn with a real Japanese native speaker, but with us living in a rural area, that is unfortunately not possible, so this is the next best thing.
Finally, get a few books on Japanese culture and history. You really need those to give you the proper foundation as why the language is structured in certain ways. Besides, the cultural and historical studies should be fascinating in their own right and it does seem to be much point in visiting a country if one is missing the cultural background. This is especially true for a country with customs so different from our own.
Once we get to Japan, we'll see if all this hard work was worth it. Sayonara! |
Accept this method for what it is and you will be very happy
|
| Review Date: September 9, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Kirt Senser, Crofton, MD |
To begin, a few comments to set the tone of this review... Yes, it is very expensive. Yes, it is audio only (which is the point). Yes, there is no explanation of the Japanese syllabaries. Yes, it is worth every penny.
Japanese I (3rd Edition) teaches you how to speak Japanese as a child would. When children are learning in the home, they are not assaulted from all angles with text books and written explanations. They learn by listening. Then, later in life, things like how to write the language they already know, and learning the reasoning behind the grammar picked up through speaking, all fall into place. As an adult, you can take extra advantage of this because of our enhanced ability to reason, and make deductions on what we already know.
This first level of the Pimsleur Japanese course focuses mostly on simple and essential phrases you will need to know to get around in Japan. You learn greetings, how to convey your mastery (or lack thereof) of the language, how to get to and from important places, counting (and money), and so on. Each lesson has a simple and logical progression, teaching you new things and then building upon the usage of what you just learned. The lessons also flow into each other, and usually have several minutes of review at the beginning of each one. They also make a point of bringing words you haven't used in a few lessons back into fresh memory by incorporating them into the new material you are learning. 100% mastery of each lesson is not necessary, as nearly everything you learn is reinforced repeatedly in following lessons. Being able to answer in about 80% of the situations is a more realistic goal. It is important to only do one lesson per day, although that one lesson can be reviewed repeatedly during the same day. Also, note taking or transcribing what you are hearing is discouraged as it will actually undermine the method used in this course.
So, I wholeheartedly recommend this course. It does exactly what it claims to do, which is help you learn to speak Japanese. If you are looking to do more than just speak the language, I still recommend this product, as hearing native speakers is invaluable. A few points to consider on your quest for fluency... It has become accepted among many modern educators that learning the kana (the syllable based writing of Japanese) as early as possible can make learning Japanese much easier. Knowing the kana helped me avoid thinking of the things I was learning in this course "in English", and instead I could visualize the words spelled out in Japanese in my head. This extra immersion was very helpful. The "readings" (extra audio to be listened to after the lessons) are also nice for insight into cultural differences and grammar in Japan. All in all, an excellent product! |
High-End, Most Comprehensive, Lazy Man's Japanese
|
| Review Date: August 17, 2001 |
| Reviewer: , Cambridge, MA USA |
| The Pimsleur series is best for people who do not have the time to fuss around with coloring books and written material. The course is entirely on CD. You don't need to follow along in a book while you study. If you feel comfortable muttering Japanese in public, you can do your lessons while walking, biking, jogging, taking the subway, driving, or skiing -- to work, from work, on your lunch break, in line at the supermarket, you name it... It is the most comprehensive oral program out there, so if you want a comprehensive program, you should start and end with pimsleur. Don't buy some low-end learning product and then try to jump into Pimsleur II because the other product stopped; start with Pimsleur from the beginning. Each of the 45 CDs in the entire series builds upon the previous ones and reviews previous material. Drawback: yeah it's expensive. It's because no program can compete with them in completeness and ease-of-use. Other programs you actually have to set aside time to do lessons. Pimsleur goes faster this way, but if you don't have time for that, you just plug and play. If you're comfortable, you move on to the next CD. If not, you stay where you are. It's as easy as that. Of course, if you want to learn a few tourist phrases and be done, then find something cheaper. they're out there. Japanese learning software for your computer is probably the cheapest decent route. Drawback: eventually you're going to need to know how to read and write. Pimsleur does not teach this. HOWEVER, having the oral background Pimsleur gives you allows you to pick up the written parts much easier. So drop about $20 on a few hiragana and katakana workbooks and some kanji flashcards, and zip through them. You'll find that with the Pimsleur background, you'll be able to easily make sense of what would have otherwise been gobble-dee-gook if you had started out trying to write as well. |
|
No details are available for this product
No video reviews found for this product.
Comments
No Responses to “Japanese I, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs”