What customers say about PIMSLEUR language learning audios:
Best Teacher of Foreign Language Yet
I purchased the Pimsleur's Conversational Spanish audio set with 18 lessons. I am a military brat and stand true to the belief that learning another language should start at the early elementary age. I retained more Japanese in 3 years, 24 years ago, than 3 years of studying Spanish at the high school level. Being in the construction industry, the hispanic community and workers have flourished, and with that my need to communicate with them. I have bought and tried other types of audio Spanish teaching media, but the Pimsleur's method is truly the only one that actually teaches you to think for yourself, which is what is actually going to happen when your in a conversation.
To start with a conversation, and not memorizing all the verbs and their tenses and numbers, etc has made this very enjoyable and wanting to buy the entire volume. (I placed my order today.) It's like starting to play an instrument: you don't want to learn all the scales and how to read music, you just want to be able to play a song or two right away, and that's what this Conversational Spanish does. -- Nole Chic,Florida, USA
Excellent for a language beginner
Pimsleur's products are excellent. The CDs provide the very thorough repetition and drill necessary to begin building real converstional/listening skills. I've used Pimsleur to garner "travel fluency" in both French and Spanish. While I've continued studying French, I still ocassionally revisit the Spanish discs to review before travel. I've tried various beginner's listening CDs. Pimleur's are by far the best. They are an excellent first step. -- M. Agosta, Washington, DC, USA
Perfect for learning to speak German
Before you buy a Pimsleur package, understand what you're getting. There are a LOT of language-learning tools out there, but none are quite like Pimsleur. If you're trying to learn the maximum amount of a language for the smallest amount of money, your money would probably be better spent elsewhere. Instead, Pimsleur caters to those who have a very rough time getting anything to "stick" through other methods. You pay a considerable amount more, but you WILL learn, and that may catapult you in your studies with other methods.
You will NOT be fluent after finishing Pimsleur German I. However, you will definitely have ultimate command of what you do learn. It will literally be a part of you the way English is. You will not be able to discuss politics or music, but you will be able to get directions, go to a restaurant, talk about what you've done, what you're doing, and what you want to do. If you do the lessons as suggested, you'll be able to do these things without having to translate in your head. In fact, if your experience is anything like mine, you might say what you want to say in German and then have to think about what you just said in English. It is both fascinating and exhilarating. This is the essence of what separates Pimsleur from buying a six dollar phrasebook with all of the same phrases. Keep in mind, however, that when you begin Pimsleur, try not to look the words you hear up in a dictionary. Try to master the sound the way they sound to you first, or you will end up with an American accent. -- Eric Andrew, USA