Czech, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Czech with Pimsleur Language Programs [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0743551257 | ISBN-13: 978-0743551250 | Edition: 10 Lessons

Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic. There are approximately 12 million native speakers. The two largest dialect groups in the Czech Republic are Bohemian (most widely spoken) and Hanak Moravian, spoken in the southeast. Pimsleur's Czech teaches the Bohemian dialect.

Czech Basic

• Ten 30-minute lessons of spoken Czech language instruction (the first ten Units of Pimsleur's 30-Unit Comprehensive Program).
• Essential grammar and vocabulary that teach you greetings, numbers, how to order food and drinks and to give and ask for directions. Learn to speak with near-native pronunciation.
• No mindless repetition! Converse with native speakers in natural (and useful!) conversations.
• Easy, fast, fun and effective language acquisition.
• Completely Audio - anytime, anywhere. No computer necessary! Unlike expensive software programs which tie learners to a computer, Pimsleur courses are available in CD or mp3 format to meet your needs.
• Receive an instant credit of $50 to trade up from the Basic to the full Level 1 Comprehensive CD course.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." -- AudioFile Magazine

"EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE...each section within the lessons is short enough to hold our attention, and there is enough repetition to teach even those who consider themselves slow learners...Pimsleur [programs] are extremely thorough and easy to use -- quite lively!" -- Boston Herald

"Learn French while commuting, German while jogging, Spanish (or Russian, Italian, and Japanese) while cooking all with NO WRITTEN MATERIALS!" -- New York Daily News

"Designed for the ear and not the eye...the lessons provide PERFECT 30-minute bites of work." -- St Louis Post-Dispatch

"Learn to habla español or parlez français before your next trip aboard. The interactive LESSONS CHALLENGE STUDENTS to use new words in conversation instead of memorize them." -- American Way (American Airlines inflight magazine)

"I tried other language programs with little success...This is the best by far!" -- Pamela A. Mitchell, Pilot, International Society of Women Airline Pilots

About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles:  the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.”  This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 10 Lessons edition (December 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743551257
• ISBN-13: 978-0743551250
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.3 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Slavic Languages

More About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur (b. 1926, d. 1976) devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. He was fluent in French, good in German, and had a working knowledge of Italian, Russian, Modern Greek, and Mandarin Chinese. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French and a Masters in Psychology from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Linguistics at UCLA. He later became Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center (a state-wide language lab) at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. He did research on the psychology of language learning and in 1969 was Section Head of Psychology of Second Language Learning at the International Congress of Applied Linguistics.

Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method (The Pimsleur Method) that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called "Graduated Interval Recall." This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the "Pimsleur Programs."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good method, bad pronunciation, January 9, 2007

By 

D. A. Hosek (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Czech, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Czech with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)

[updated review]

I can only recommend this product as a supplement to a written text. It really doesn't work well as a stand-alone product, largely because of the poor pronounciation in places. There are many places where it sounds like the speakers are adding whole syllables to the ends of words that aren't there,e.g., "rozumima" instead of "rozumim".

I've since worked my way through the whole Pimsleur series on Czech and while my concerns about vagaries of pronunciation remained, it did an excellent job of preparing me to at least handle the basics of Czech, especially given the paucity of good materials for self-instruction in Czech. The repetition worked well (I ended up actually doing each half-hour lesson three times before moving on). I find that I can do a fair job of picking out dialogue in Czech films and also spoken while I was in Prague for vacation. In fact, I found myself able to get directions to an ATM entirely in a Czech dialogue as well as being able to have a bookstore employee with almost no English help me find Czech dictionaries and learn how much they cost.

I would still like to have a printed companion to go along with this (the biggest set, which I borrowed from the library, has a set of readings which I skipped so that may actually alleviate the last of my concerns).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Czech, February 15, 2007

By 

Sheri (Jackson, MS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Czech, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Czech with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)

I started listening to the cd's in my car on the drive to and from work, a total of 40 minutes a day and after the first week I was extremely confident in what I have learned so far. Having never spoken a work of Czech it's very easy to learn.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Czech Learn To Speak - Pimsleur, March 28, 2007

By 

John Boone - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Czech, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Czech with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)

Not as good as some of the other products I have bought to help me learn Czech. I like to see what I speaking as well as hear it. No software just audio. I like to have both so I can speak and read it. My primary goal is to read and understand. As it will help me greatly to be able to translate my own Czech Documents for Genealogy.

I would not recommend this product for those wanting to be able to read it as well as to speak Czech.