Customer Reviews

German II, 3rd Ed. (Comp.) [CD]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I took two years of German in high school, which was some decades ago, and after a ski trip to Austria I decided to brush up on my German. I've bought numerous books, dvds, tapes, etc. and for learning conversational German this has been far and away the best. It's pricey, no doubt, but it's very, very well done and very user friendly. I had a professor in college who said we learn the most in an area of "just manageable difficulty". In other words, stretched and challenged but not made to despair. This is the arena the Pimsleur cd/tapes work in.
I liked this one (German II) so well, I also bought 3 and 4. Two is the most well done, the guy on three sounds a bit like he's being held against his will, but the folks on this one are engaging and pleasant. They combine techniques of having you repeat German phrases with having you answer questions in German (can be a bit challenging) and a couple of other techniques. There is a bit of the unavoidable "canned" feel to the conversations, but nowhere near as much as in other tapes I've tried. I felt like I learned a lot and on a trip to Switzerland this year I was able to understand a lot and be conversational.
As I said III and IV, especially IV are not quite so well done, but II is excellent, and a lot cheaper than the average German course at a college would be. The only thing it lacks is much help with syntax, you probably need to plow through a German grammar book on your own for that.

If you thought Pimsleur German I helped you to learn German, you really must move onto Pimsleur German II. It is, without a doubt, one of the best tools you could possibly use to progress from barely being able to get your message across to being able to express not only what you want, but what you think about things.

Both Pimsleur German I and II were updated in 2002, so they represent the best of decades of trying to perfect the language learning experience. What you will find in Pimsleur German II can't easily be found anywhere else, because it teaches you to speak the way Germans speak, complete with the little inflections that you would use without even thinking in your native language. I've never seen such things in any other program.

If you have the means, move onto Pimsleur German II as soon as possible after finishing Pimsleur German I. It will put you light years ahead in only a few short weeks.

I will probably repeat a lot of what others have said, but here goes. I think the real strength of these courses is that they get you to converse. You practice conversation. You talk, you listen. Will you learn lots of vocabulary? No. Will you learn all the grammar rules? No. Can you learn a language with only these courses? Of course not. You will need other materials, courses, books, whatever. But they are another tool in your toolbox to help you achieve your goal. What they give you is practice at speaking real conversations. And you will pick up some vocabulary and grammar along the way, what you need to succeed in these lessons.

I've been through all 4 levels and found them all great. Including level 4 (German Plus). This one has a bad rap, I think mostly because it's shorter than the rest. And certainly some of the new vocabulary is quite focused on one topic. But I found it added a lot of new conversational situations, and a lot of new grammar. Do you learn words that the average tourist doesn't need? Sure, but if you were just the average tourist, would you be buying these? We are only talking about a dozen or so words, it's not like your being forced to learn hundreds of words you'll never use.

Are they perfect? No, there are inconsistencies, there are silly little things here and there that I would call "editing" mistakes. And I really wish they'd give up the pretension that you only need to do each lesson once. I had to do each one at least 3 times before I could move on. But they are great for what they are. If you want to practice conversations, this is for you.

Pimsleur Language Programs products are among the best-selling audio language courses available. `Organic learning' seeks to approximate the conditions in which ordinary language-learning takes place. The process is almost entirely aural, supplemented only minimally-or at the student's discretion, not at all-by reference to reading lessons after each half-hour lesson.

Clearly, Dr. Pimsleur and his disciples-I use the word advisedly, as a glance at promotional and instructional materials will demonstrate-have done their pedagogical homework. Utilizing the spectacular power of the brain for on-the-hoof language analysis and replication, the Pimsleur Language Programs lure their listeners into meaning-rich dialogues, providing only the information required for one to respond. The closest thing to a grammatical concept that a student hears is a brief warning that `this is the form used with feminine words'. Yet with a little effort, the student intuits her way to the correct and timely use of all that grammar describes.

This is an extremely productive approach at the level of basic conversational skills that is the bread and butter of Pimsleur's products. The course writers have found just the level at which to challenge the student without counterproductive frustration. One is encouraged to achieve 80% control of a unit before moving on. Many students will accomplish this in most units on the first try. Yet the approach in these three volumes is never simplistic, reducing the urge to be somewhere else or engaged in a more advanced section to the vanishing point.

Pimsleur Language Programs has populated websites with two highly sellable language-learning concepts: the `principle of anticipation' and `graduated interval recall'. The former refers to the interval during which the student is challenged to retrieve information to which he has been exposed, occasionally take some small step in the processing of it, and then utilize that information in a response. PLP has refined just the right intervals to facilitate prompt but unhurried responses.

`Graduated interval recall' refers to the time lag between the initial learning of a language component and its subsequent reintroduction in a new conversation. Here, too, the Pimsleur method shows its debt to years of practice and research. By my lights, they do this perfectly.

Regionally and socially, PLP's German course(s) aim at an `educated' dialect that will prepare the student to be conversant throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

German I, II, and III are available in cassette tape and CD versions, packaged attractively and with sufficient ruggedness to survive both winter and summer Midwestern temperatures in my car.

I've always had a fascination with the German language and studied it for three years in high school. Now, almost 40 years later I decided it was time to relearn it since I was sure I had forgotten most of what I had learned. My intention was to only do German I until I finished it. It was so enjoyable and immersive that I decided to go on to German II as well. Well, it looks like I'm about to move on to German III. This course is easy to do and the Pimsleur method makes it impossible not to learn if you listen to the CD's. The authors imply that 30 minutes a day is all it takes and that you can finish the course rapidly. Well, that's not necessarily so. Yes, each lesson is about 30 minutes or less but you will probably have to listen to each one two or three times to make sure you've grasped what's being taught. Especially in German II. Even so, you will be speaking German in no time. Not like a native speaker but close enough until you move on to the higher levels.

The Pimsleur Program is great. I took German in high school and in college for about 3 years, but I learned more from this CD course in just one month. I would recommend this to anyone wishing to learn the basics of a new language. I'm halfway through the Level III edition now.

Repetition is extremely helpful. Intermediate to advanced. Purely a speaking program versus learning how to read/write.

I've tried different programs, if you want to learn to speak a language without needing to write it, this is it. If you focus on the CDs a native speaker won't know you're not German until the conversation gets really involved. Lose your accent, gain theirs.

This program is great for those who have had some formal German training, and want to move to the next level of "feeling" the language. I've studied German for years, and I still speak it "mechanically", having to think about every word ending. This program skips the formal rules (it's all audio, with no written materials to speak of) and focuses on repeating the phrases and sentences to the point that you just "know" when to say "der" vs. "den" vs. "dem", or where to put time in relation to place. Most of the prompts are in English, but rather than translating, I find myself coming up with the appropriate German response organically, which I believe is the beginning of fluency. Mid-way through Part II, my vocabulary is still well ahead of the program, but I'm feeling much stronger on grammar and syntax -- without having to memorize more rules! This is a program for the long haul -- it took me about 3 months to complete German I, and I'm going at the same pace through German II. If you want "travel phrases" look elsewhere. This program is for those who really want to end up speaking the language, and are willing to invest the time to do it.

Get the Baron's course, Super boring conversations repeated over and over.
Too much english is spoken. Get a Peter Maffay cd