Greek I [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur Language Programs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0743508890 | ISBN-13: 978-0743508896 | Publication Date: April 1, 2002 | Edition: 2nd

Greek is the official language of Greece and one of the official languages of Cyprus. Many modern scientific and technical words in English are derived from Greek, and it has been estimated that 12% of the English vocabulary is of Greek origin. This course teaches Modern Greek.

The Pimsleur® Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You’ll be speaking and understanding in no time flat! Greek I, Comprehensive includes 15 hours of spoken language practice and one hour of reading instruction in thirty, 30-minute lessons.

• In the first 10 lessons, you’ll cover the basics: saying hello, asking for or giving information, scheduling a meal or a meeting, asking for or giving basic directions, and much more. You’ll be able to handle minimum courtesy requirements, understand much of what you hear, and be understood at a beginning level, but with near-native pronunciation skills.
• In the next 10 lessons, you’ll build on what you’ve learned. Expand your menu, increase your scheduling abilities from general to specific, start to deal with currency and exchanging money, refine your conversations and add over a hundred new vocabulary items. You’ll understand more of what you hear, and be able to participate with speech that is smoother and more confident.
• In the final 10 lessons, you’ll be speaking and understanding at an intermediate level. In this phase, more directions are given in the target language, which moves your learning to a whole new plane. Lessons include shopping, visiting friends, going to a restaurant, plans for the evening, car trips, and talking about family. You’ll be able to speak comfortably about things that happened in the past and make plans for the future.

Reading Lessons are included at the end of this unit. These lessons, which total about one hour, are designed to give you practice reading Greek and to provide vocabulary. Before you know it, you’ll be reading Greek with the ease and flexibility of a native speaker. A Reading Booklet to be used with the audio lessons is also included in PDF format.

Editorial Reviews

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; 2nd edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743508890
• ISBN-13: 978-0743508896
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 11.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pimsleur is effective if you want only to SPEAK Greek..., January 18, 2003

By 

Eric McCalla "reviewboy" (Denver, COLORADO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greek (Modern) - 2nd Ed. (Pimsleur Language Program) (Audio Cassette)

Pimsleur's Greek program is my first attempt learning a new language using their method. I've used Berlitz, Living Language and Language/40 cassettes and CDs for other languages. However, having gone through some 15 hours of instruction with the Pimsleur cassettes has proven to me that Pimsleur really does work.

It works if you want to speak the language, although the vocabulary I have learned in the 15 hours is limited, but I have retained most of what I've listened to. The method can seem repetitive at times.

I gave the edition 4 not 5 stars, because the booklet included with the tapes gives you only a brief glance at written Greek: the alphabet is shown, along with a pronunciation key. The chapter lessons are written in Greek only, which is great if you have the motivation to decipher it as a beginning student. I know Pimsleur's emphasis is on learning through listening and repetition, but why include the lesson titles at all then?

The vocabulary only provides words like: wine/beer, husband/wife, when/where, time/week, Athens/Thessaloniki, drink/eat, buy/shops, etc. Really useful words they should've included would be airport, help, even the names of some typical Greek foods you'd order in a restaurant. Offering a Level 2 or 3 is definitely needed if one is going to continue learning Greek using this method.

From reading other reviews of other Greek-language study aids, I feel the need to invest in a Routledge's Comprehensive Grammar as I intend to fully learn the language and the culture.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars learn while you drive, June 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Greek (Modern) - 2nd Ed. (Pimsleur Language Program) (Audio Cassette)

I am in my car quite a bit, and this is the best way to learn Greek in a short period of time. The lessons are repetitive, but very easy to keep up. The repetition is needed to help you remember the words and phrases you need. This makes it very easy to commit these words to memory. Difficult words can be mastered with this process as well. The only drawback to this method is I still don't feel I have a very wide vocabulary. The repetition leaves little time to learn more words, though I now know the important ones.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn to Hear, Understand and Speak, October 4, 2001

By 

Richard D. Lakey "paronomasiac" (Noblesville, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greek (Modern) - 2nd Ed. (Pimsleur Language Program) (Audio Cassette)

For me, it's always been fairly easy to learn to Read a foreign language. The difficult part is being able to understand the SPOKEN language - at actual speed. Finally all the way through the series. I find that it has been a GREAT help. Easily worth 5 stars. My only complaint is the lack of the 2nd and 3rd volumes.