Customer Reviews

Japanese, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This program will not make you a fluent speaker of Japanese; but usage of all three comprehensive Japanese courses probably would. What this particular program will do, it will certainly give a basic tourist level knowledge of Japanese. The narator will give you some tips on grammer so that you can put together sentences from the various words and phrases you learn on the program. Also it will teach you proper pronounciation of the words - which will help you to sound more native.

Keep in mind that this review is only refering to the Pimsleur Conversational Japanese course which is only half as much as that found in the Comprehensive. Also if you get this program to start then move on to the Comprehensive package Pimsleur will reduce the price of the package, I forget by how much, but I remember it was a good deal compared to what others are selling it for.

Let's put my thoughts on the program this way, if you want to learn to speak Japanese on your own this will really do the job as long as you stick to it. I would recommend doing each section twice before moving on to the next. But it really does work. I don't regret spending a penny on this program.

I honestly can't think of any problems I've had with this program.

I feel the lessons go a little too slowly for my taste but maybe that's because Japanese is my 2nd foreign language (after French) and Ive already developed some useful learning skills and shortcuts. You really can't go wrong though I recommend supplementing this with additional study of grammar ("Teach Yourself" series is good) as the conversations taught here are limited by necessity and it's sometimes difficult to make out what exactly the narrators are saying without a written transcript. You get 8 hours of Japanese for $32 so this is a cheap and very effective way to learn. Dont hesitate to buy :)

I have been trying to learn Japanese for sometime now. I've tried different computer programs that rate your pronunciation and have struggled with the language. These audio cds are very clear and teach you as though you are a child. As an adult, it is much harder to learn another language, but I have used some of the phrases I have learned on friends and they were impressed. I love how the cd's give instruction in a male's and female's voice.

If you want to be able to learn useful phrases quickly, this is a great intro to the language. I listen to it on my daily commute, although, I can't always repeat the phrases aloud, without getting strange stares!

After listening to the cds, I was so inspired that I signed up for a Japanese class, and I felt more than prepared for a formal class setting. The cds helped me so much in terms of pronunciation, as well as rhythm of the language. I have tried other language cds, and I think the Pimsleur approach is so different and effective, that it's really worth the price difference. I'm going to save my pennies to get the full set as soon as I can!

The only drawback of this set is that it has only 16 lessons. It ended way too quickly, and made me want more!

I will be working in Japan soon so I wanted to pick up some quick Japanese. Reading reviews this seemed like the product to get. I must say it is VERY good! I am about 1/3 through and I already know I will be purchasing the full comprehensive set after this. It does a great job of refreshing your memory and condensing a lot of information into 30 minute lessons and really focusing on pronunciation. The main drawback is that there really is only so much they can teach you on a few CDs, so while it teaches effectively, your skills will be pretty limited to what Pimsleur has decided to include in the lessons. I am supplementing these lessons with some vocab books as well. All in all this is a VERY effective product and GREAT for the price.

A couple months ago, I found the kind of all-audio course I was looking for in a library. The only problem was that it was for French, and I really wanted to learn Japanese. Anyway, the first system I used was Michel Thomas's, and it was great!

Now that I knew there was something like that on the market, I looked for the Japanese equivalent. (Michel Thomas doesn't make one.) I first got a Learn in Your Car product, which I regretted. It was just one translation after another with no participation required.

I couldn't be happier with Pimsleur's system! It's even better than Michel Thomas's! Everything is spoken very clearly and is broken up when it needs to be. You're asked questions non-stop, so you can't tune out even if you want to. There's even normal Japanese conversations thrown in to push you as far as you can go. I love it!

Learning Japanese is one thing, but learning to listen to it and pronounce it correctly, is very different. These CD's are great if you're seeking to improve your learning and speaking skills. At the same time, it increased my skills in the English language (I'm Mexican). And it turned my daily 90-minute drive to the office to something I actually enjoy now.

I bought this product after reading a lot of reviews about it in many sites. It's very good with people who understand basic Japanese & very effective regarding the pronunciation. I would recommend that people who want to visit Japan buy it before going there to be able to communicate with at least basic Japanese.

I use this when I am riding in the car, and I am picking conversational Japanese at a steady pace. I am not working real hard at it, but am getting results.

If your planning to take a trip to japan and want to learn some phrases, this is a great tool if your learning period is limited. But I feel that more could have been done to help the listener * truly* understand the language.

First and foremost, A 5-7 page transcript should be included of all the conversations. This would help for several reasons

-People would better remember if they could read along

-people wouldnt say words wrong when they cant make out what the speaker is saying ( for example n and d can sound similar)

- the user would better understand particles which would help them form their own sentences

-The user would understand present and negative tenses better

Without the transcript, a person will learn to speak well and have the context for several useful conversations. But they may not catch on to some things that would make more sense if there was a romajii translation. For example, nanika is to drink, ka at the end of this root word is present tense. However, nanimasen ka is a question, ka is not part of the word nanimasen which is negative present tense. A listener would be hard pressed to understand this if they had no prior japanese knowledge.