Japanese I (Comprehensive) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

Series: Comprehensive | Publication Date: April 1, 1995

The standard thirty lesson unit self-instructional Pimsleur course is designed to train professionals in any field to accomplish cost-effective, measurable levels of spoken-language proficiency at the rate of one daily thirty-minute lesson.

To enable individuals to succeed in today's global marketplace, Pimsleur programs make it possible to have a sufficient spoken-language competency in a considerable number of diverse foreign languages within a very short period of training.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Pimsleur International, Inc.; 2nd edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671521551
• ISBN-13: 978-0671521554
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.5 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,985,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Japanese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Japanese, but could be improved, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Japanese I (Comprehensive) (Audio Cassette)

I found these tapes to be an adequate introduction to the Japanese language, but still felt as though something was missing at the end of the 30 lessons. Upon completion of the course, I had a nice collection of travel oriented phrases, but not much else that could be used in everyday small talk. There is one very important phrase everyone should learn no matter which foreign language they study ("where is the toilet?"). The accompanying booklet is very nearly useless. I would recommend buying a small phrase book (Rough Guide to Japanese is nice) to go with this course. My MAIN complaint with this set is the price gouging practices of the Pimsleur company. You can buy the Traveler's Edition (15 lessons) for about $60, and it is really just the first half of the full 30 cassette Japanese Level One. Why doesn't Pimsleur offer the second half of Level One for another $60 instead of charging you about $240 for the full set? I think we all know the answer to that! Pricing aside, I think the Pimsleur method is probably the most effective audio method for foreign language learning available. I've used several of the other courses out there (Barron's, Hugo, Berlitz, Living Language, Teach Yourself), and like the Pimsleur lessons the best. If you want a nice book with which to study Japanese on your own, I would recommend "Japanese for Busy People"

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start, but..., October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese I (Comprehensive) (Audio Cassette)

I've gone through the entire basic course (30 lessons) and don't share the other reviewers' enthusiasm. I felt like I was learning a lot in the beginning, but after a while, I realized that I knew a small collection of travel-related words and phrases, but wasn't making very much progress in learning the language. I get the impression that each language course in their series is created with the same basic boilerplate of content with only a minimum of localization. The lack of grammatical explanations virtually no supporting text began to be a tremendous impediment to my progress. Amazon offers a significant savings over the SyberVision edition . You should also realize that the 4-tape set of intermediate lessons do not represent a continuation from the beginning 4-tape set. They pick up at the end of the first 15-tape collection. This is not particularly clear on the packaging or in their online advertising.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars changed my life, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese I (Comprehensive) (Audio Cassette)

It was really heartening to know that I could learn a language without a teacher at my advanced age. Supplemental books are helpful, however. At this level I would suggest "Japanese in 10 Minutes" (hardly true, but it does have stickers you can put on the objects in your house to teach you the names of common objects) and "1000 First Words in Japanese." You are learning on a very basic level here on the first set of lessons---lots of repetition. The important thing: never miss a single day, even if it's only a few minutes. Also: as the lessons progress they get harder, and it gets impossible to listen and do tasks at the same time. You need to sit in a chair and concentrate. Don't be afraid to repeat the lessons. In a year's time you will be speaking elementary Japanese from ground zero.