Customer Reviews

Japanese II, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs

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That's the second installment of the Pimsleur Language Program Japanese.
There are two very strong points to the method. One, that distinguishes it from anyother is the fact that everything is done orally. I thought I could only memorise by reading. This method proved me wrong. And with nowdays technology, from the ipod to any PDA or Pocket PC, this turns into a huge advantage as you can practice while being in the taxi, the tube or department stores.
The complementary quality of the method is the excellent choice of vocabulary. I have reach lesson 25 of Japanese II and I still do not know how to say the dog in Japanese, which pretty much any other method would teach you in lesson one. They teach you how to count, to express temporal and spatial concepts, to manage schedule, to speak about your family and they insist on collocial expressions. This proves to be the most useful vocabulary for the average corporate person and most of modern citizens. Well done.

I lived in Japan for two years and may be going back for a visit next year, which is why I purchased Japanese language CDs. I didn't know anything about Pimsleur before I made my purchase but overall, I'm really pleased with the lessons.

The strong points are: lots of repetition and review, but it's in the context of ongoing narrations/conversations, which is a bit more interesting than someone simply saying, "Okay, how do you say ...(x)?"

I really like that, unlike many foreign language learning materials, the lessons are not necessarily geared towards university students. The orientation, at least to me, seems to be more for business purposes, ie, a person working in Japan who needs to know some basic grammar and vocabulary in order to get by in daily life and be able to make a bit of small talk with co-workers. Pimsleur does cover some "student" vocab too, throughout the CDs, in the context of talking about someone's children being high school or college students and studying at this or that school/university.

One thing that surprises me a bit is the emphasis on using the "irassharu" form when speaking to others, eg, "dokode hataraite irasshaimasuka." The occasions on which I heard "irassharu" used in verb forms like this when I lived in Japan were very few and far between (although of course one hears, "irasshaimase," everytime one walks into a store). It seemed - to me anyways - to be very acceptable simply to use "imasu," even when addressing others. That said, I worked in schools - maybe it's different in the business world.

As for vocab, I think it could be introduced at a faster rate, quite honestly, although at the same time, vocabulary is probably the easiest part of a foreign language to study on one's own - maybe the idea is that since vocab learning can be self-directed, there's no need to spend too much CD time on it? Whatever the reason, it's not a huge drawback.

The only thing I really don't like about this series: it's very distracting when the male Japanese actor uses a strange voice to sound like a different character in the narration!

Overall, very happy with this purchase.

I didnt particulary care for Pimsleur I (limited set) when I first started using it last Christmas but after using other CDS (and CD ROMS) Ive come to appreciate the Pimsleur approach much more. Pimsleur II price was reduced and there was free 2 day shipping so I thought what the heck I'll give it another go and Im very happy. Some stuff Ive learned so far in the first 5 lessons:

a) not yet
b) are you familiar with ---
c) how long are you going to stay in ---

Overall it's a very effective way to learn b/c the narrator forces you to participate. Each time I repeat a lesson, I pick up something I missed the first time. A bit pricey though.

First of all, learning by audio is a GREAT way to learn. This series of audio lessons (I, II & III) if you stick with it, will teach you the very basics.

Now for the bad news, learning by audio alone will completely ruin your pronunciation. Distinguishing the difference between L's, R's and T's is difficult, not to mention the voiceless sounds, and Pimsleur refuses to release any type of dialog because they feel it is contrary to their "proven method." In spite of this, I decided to create my own dialog which contained the practice sentences in romaji and hiragana, and additionally a list of new words in English as they were introduced. I made these notes available on my website to share with others because I believed it would help assist people through the audio.

Fast forward a few years later, and I receive an e-mail from a lawyer representing Pimsleur threatening to shut down my website and take me to court over it. These notes were in no way made to be stand-alone material, and were pretty useless without the audio lessons to accompany them. However, Pimslser still felt as though people would opt NOT to buy the audio lessons and instead use my notes. I disagreed, tried to explain, they wouldn't back off. I debated filing a DMCA counter notification and letting them take me to court over it, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Instead, I decided to leave this review so others will know.

Again, Pimsleur is a really good program, but you need to research the actual words being said so that the pronunciation is clear, something Pimsleur will never help you with. I also feel the program is extremely over-priced. I should also mention that I "started" with Pimsleur, and have since been reading books, and even now after about 4 years and a bi-lingual wife who is a Japan native, I still can't hold a decent conversation, I still consider myself very much a beginner (not even intermediate). Learning Japanese is a LIFE-LONG commitment, and I have a long way to go, but Pimsleur was a great start. I'm not trying to discourage you, just being realistic.

More importantly, be aware, Pimsleur is a company that won't hesitate to sue its own customers, and due to my recent experience with them, I will never purchase any of their products again. Ganbatte. Time to ebay.