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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pimsleur is the most effective way to Learn a Language, May 14, 2007
This review is from: Japanese III, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)
If you want to learn how to Communicate in Spoken Japanese, NO OTHER PRODUCT will prepare you as well as Pimsleur Japanese. I have been married to a wonderful Japanese Woman for over a year and half. We were blessed with our first son who was born September 2006. I want my son to grow up truly bilingual. Therefore I know that at home a lot of Japanese must be spoken. I finally got back off my butt and just finished Lesson 30 of Pimsleur Japanese III. While I am by no means fluent or even modestly intermediate. I am very confident with my Japanese. So confident that I will start conversations with Japanese people in Japanese. Certainly the Pimsleur approach involves a lot of repetition but that repetition burns things into your brain. I have no hesitation when it comes to ordering drinks or food, asking how someone is doing, talking about work, or inquiring about buying a product. During a trip to Japan in 2005, I was so delighted when real situations presented themsleves where the exact phrases I learned in the Pimsleur series were needed. Those moments convinced me how good Pimsleur really is. Unlike some other audio programs I have tried, Pimsleur never throws a lot of completely new things at you. It is very gradual. And if you do it right you are never at a loss for the meaning of something from a previous lesson. The next step in my learning is vocabulary expansion. While the Japanese Language is tough and has a large vocabulary, its Grammar is fairly easy. Pimsleur has helped me immensly. Once I learn a new word, I can immediately incorporate it into Pimsleur sentences I have learned. Japanese is like any other language in that there are many ways to say the same thing. Language usage is about applying the components you know in a way that you are comfortable. For instance you can say 'I have not bought yet' or 'I have not bought'. In Japanese the first (have not bought yet) is 'Kahteimasen' (sorry if my Romaji is bad). The second is 'Kaheimasen'. My point is use whatever you are more comfortable with. It is incredibly unlikely that the lack of using 'yet' will make an significant difference in communicating your intent. Pimsleur may be boring and somewhat pricy but if you are serious about it and do the lessons everyday, who will be able to speak confidently with Japanese speakers and understand what they are saying. Watashi wa Jozu ja arimasen. Demo mo sugo Watashino Nihongo wa Sukoshi Jozu ni natte iruu desu shou. When you finish Pimsleur III, you will be able to say that and it will be true. Ganbatte!!! Somewhere down the line I will start Pimsleur French if I can keep my brain on track with Nihongo!!! Sayonara!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ups and Downs, July 18, 2008
This review is from: Japanese III, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)
Ah, the good ol' audio language lessons. The alluring call of learning a new language while riding down the freeway every morning draws many people to buy one of these courses. My guess is few leave satisfied. But I'm not here to discuss the effectiveness of audio courses in general, I'm here to write a review of Pimsleur's language programs, specifically Japanese III. First, let's get down to basics. You pop in one of the CDs into your favorite music player and get to work. Generally, a lesson starts out with a short dialogue between the male and the female Japanese speakers (Yes, there are only two Japanese speakers in the whole course), followed by the voice of the English announcer explaining a few choice parts of the conversation. And now it really begins. Pimsleur's Japanese III assumes you have already completed both I and II, so the announcer begins by asking you several questions about words and phrases that were taught in those programs. After the announcer asks you a question (Such as, how do you say 'I am called Johnson' in Japanese?) there's a brief silence in which you are supposed to say the words aloud, or at least think them, followed by one of the Japanese speakers saying the correct phrase or word. Seems simple enough, right? Throughout the 30 minute lessons, you'll also be introduced to new material, usually with Japanese speakers pronouncing the new words slowly. And so now the most important detail of all: does it work? Well, it depends on who you ask. Are you an excited traveler heading to Japan in a few months, and want to pick up some basic grammar and vocabulary? If so, then this program will probably be right up your street. But, are you a Japanese language student? A person who desires to become fluent in Japanese? Well, this program will be a very small step in that long journey to reaching your goal. However, the group above will meet a multitude of challenges by using this method. First of all, although some basic grammar is taught, a whole lot is left out. What's the difference between an "i" adjective and a "na" adjective? Don't look here. What's the difference between a "masu" form of a verb and a plain form? Don't look here. Secondly, no writing system is taught. Hiragana and Katakana are essential tools for the beginning Japanese student, and as far as I'm concerned, the sooner you learn them the better. And soon enough, you will have to begin learning the Chinese characters used in Japanese, otherwise known as "Kanji". This program will teach you none of that. Although this program will have different levels of effectiveness for different people, there is one thing that applies to everyone: the price tag. For over $200, you get 30 lessons each taking about 30 minutes. That's about 15 hours of material. In comparison, if you go down to your local community college and sign up for a Japanese class, you'll get a whole semester of material for the price you paid for this program. Not only that, you'll have enough money left over to buy the textbook and go shopping at your local B&N's. In short: Good for the quick traveler or as a supplement for a Japanese language student, but the price is probably going to have you looking elsewhere.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Enough, October 3, 2007
This review is from: Japanese III, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Audio CD)
Well, I'm halfway through Japanese III, and I am a little disappointed. I thought I would at least be able to do simple stuff like order a train ticket, order in a restaurant, or understand a fast food clerk, but overall, I wasn't able to do those things. [EDIT: After living in Japan for a year I`ve learned that the reason I couldn`t do those things is because employees will always speak to customers using extremely polite Japanese which in itself is almost a completely different language: different verb conjugations and sometimes different words] I was able to have a 5-10 minute conversation in Japanese to a person who spoke no English, able to ask for very simple directions, and understand numbers. More than anything, it gave me enough Japanese to continue learning, and ask people to help me continue learning. I gave this program 4 stars for one reason, What little Japanese I learned, I was able to use almost correct pronunciation, and I was able to understand quite well. I think thats the most important thing, and after using this, I plan to pick up some extra verbs and adjectives from a book. And one thing to keep in mind: No matter how bad your japanese is, Japanese people will exclaim "Jozu" meaning you are good. They are just being nice, it's a cultural thing.
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