Customer Reviews

Lithuanian, Compact: Learn to Speak and Understand Lithuanian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur)

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

 

 

I should probably start out by saying that I've been an avid language learner for about fifteen years now. I know my faults, my high points, and what the best method FOR ME is when it comes to studying a language. I bought the Pimsleur Lithuanian program mostly to improve my pronunciation, but also to learn a few key phrases as I go along. (Anybody brave enough to start learning Lithuanian will notice almost immediately that there aren't very many materials on the market as of yet- but it seems to be slowly improving.) The Pimsleur programs are quite possibly the most boring, repetetive audio programs on the market. I'm on unit 7 as I write this, and after seven units, roughly 25 minutes long apiece, I have learned only about a dozen phrases and words total. Even as an absolute beginner in learning Lithuanian, I can hardly get through one lesson without losing my mind from the repetition. I can honestly picture myself sitting in a padded room someday mumbling "Is your pronunciation like the speaker's?- Listen again..." over and over again. After you finish the first lesson, at least half of each following lesson is review, which they throw in even when they're teaching you a new word or phrase, so in the end, you end up learning practically nothing new. For the 35 bucks I paid for this program, I don't feel like being able to say "Hi, how are you? Would you like to eat something?" after SEVEN lessons is worth my money or even my time. Anybody interested in learning Lithuanian at a faster pace should try www.slic.org.au-Language-LLL_index.swf where one can not only hear but also SEE what they're learning, and the lessons (24 in all- where you'll learn about eighty times the amount you would with Pimsleur) are informative and entertaining.
On the plus side, though, I used Pimsleur Russian to learn some Russian about four years ago, and I can still remember most of it. Then again, I repeated it SO MANY TIMES while listening to the program...

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This was an excellent product. I just went to Lithuania with my girlfriend and they were very impressed with how much I learned with only 5 discs. In fact they then started teaching me more and more Lithuanian and were very happy with the progress. The way Pimsleur spreads out the repetitions over gradually more time is a great technique.

My only regret about the product is that there is not follow on! I hope I will see #2 soon. There is no Rosettastone for Lithuanian, but Pimsleur takes it on!

This language is as old as Sanskrit and is studied by Linguistic scholars. It is older that Latin! And the country has awesome food- like France or Italy!

This little program is very limited in scope. However, if you want something inexpensive to get you started, which will enable you to start speaking and pronouncing, and which will give you the confidence to continue your study of the language with another program afterwards, then I would highly recommend Pimsleur.

The CDs are paced very well, allowing you to really learn one part before proceeding to the next. They tell you to continue to the next lesson if you feel you've mastered 80% of the current lesson. However, I would definitely recommend doing each lesson at least twice, to really get the words into long-term memory.

The booklet goes over some Lithuanian spelling. But I wish the booklet would give you the words from the lessons as well. However, Google Translate comes in handy there. Lithuanian spelling is pretty much phonetic, which does make things simpler.

One criticism - our Lithuanian exchange student finds the accents on the CDs to be rather amusing. She says some Lithuanians spend time in America and then come home speaking Lithuanian in an American accent, in a poser-ish kind of way. She reckons the CD speakers have that kind of accent. She finds the man's accent superior to the woman's. I imagine Pimsleur employed native Lithuanians living in the United States and that their accent has indeed become slightly Americanized.

This is a fun, well-made, useful little program, but if you want to really learn the language, you'll very quickly have to find something else to move on to.

After taking a formal class to learn this language, this is by far the best way to go. It teaches you proper pronunciation, grammar, and practical sentences you can use with other Lithuanian speakers. It is exactly what is needed if you want a beginners working knowledge of the language. I only wish there were addtional Lithuanian lessons I could take using Pimsleur.

I really like the pimsleur method. I knew a lot of the languag already, but Pimsleur's helped me to get a good hold of the correct grammar.