Customer Reviews

Pimsleur Chinese (Mandarin) III (Comprehensive)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After finishing Mandarin I, I felt as though I had basic knowledge of the language. After finishing Mandarin II, I felt as though I was able to use this knowledge in basic conversations. Now that I've finished all three levels, I feel that I have a good overall knowledge of Mandarin and that spoken fluency is within my grasp. This intermediate level would have taken years to achieve without Pimsleur, and my pronunciation wouldn't have been nearly as good. The only downside to this method is that you will NOT be fluent by the end, and you will need to finish the language on your own through self-study and conversational practice. For example, Pimsleur Mandarin teaches somewhere between 300 and 400 words, while 3000 - 5000 is required for fluency. Luckily, vocabulary is fairly easy to learn if you make a deck of flashcards. I've made thousands of these cards for Mandarin and other languages. They work. As for word lists, I've been using a few resources, but primarily the two-way dictionary in the back of the Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook, which contains about 2000 common words. I've also been using the Oxford Starter Chinese Dictionary, which is quite good. There are probably other good resources for vocabulary, but whatever you do, DON'T buy Vocabulearn Chinese. The female speaker in the recording has severe pronunciation errors which will damage your Mandarin beyond repair. Stick to the standard pronunciation that you see on television and hear in the Pimsleur series.

I also had a go at learning the writing system, which isn't as difficult as I previously thought. I can now read and write a few hundred characters, but this hasn't been nearly as rewarding as studying vocabulary. Still though, it is fun to be able to read the signs in chinatown. I plan to learn the rest of the characters after I'm fluent.

I've also been watching Mandarin TV shows and I try to catch the Mandarin edition of the news whenever I can. They talk a little fast, but I can usually understand some of what's going on. Conversation is much easier, as Chinese speakers tend to slow down to accommodate learners such as myself. And, if not, I can always politely ask them to slow down, or repeat what they've said.

So I am now immersed in the third volume of Pimsleur Mandarin. My reviews on the previous versions were very good. Mandarin III continues in the same vein, and I offer similar comments as given before. Pronunciation opportunity is excellent -- no Pinyin to distract you -- and you can effectively mimic sounds (at least on the CD versions). Occasioanlly, some sounds require Pinyin intervention and a dictionary -- I cannot quite distinguish some of the consonants. Could be my old ears? Overall, I have been very pleased. I have gone to Beijing after the first volume and a bit more, and had no difficulty. But I have cheated -- I've sat through some Mandarin classes in my local university. These classes have been essential.

Pimsleur is a great introduction to the language. It gives drills that develop important vocabulary, settings, and flexibility. They repeat enough to keep vocabulary relatively fresh. They rush you a bit to improve your fluency. They provide grammar in context, not as simply rules. So you sometimes know what to say, although you don't know a gramar rule. So?

I am on track to have comfortable comprehension and fluency. I still have a ways to go (even with my university classes). The Pimsleur set is a great accompaniment to the classes. And I figure out the grammar and associated rules. If you REALLY want to be fluent in Mandarin, you simply cannot rely on the Pimsleur alone (or perhaps any other fixed media). You need context, friends, classes, tv, movies, etc. But I would never give up the continuing practice the sets afford in the car. For me, the regular practice keeps vocabulary current, and "internalized." Pimsleur reinforces common scenarios you would likely experience in China. I will be going to China again next year, and I will really try to immerse myself in speaking.

Yes, a difficulty is no writing. Yes, there is no menu reading (which in class was done on a number of occasions and with food). And yes, there are even pronunciation differences between my Mandarin class teacher and the Pimsleur set. That just gives me a broader sense of lattitude in what works.

I would recommend I, II and III to all students of Mandarin, whether learning in the University or not. I still enjoy I and II even though I am somewhere near the end of two years of college courses.

If you've already bought Mandarin I and II, then Mandarin III won't disappoint. III continues where II left off. It builds on what you already learned in the previous two, so it doesn't feel like starting over. III uses the same teaching techniques used in I and II - repeat what the speaker says at different times.

There are also 30 lessons and a supplementary CD. Each lesson introduces about 10 or so new words and a few grammar rules. This allows for a very gentle but progressive learning of new vocabulary. Unlike other language systems (which bombard you with 20-30 words per lesson), this promotes retention and as a result gives the student encouragement and confidence.

The downside of the Pimselur system is that it only teaches listening and speaking skills and no reading or writing skills. This may be fine for European languages, which are mainly phonetic, but with Chinese, it feels like you're learning only 1/2 the language. ...

Nevertheless, Pimsleur is the best non-classroom language system I've tried so far (and I've tried many!) It does its job very well, so I'm willing to forgive the lack of writing or reading lessons.

P.S.: I wouldn't recommend Mandarin III if you are a beginner and haven't listened to I and II yet.

Now that I have reached the end of the Pimsleur Chinese courses, I am very aware of its strength and its relative weakness. Fortunately, Pimsleur is very complementary with Rosetta Stone. So now, I will redo the Rosetta Stone program, while keeping Pimsleur alive by going over one or two lessons a week.

As I said before: Rosetta Stone is stronger on vocabulary (a frog, an umbrella, West, an egg, a keyboard, November, Brazil, lipstick...) and Pimsleur on grammar and sentence structure (Did you take many pictures while you were in Nanjing? Yes, I did, but the museum was closed.)

As you may know, Volume I was much about drinking tea or beer.

In Volume II, there was a lot of business and tennis going on.

Volume III is a mix of travel (I have heard that the Peonies in Luo Yang are very famous. My room is on the fifth floor but it is not ready yet), business (I didn't have much time. I met many new clients. I needed a microphone. I dialed the wrong area code), and sheer misery (I have a sore throat. Go on my behalf to the pharmacy, buy some medicine and come back. This is my key).

I wish there had been a bit more vocabulary built into the Pimsleur (after 48 CDs and $600, one would expect to know more than one color - green). But the basis is very good indeed.

I am eager to go to China again. And I am also contemplating puchasing Pimsleur Spanish. Once you're used to such compelling company in your car and on your iPod, you can't imagine life without it.

I am at least middle aged and heading off/been to Taiwan on business. So I decided to try and learn to speak Mandarin. I am an engineer so I am bright enough, but languages in high school and college were killers. It has taken me about 18 months to go through the 3 Pimsleaur programs. I don't want to depress anyone, but I do want to give you some perspective. During the 18 months I also worked my way through the book Beginner's Chinese by Yong Ho.
Each Pimsleur lesson is 1/2 hour long and they make it sound like you just move from one to the next. Usually it takes me 3-4 times per lesson before I feel comfortable enough to move on to the next. They also say that it is strictly an auditory program. It may be, but I have to make flash cards of the new vocabulary as I go along. I have a couple of dictionaires that I work with. The Oxford starter Chinese Dictionary is good and the Rough Guide has phonetic spellings as well as the pin-ying.
Up until now, I have been learning in sort of a vacuum. I have not had much opportunity to speak or listen to Chinese outside of the tape series. When I do get an opportunity to speak, my Chinese speaking colleages say my pronunciation is good enough that people will think I really know what I am saying and will then barrage me with lots of questions expecting that I can understand them.
So while I can now phrase a lot of questions and feel pretty confident about speaking (albeit with the limited vocabulary of the series), I still have a lot of difficulty understanding my co-workers. They speak faster, use words I don't understand, or put them in different order than what is on the tapes. Still they appreciate the fact that I am trying to learn their language and are very patient with me.
As for vacabulary, the words introduced in the tape series sink in much faster/deeper than any words I have tried to learn outside of the series. The auditory system of learning phrases and hearing the words repeated works much better for me than studying with flash cards or from books.
Next stop for me is a 1/2 year assignment in Taiwan and baptism by fire. Regardless of how I fare, I wouldn't have gotten this far without the tape series. (This review program could use a spell checker)

There is simply no escape from Mandarin, once bitten it's there for life, the learning the intrigue etc. However there are painful ways and less painful ways to approach the language. Some people say stick to the pinyin forget the characters. However I contest this view having spent three years learning pinyin only to revert to Characters and start again. I do now feel like I am learning the full lanaguage. I gave pimsleur (3) four stars simply because yes it does everything for the beginner, if anything giving a taste of what is to come, it is a very cost effective way and fantastic introduction to what is a challenging language to say the least. It is even a great supplement to the advanced beginner or someone who has previous Mandarin knowledge. Where it fails for me is simply that it could have gone on to produce more in the series and this is where I feel it massively lets the learner down. This is not to put someone off who is contemplating using the series, but more as from the start to the see the series as simply an inrode or a very good prerequisite for things to come. At the end of which one can leave it or really take up the challenge. There is no doubt this is lot of fun and satisfying even to those who find langauges a difficulty, I am dyslexic and it has worked for me.
Another customer suggested following with Rosetta Stone, again a useful package, however without sounding contentious (everyone's learning style is different) I would actually delve in to the grammar a bit and get in to learning characters for a while before approaching this, it is big program by the end of which if you do not have enough sustained Mandarin grammar knowledge could end up in no mans land. (Maybe try Schaum's Outline of Chinese Grammar before or with). As for character books there are so many it is just another opinion, again the practical chinese reader is a cult classic so I am sure the New Practical Chinese reader lives up to expectations, another fantastic Character and pinyin book (which are quite old but very well structured) is "Colloquial Chinese" P.C. T'ung and D.E. Pollard, publisher: Routledge - very good for characters, it is another building block approach each lesson building on the last (it also shows you stroke order and how each character builds itsef)

Well, I have bought Pimsleur Mandarin I, II, and III, all at Amazon with lots of buckeroo, but I love this expensive series. Really, I have no regret. After Mandarin I and II, I went solo to China, and I have wonderful time. Really, don't book those tour package. With Pimsleur Mandarin I & II under your belt, you should have no trouble touring in China. smile. I have only one problem. I did have some difficulties ordering food from the restaurant's menu because Pimsleur didn't teach any writting... smile. Back to Mandarin III, I just finished couple of tapes, and it is excellent as previous series. This level III, build on the previous series. About 50% of vocabularies are rehashed from previous series. Other 50% are new vocabularies. Don't be disappointed because Pimsleur teaches you new way of saying things. I bought many other Mandarin materials. Beginner series by lpgroup (0 star), Vocabulearn (0 stars),making connections (3 stars), follow me chinese (0 star), Rosetta stone (0 star), Chinese language30 (3 stars), and instant immersion chinese (4 stars). (notes: there is a max of 1000 words, so don't flame me for grammar ok!) Oh, I also bought Ultimate mandarin from Amazon. smile. You better have pimsleur II under your belt before tackle Ultimate Mandarin because it is really advance stuff. Don't give up ok. The first 4 tapes of ManI and ManII are very tough for me, and then things are getting easier for other tapes. I am very surprise that tape 1 in Man3 is much easier than tape1 in ManI and tape 1 in ManII. Sorry, I haven't got to other tapes yet. (Oh, I forgot, After Man I and II, I am still unable to carry a deep meaningful conversation. But, I have no problem saying in Mandarin what I want such as hotel reservation, direction, get a cab and buses, and shopping. Maybe in couple of months, I will give you the result of this Man 3 series. I am very happy with Man3.)

It works!

Pimsleur Mandarin is a fantastic way to master the language. Used in conjunction with a basic college course, it is a powerhouse. You will vastly improve your pronunciation and ability to "think on your feet" in Mandarin with the Pimsleur program.

I would describe the Pimsleur method of learning a language as the "brute force repetition method." Other than immersion, there is no better way to learn. They masterfully build on very fundamentals, and before you know it, you can speak in entire sentences, even expressing thoughts and questions. What is most powerful about the method is the laser focus on proper pronunciation. Imagine being the only student called on in class for 30 minutes straight and you will get an idea of what the Pimsleur method is like. It is so engrossing that you may find, like I did, that it is not a great idea to drive while doing this program. It is beyond "active listening," you actually have to constantly respond to the speaker.

The downside of the method is you will not learn that much vocabulary in each series. However, the vocabulary that you learn, you will really know. Let me tell you, they will have drilled you each and every way to make a sentence using the vocab you know. However, is the method boring? I didn't think so. I have gone through the entire program twice, once at normal speed and once at double speed. To review for a trip to China, I went through the entire program at double speed on my iPod. That was not easy, but let me tell you, I was GOLDEN in China. I didn't have all the vocab I needed, but I could almost effortlessly converse in Mandarin.

One other small complaint I share with other reviewers is the language is very "northern" in dialect. However, you will find this in college Mandarin courses taught outside of China as well, since Mandarin itself is also known as "BeiHua" or northern language. Just have your Shanghai friends correct you in the few instances where you use too many ending "R" sounds and you will be fine. Another small complaint is this is only spoken Mandarin, with no learning of characters whatsoever, and most Chinese professors would tell you the proper way to learn Mandarin is to learn the characters at the same time. (However, Pimsleur never promises to teach anything other than spoken language anyway.)

This final set just adds to the first two, with exactly the same style of teaching. I think the pace picks up slightly, but like everything in this series, they do is so subtly you don't even notice it. (I hope they do a part 4).

Pimsleur Mandarin, coupled with a text or a basic college course, is the best way I know to build your skills to a conversational level before you go to China.

I have finished Mandarin I, II, and III. As I initially listened to each lesson, I repeated the lesson two or three times, as needed. When I was completely through, I spent two weeks (my first and only time) in China. I found that I could say and understand some simple things. I made lots of Chinese friends because I tried to speak their language even when they spoke perfect English. When I returned to the U.S., I have been going through all three volumes again--this time not repeating any lessons. I will probably later do this a third time. I do it while driving, and I find that I still enjoy the lessons and often prefer them to whatever is on the radio stations that I listen to--sports, news, music. I also listen to Chinese pop music and love it. I try to understand as many words and phrases from the songs as possible. I will need to study the Fluenz Mandarin courses, or others, to get more practice than Pimsleur offers, since Pimsleur is solely audio. I need to hear Pinyin much better to be able to use a dictionary regularly. Sometimes I start to study Chinese writing--but that is a massive task of memorization. I occasionally watch a Chinese movies and try to understand as I read the subtitles.

Having done all this, I am happy with what I have learned. Yet, I am not good at tones. I can't sing, even in English. Pimsleur will generally tell you the tone the first time a word is introduced, but rarely repeat that information again. Someone like me would profit from frequent repetition of being told what the tone is, since I have great difficulty deciding if I have heard the second tone or the fourth tone. And, even if I know the tone, I doubt that I correctly reproduce it. Also, I can hear, but I cannot make a convincing imitation of the Chinese sound for the vowel in the pinyin "si"--which is one of the most common words and includes all forms of "to be". I would like Pimsleur to spend more time explaining how many words are compound forms of other words, such as dian hoa (which sounds like tien hua)--telephone.

I may be entirely wrong on this, but I felt like volume 1 contained the most new information, followed by 2, and with 3 being the least useful.

After all this work (which is enjoyable--I am just doing this for fun), I still understand only a few sentences in a typical movie or long conversation or speech, and I typically will understand two or three words, or a phrase, in a sentence--not enough to know much about what a Chinese person is talking about. And when I speak to a Chinese person, even if they are impressed by how quickly I can rattle off phrases that I learned in Pimsleur, they quickly find that they cannot understand me. Typically, they "correct" my attempted Beijing pronunciation or choice of words (even where I am fairly sure I am correct as to Beijing Mandarin as taught by Pimsleur). Often, they tell me I have used the wrong word (the one I was taught in Pimsleur) and come up with an entirely different word which they say is the customary Mandarin word. And, most often, they find that they don't know what I am trying to say, and switch back to English.

To go past where I am now, I will need to go beyond Pimsleur. It teaches only 200 or 300 words, I think, and I believe that a working familiarity with about 2,000 words is necessary for conversational purposes beyond the most simple of situations. The best thing about Pimsleur is that it is interesting and engaging enough--and can be done while driving or doing other things--that I finished the whole course and still have fun repeating the course. I wish that Pimsleur had many more volumes. I have bogged down with other courses, even when they perhaps offer superior information. Pimsleur would be most valuable to the person that will be moving to China for an extended period of at least a few months, promptly following completion of the Pimsleur course.

I ended up finishing level three the day before my first trip to Beijing. It was amazingly useful in talking to some of the taxi drivers (not one spoke English) and in a couple of conversations I had with guides and other people I ran into that didn't speak English. I got quite a few compliments on my Mandarin...just be warned...if your pronunciation is too clean, people start speaking at normal speed.

I'm now a lot more confident in my studies of Mandarin and have moved on to more advanced grammar and vocab books. Having been through Pimsleur, I find the grammar exercises much easier and of course, pronunciation is close to effortless (but not quite). It gives you a very good feel for the various tone combinations.

The only drawback is the amount of time spent on directions...but that's a problem in almost every language program. Communicating directions takes a pretty high level of comprehension. Being able to ask directions to a place really doesn't do much if the person doesn't speak VERY slowly when giving them to you. All in all though, definitely worth it. I just wish there were a level four.