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Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.” This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.
Pimsleur does a good job teaching the spoken language,but if you are interested in reading and writing you should try another course. The Pimsleur method is all audio,so there is no reading and writing material. In my opinion this a good course to learn basic conversational Cantonese.It will take you from an absolute beginner to a basic conversational level.However it will not make you fluent,but if you are planning a trip to Hong Kong or some other Cantonese speaking area where you need some basic conversational skills this will work well for you.It is also a good foundation for further study of Cantonese. Pimsleur really needs to make a level 2,or even 3 for students to increase their fluency in the language. There is just 1 level of 30 lessons,and it just drops you off there.
There just isn't that much out there for learning Cantonese, so this worked great. I grew up in a Cantonese-speaking family, and I always regretted not being able to speak it myself. I did notice some pronunciation and word choice differences from what I'd been used to hearing, so I had to ask my family what they thought a few times. I think someone not familiar with the language already would have to go through the lessons multiple times before they really got it, but Chinese is hard to learn, and that isn't Pimsleur's fault. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase.
I'm a Pimsleur fan all the way! I have bought four of their language sets in three languages. My husband, who speaks Cantonese, says that my Chinese has improved immensely since buying the CD lessons. Pimsleur forces you to repeat the sounds exactly... and with a tonal language like Cantonese, this is the only way to go! Trust me!
Pimsleur is the easiest method for a learner to start speaking another language. It is pleasant, non-intimidating and introduces the words used in the dialogues slowly along with an explanation of each word. However, its drawbacks are no written transcripts although the speakers' voices are quite clear; no individual tracks for each lesson making review of certain sections more difficult; and limited vocabulary due to the reliance on memory retention. Pimsleur is pricey considering its drawbacks but with the limited selection of Cantonese learning materials available, this still ranks as one of the better ones.
This Pimsleur course is definitely welcome. There is a dearth of comprehensive audio materials for this important language. As others have noted, some updating is needed but the course does give a good foundation. I am saddened Pimsleur has not seen the value of learning Cantonese and produced a second and third level; like they did for Mandarin. Cantonese may no longer be the official language of the Hong Kong SAR, but it is the language of family and business there. Any one not knowing Cantonese is at a business disadvantage without having a translator on your company payroll.
Working to learn my wife's native language, Cantonese, without learning the written language, Pimsleur is the best program I've found so far. With 30 lessons on CDs, plus a number of cultural lessons to boot, this is the easiest, most practical approach to becoming conversational in Cantonese, without learning the very difficult Chinese characters. My only complaint is that there aren't more lessons! Maybe a Part II, with 30 more lessons is in the works at Pimsleur? Anyone listening at Pimsleur? The reason Pimsleur works where others fall short is that an English-speaking moderator says everything in English, then two different native Cantonese speakers (one male, one female) translate the English into Cantonese and repeat the statement several times. Since Cantonese is such a tonal language, the tones used for each sound are also explained as the lesson progresses so you are aware that tone changes can change the meaning of what seem to be similar sounds. Repeating after the native speakers allows you to imitate the tones. Anyhow, here's my learning system and it could be used with any Pimsleur language--not just Cantonese: I downloaded the CDs to a 4GB iPod Nano that I use ONLY for Cantonese learning. Any MP3 player can be used, but I find that the original iPod Nano is the ideal compact size for sticking in a pocket with small earphones. You simply listen to the English, then the Cantonese, press the pause button to allow time to repeat the Cantonese, then press play again. To begin with, I listen to each lesson at home with a stack of 3" by 5" lined index cards, and I use a 0.9mm mechanical pencil (#2 and harder to break "lead" than 0.7mm or 0.5mm). I use Yale Romanization (the phonetic sound) for each character and write each sentence on a card after hearing the Cantonese, then putting the iPod in pause mode. I am able to get five sentences/vocabulary items on each card, with the front side in English and the flip side in Cantonese Romanization. Using this system, each lesson is condensed to 10-15 cards which I carry with me. A rubber band around the cards keeps them together: As an example, the English on one side might be: 1."Do you want to go to my place to eat?" The Romanized Cantonese on the other side will be something like: 1."Neih surng mh surng hoih ngoh doh sik ah?" There are many variations of Yale Romanization; however, I have found that the easiest way is to simply write the Cantonese phonetically--the way it sounds to YOU--without adding tone marks. In others words: keep it simple! I might write "mh" for "not" or "don't"; you may write "um". No matter, it's what works for you! In summary: the success or failure of any program like Pimsleur Cantonese is a direct reflection of the work you are willing to put into it. I find that by having small stacks of flash cards that I have made myself, I have put the necessary work into condensing the program into a useable form. You can carry the iPod Nano and earphones, or you may just carry a stack of cards with you wherever you go! Good luck!
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2011
Format: Audio CDVerified Purchase
This is an excellent Cantonese learning language program for Level 1. It takes you thru the paces at a nice easy rate and can always go back for review. I need it to brush up on it myself as I don't speak it on a regular basis. And when I do I'm more confident. I am hoping that there will be an Cantonese Level 2 and Level 3 in the near future but I was told there simply isn't a big demand for it. So for all you Cantonese speakers or learning to speak Cantonese out there, please write to Simon and Schuster publishers and voice your concerns and make this happen.
The pimsleur cantonese cds are excellent. I can now speak a little cantonese. On average, you have to repeat a lesson twice or trice in order the get the hang of it. I'm still having trouble understanding the news in cantonese on tv though. But I can understand some words in the news. If you want to converse in cantonese, I would definitely recommend pimsleur cantonese. It's only 30 minutes per day.
It makes sense because children or babies learn to speak before writing. This is how it is done in the pimsleur method.
3.0 out of 5 starsGot me well started in learning cantonese
Reviewed in Australia on May 29, 2019
Format: Audio CDVerified Purchase
Liked the principles of teaching. Disappointed with varied pronunciations / mispronunciations of words. It was only as i had spent 100's of hours of learning that I realised these mistakes. They should have a transcript which would have alerted me to their mistakes earlier.
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