Japanese, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs Author: Pimsleur | Language: English | ISBN:
0743550722 | Format: PDF
Japanese, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs Description
The 10-lesson (5 CDs) Basic Course gives customers the chance to test drive the incredibly effective and efficient, world-famous Pimsleur Comprehensive Program. A real try it before you buy it deal. Customers will love the experience of acquiring the essential grammar and vocabulary of Japanese, during the spoken practice sessions. It is this ease of language acquisition that makes the full Comprehensive Pimsleur Program so popular and successful for adult language learners.
- Series: Basic (Book 1)
- Audio CD: 5 pages
- Publisher: Pimsleur; Unabridged edition (November 1, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743550722
- ISBN-13: 978-0743550727
- Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.6 x 1.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
There is a possibility that I might be going to Japan for work, and being somewhat remedial with learning foreign languages, I wanted an inexpensive way to "test the waters"... can I really learn to speak Japanese from a CD? Is Pimsleur the right choice? Absolutely! I put these CDs in my radio on my way to work rather than listen to DJs talk about nothing and have been wonderfully surprised.
Pro:
-Lessons feature male and female speakers to give you a range of voice pitch
-Price of $15 for 10 half-hour lessons on 5 CDs delivered to you door is awesome!
-Some repetition and periodic reviews to help you learn and to keep you sharp
-You learn basics to get around, such as "Do you understand English?" and "Good morning, nice weather isn't it."
-5 CDs come with a nice black zippered soft-sided CD holder
Con:
-Each 30-minute lesson is an entire track, so you can't use the "scan" feature on your radio, you must rewind (or fast forward) manually, despite clear logical breaks (like learning the reponse to a question you just learned)
-No supporting book or pamphlet of words to visually memorize (I need all the help I can get)
-Lessons are not a full 30 minutes typically... would have appreciated more repetition on several words that get almost none (you can rewind, so minor point I suppose)
Neutral:
-Tip #1: CD recommends that if you master 80% of the material, you can move on to the next lesson. I couldn't disagree more, be nearly 100% to get the most of this (you can do it if I can), rewind if you must
-Tip #2: They say a word and you repeat it, there are a few seconds of delay time for you to respond. Learn to say each word not once in that time, but twice, so that you learn to speak at a reasonable speed.
Having never studied Japanese before, I bought this program as a "tester" to see if I could learn from an audio-based course...before forking over a large sum for the full Pimsleur Program.
Well...it works...for me, anyway.
With this "Basic Japanese" edition, you get the first 10 lessons of the Pimsleur Level I Comprehensive Program. The SAME ten lessons...SO...you can get to own them twice!
The same goes for the "Conversational Japanese" edition. You get the first 16 lessons. SO...don't buy the "Basic Japanese" AND the "Conversational Japanese" together...you will be buying the same ten lessons twice! Although, Amazon "claims" these two items are "commonly bought together". And if they truly are, all those people are wasting their money. Thanks Amazon :/
In the first ten lessons, you'll cover approx. 130 different words (give or take); NOT counting sentence structures.
Overall, the program works well enough...YET...not as efficiently as the company proclaims. The program is sorely lacking in a phonetic-spelling word list. Pimsleur claims looking over written words would only slow or hinder the lessons and your learning/pronunciation...yet...I guess Pimsleur never thought that someone hearing people pronounce words in a foreign language for the first time might benefit from the smallest amount of visual-aid in order to get it right the first time.
NOW...with every new word, the program DOES provide a slow piece-by-piece pronunciation...HOWEVER...anyone who has seen "Lost in Translation" knows it doesn't matter how slowly someone says "Lip mi Sockins", you're still going to need some clarification. (And YES, I realize that scene involves a Japanese Woman trying to speak English...BUT...
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