German III

Rating:
Summary: Great, but only gets so far..
Review: Having listened to some of the German and Japanese tapes just recently, I have to say that the way vocabulary is built up in these tapes is wonderful. The repetition is exactly what is needed. The suggestion about pausing the tape to give yourself time to come up with answers is a very good one.

I have to remember to thank my Japanese and German teachers, however! In listening to the tapes, I was amazed how much I had managed to recall from lessons of over 10 to 20 years ago.

But I've only had one year of college German, and I found even with that I was at least at the intermediate level of the tapes. So what am I supposed to do after level 3? These tapes are rather expensive for that reason. But then again, a college course isn't cheap either. Perhaps the best way to use these tapes is to treat this like you're taking a college course, and use the tapes as conversation practice, but then also supplement them with some good grammar books and a dictionary.

The speakers on the tapes are excellent. Very clear pronunciation. If only people normally talked that slowly and clearly! Just for kicks, I'm going to try the tapes in a language I don't already speak and see just how much I can pick up.

Rating:
Summary: Wait for the next version
Review: I enjoyed German I & II, however I am having problems with German III. The flow is great between the previous CDs but the presentation leaves much to be desired.

In German I & II the conversations were great with inflection in the speakers voices that could lead you to believe you were listening to a real conversation. In German III it is obvious the speakers are reading sentences on a page and have no idea how their sentences are to be put togather.

The guy who says, "Sagen Sie" and "Fragen Sie" sounds like he is about to fall asleep. My CDs seem to have been made in 1998 by recording the cassettes from 1994 onto CDs. (You can hear the poor quality of tape compared to CDs.)

I recommend waiting until 2004 when the new version is out for this product. German I & II have a copyright after 2000.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Single Program
Review: I've read several reviews from folks slightly annoyed with what the Pimsleur course is lacking. If you are studying a language academically, and plan to become a book editor, etc. then they have a good point. Otherwise, language is first and foremost spoken and auditory. How did you learn your first language? BY LISTENING AND REPEATING! That is how our brains are wired.

The Pimsleur courses are the only ones to embrace this certainty and gear themselves toward our natural abilities. When you put aside your preconceptions about proper grammatical structure in the past imperfect tense (yada yada yada...), you realize that you could speak and understand your first language fluently before you could read a single word. This is the order in which languages should be learned.

Pimsleur can be used one of two ways. A) To give you an amazingly strong ability to communicate conversationally in a very short period of time. If you are planning a trip to a foreign country, I can't recommend Pimsleur enough to further enrich your experience. B) To be the first step in thoroughly learning a new language. You won't be a gramatical expert, nor will you understand all the rules simply from Pimsleur. You will, however, know what sounds right. You will have developed an ear for proper grammar, pronunciation, and conjugation. Further studies will be far simpler because the rules will make sense the minute you learn them.

This said, I've done several programs (I have a considerable commute) and can comfortably converse in all languages. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak!