Rating: 
Summary: Speak A Little German Fluently
Review: I'd heard and read about the Pimsleur tapes and was curious to see if they could add anything to the lessons in my Hugo German in Three Months course. And I can say there are both pros and cons.The Pros: You absolutely will actually begin THINKING in German with these tapes from the get go. There are three speakers - 2 native Germans (male & female) and an english-speaking tutor. The Pimsleur method seems to be based on a special (and HIGHLY effective) form of drilling and recall. The tutor and native speakers will put the words into small blocks (which you again are drilled endlessly on). From the short blocks they will then show you how to insert other short word blocks (again always words you'd previouly been drilled extensively on) to make progressively longer and more complex sentences. Then the tutor will begin to set up a scenario (for example, you sitting on the bus next to a woman and wanting to start a conversation with her). One of the scenarios will be something like, "Tell the woman you understand only a little German". Which in this case is the phrase, "Ich verstehe nur ein bischen Deutsch." You will recognize and understand this phrase or any of the words within it without ever adding the separate step of mentally translating it first into English. Congratulations - you've just achieved the Holy Grail of speaking a language - thinking and speaking those words or phrases like a native born to it. In terms of effectiveness it has no peer. And now for the cons: Yes it is VERY effective. However, I now understand why some reviewers of similar Pimsleur courses have complained that it gives you a somewhat limited vocabulary. What you do learn you understand like a native. But the method is VERY repetitive - it must be to force you to think in the language itself from the very beginning (they call it Anticipated Recall). It also provides no explanation of grammar or syntax. Or at least not in the Basic course (it may be different in the Comprehensive Courses). You'll speak the phrases but you won't really know WHY they are structured the way they are. Thus, even if you learned for example, additional verbs on your own you won't know the rules that would permit you to substitute the new verb in sentences you already know. It leads to a really odd result. You'll be highly fluent with the phrases and words you learned. And illiterate and ignorant of just about everything else spoken or said to you (hence these tapes make sure one of the phrases you have burned into your head is "ich verstehe nicht" i.e. "I don't understand". This is why I have a mixed opinion of these tapes - at least if you use them alone. The Basic course just doesn't teach you enough to depend on them alone. But it does give an excellent idea of how the Comprehensive Courses will work. I would say for maximum effectiveness it would be good to combine them with a more traditional tutoring course such as one from Hugo, Living Language or Berlitz. The traditional courses will give you a lot more vocabulary and the grammar to understand why the language is spoken the way it is. Then get the Pimsleur Comprehensive courses so that it will drill you in actually thinking and speaking what you've learned. To sum up, view the Basic Course as a short introduction of how the Pimsleur Comprehensive Courses teaching method works. Sort of a "try-before-you-buy" deal. If you're like me it'll convince you that it's worthwile to buy the advanced tapes. But don't depend on this Basic set to teach you a lot of conversational German - one of the many tourist phrase/cassette sets will have many times the number of words and phrases you would want to know before vacationing in a German-speaking country.
Rating:
Summary: Speak A Little German Fluently
Review: I'd heard and read about the Pimsleur tapes and was curious to see if they could add anything to the lessons in my Hugo German in Three Months course. And I can say there are both pros and cons. The Pros: You absolutely will actually begin THINKING in German with these tapes from the get go. There are three speakers - 2 native Germans (male & female) and an english-speaking tutor. The Pimsleur method seems to be based on a special (and HIGHLY effective) form of drilling and recall. The tutor and native speakers will put the words into small blocks (which you again are drilled endlessly on). From the short blocks they will then show you how to insert other short word blocks (again always words you'd previouly been drilled extensively on) to make progressively longer and more complex sentences. Then the tutor will begin to set up a scenario (for example, you sitting on the bus next to a woman and wanting to start a conversation with her). One of the scenarios will be something like, "Tell the woman you understand only a little German". Which in this case is the phrase, "Ich verstehe nur ein bischen Deutsch." You will recognize and understand this phrase or any of the words within it without ever adding the separate step of mentally translating it first into English. Congratulations - you've just achieved the Holy Grail of speaking a language - thinking and speaking those words or phrases like a native born to it. In terms of effectiveness it has no peer. And now for the cons: Yes it is VERY effective. However, I now understand why some reviewers of similar Pimsleur courses have complained that it gives you a somewhat limited vocabulary. What you do learn you understand like a native. But the method is VERY repetitive - it must be to force you to think in the language itself from the very beginning (they call it Anticipated Recall). It also provides no explanation of grammar or syntax. Or at least not in the Basic course (it may be different in the Comprehensive Courses). You'll speak the phrases but you won't really know WHY they are structured the way they are. Thus, even if you learned for example, additional verbs on your own you won't know the rules that would permit you to substitute the new verb in sentences you already know. It leads to a really odd result. You'll be highly fluent with the phrases and words you learned. And illiterate and ignorant of just about everything else spoken or said to you (hence these tapes make sure one of the phrases you have burned into your head is "ich verstehe nicht" i.e. "I don't understand". This is why I have a mixed opinion of these tapes - at least if you use them alone. The Basic course just doesn't teach you enough to depend on them alone. But it does give an excellent idea of how the Comprehensive Courses will work. I would say for maximum effectiveness it would be good to combine them with a more traditional tutoring course such as one from Hugo, Living Language or Berlitz. The traditional courses will give you a lot more vocabulary and the grammar to understand why the language is spoken the way it is. Then get the Pimsleur Comprehensive courses so that it will drill you in actually thinking and speaking what you've learned. To sum up, view the Basic Course as a short introduction of how the Pimsleur Comprehensive Courses teaching method works. Sort of a "try-before-you-buy" deal. If you're like me it'll convince you that it's worthwile to buy the advanced tapes. But don't depend on this Basic set to teach you a lot of conversational German - one of the many tourist phrase/cassette sets will have many times the number of words and phrases you would want to know before vacationing in a German-speaking country.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of time and money
Review: No books! No classes! Totally audio! Learn NOTHING!!! This course is divided into four CDs, each with two lessons for a total of eight lessons. I got halfway through it and had to stop. After four lessons -- probably a total of two audio hours, although I did a lot of fast forwarding, I had "learned" how to say: - Excuse me, do you understand English? - No, I don't understand any English. - Do you understand German? - No, I don't understand any German. - Oh, yes, you understand German very well! - No, only a little. - Hello. - Goodbye. - Are you an American? - No, I'm German. - How are you? - I'm fine. - Please. - Thank you. And that, I'm afraid, is just about it. So I gave up. Perhaps if I slogged through the final four "lessons" I might learn to say, "Excuse me, I need a book/CD that will actually teach me some useful German." Two hours and I haven't learned enough German to get out of the airport. What a waste of money. Oh well, I suppose I can just smile and repeat, "Ich verstehe kein Deutsch" ad nauseam. Haungh ptui on this product. p.s. because it's "all audio" you also won't know how to read or spell anything. Oh well. You weren't actually going to GO to Germany, were you?
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and money
Review: No books! No classes! Totally audio! Learn NOTHING!!! This course is divided into four CDs, each with two lessons for a total of eight lessons. I got halfway through it and had to stop. After four lessons -- probably a total of two audio hours, although I did a lot of fast forwarding, I had "learned" how to say: - Excuse me, do you understand English? - No, I don't understand any English. - Do you understand German? - No, I don't understand any German. - Oh, yes, you understand German very well! - No, only a little. - Hello. - Goodbye. - Are you an American? - No, I'm German. - How are you? - I'm fine. - Please. - Thank you. And that, I'm afraid, is just about it. So I gave up. Perhaps if I slogged through the final four "lessons" I might learn to say, "Excuse me, I need a book/CD that will actually teach me some useful German." Two hours and I haven't learned enough German to get out of the airport. What a waste of money. Oh well, I suppose I can just smile and repeat, "Ich verstehe kein Deutsch" ad nauseam. Haungh ptui on this product. p.s. because it's "all audio" you also won't know how to read or spell anything. Oh well. You weren't actually going to GO to Germany, were you?
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