Rating: 
Summary: Great Substitute For Classroom Japanese
Review: Atually, I would give it 4 1/2 stars, but that is not possible. It's not perfect (but then, what is?) My wife and I (kanai to watashi) are going to visit Japan in a few months and we wanted to get a basic working knowledge of the language. I though we really would be missing too much if we didn't know any Japanese.
After going through several audio courses (some spoke so fast we were about ready to give up in complete despair), I found Pimsleur and this course has been by far the best of any. Yes, they are expensive, but the quality is far superior to others and generally the teaching speed is about right (although by the end of the first set and the start of the 2nd set), the pace really picks up. Sometimes, phrases are not repreated, which is frustrating, but all in all, it's very good. We found that we can actually have some simple conversations in Japanese - pretty amazing for two people who didn't know a word a few months ago.
I would recommend though that if at all possible, make it a point to get a good Japanese/English dictionary and also a good grammar book. "Japanese for Busy People" is excellent. Both of us are "visual people" and we need the reinforcement of the written word. We're also doing reading in Romanji - maybe technically not the "correct way", but then again it will be "close enough." Maybe our accent won't be quite right, but so what. Does it matter that much? At least we are making the effort and trying to do our best.
Other reviewers also have the right idea when they recommend "practice, practice." In the car is fine, but wait until after you have heard the lesson at least once before. It's too hard and dangerous to try to "get it" the first time while driving. I also try to conduct simple dialogs in my head while at work, doing other things and so on.
We also wish we could practice and learn with a real Japanese native speaker, but with us living in a rural area, that is unfortunately not possible, so this is the next best thing.
Finally, get a few books on Japanese culture and history. You really need those to give you the proper foundation as why the language is structured in certain ways. Besides, the cultural and historical studies should be fascinating in their own right and it does seem to be much point in visiting a country if one is missing the cultural background. This is especially true for a country with customs so different from our own.
Once we get to Japan, we'll see if all this hard work was worth it. Sayonara!
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the money? I'm not sure.
Review: I am about half way through Pimsleur's Japanese I tapes. Although the real test will be when I arrive in Japan, I can already say that I have learned quite a bit. The Pimsleur format is great because it really helps with listening skills and pronunciation. I find the lessons easy to follow along with and I retain most of the vocubalary. I was previously working from the Japanese for Busy People book alone, and I can tell you that the Pimsleur tapes have saved me from mispronouncing a lot of the words I learned. All in all, I am quite pleased with the tapes.
However, I cannot say that they are worth the incredibly high price. They are, after all, little more than cassettes/CDs that consist of Japanese speakers repeating words and phrases. I cannot imagine why the price is so high. Were this product about a third of its present price, I would rate it 4 or 5 stars. My advice: buy it used, borrow from a friend, split the cost with someone, or check the library.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent foundation on which to build upon...
Review: I finally completed Pimsleur's Japanese I and am working on II. I found PJI to be the best foundation for the Japanese language to learn from! I checked out other teach-yourself's from the local library and none of them were able to teach me nearly as much. The Pimsleur approach truly is an effective one. Granted, you do need additional sources to study from. Kanji... Kana... none of these are learned of course. I learned the kana before picking up PJI and would read as much as possible from websites like Yahoo.co.jp, Apple.co.jp, etc. I now have a penpal that I correspond with and am able to comprehend a decent portion of her letters, most of the structure being taught from PJI. I also often chat online with Japanese natives, and although it is through text and not speech, they still comment that "I am very skilled." I can't wait to see what PJII brings. Thank you Dr. Pimsleur!
Rating: 
Summary: Female and male Japanese are SUPPOSED to sound different
Review: I have just started Pimsleur--I'm using it to supplement Berlitz (because Berlitz isn't teaching me normal conversational vocabulary, it's set up with all these artificial scenes, so you don't even learn to say HI, HOW ARE YOU for a while... but I digress). So far I like Pimsleur because it does indeed teach everything at once--grammar, vocab, etc. One thing I have to point out to other reviewers is that IT IS NORMAL for the female speaker to pronounce things differently from the male speaker--what she's actually doing is using different intonation, so it sounds different--because THAT'S HOW JAPANESE WORKS: women and men don't sound the same. What I'm noticing so far is that the woman's intonation sounds more lively and question-y, while the man's is a little flatter and gruffer. But, having already learned a lot about Japanese culture and society on my own, I know that this is normal. At least Pimsleur is using native speakers of both sexes so that you can hear this in action.
Rating: 
Summary: Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimas
Review: I love this Japanese course. I have done the first 3 lessons and can do them perfectly. I took 2 years of high school German and can only remember "Ich spreche sie Deutch nicht ser gut"(and I don't write it so well either). I only gave this 4 start because it should include written material so you can make sure you are pronouncing the words correctly. Before I looked it up in the dictionary I thought sukoshi was spelled skoshi because it sounds that way. Here are some tips for this course: Do each lesson at least 2 times or until you get 100%. Use the pause button. Do only 1 lesson a day. When you are finished try to repeat the dialogue in your head or aloud throughout the day over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Pimsleur Content
Review: I spent about a 40 days on the Level One tape, listening to each lesson. My process was to:
- Try to listen to a lesson each day
- Review the last half a previous lesson if I found it was difficult.
- Pause the tape frequently and try to say the sentence in Japanese before listening to the answers (I took 45min to an hour on each lesson this way)
- Don't write anything down! Weird but I've got a tendency NOT to memorize or recall things if I have them written down.
I've got to say the Level One tape gives a good grounding in sentence structure and grammar. Not a lot of vocabulary (I recommend unforgettablelanguages.com for that). Still, if I'd just borrowed a book from the library and spent as much time on it as I did listening to these tapes, it'd be cheaper and I'd get the same material out of it. :)
The real PRO of this tape lies in its repetitiveness and mobility. Reading a textbook would make me want to go to sleep.
I remember about 98% of what I listened to. The 2% has to do with word placement in a sentence... I still mix up those de's and ni's. Doh.
Rating:
Summary: Substitute for Classroom Instruction
Review: I'm just completing the Level 1 CDs, which I use in conjunction with "Japanese for Everyone". The CDs were an acceptable substitute for the conversational aspect of a class. (A class would be ideal, but I couldn't find one.) The constant switching between English and Japanese prevents you from fully entering Japanese-language mode, but hey, what else can they do on audio CDs? There's the strong advantage of being able to listen in the car, but drive carefully; it took some practice before I could concentrate on both the road and the CDs.
I found it useful to listen to each lesson twice, the second time pausing the CD after each new phrase and writing it down (not while driving :-). This formed a more concrete memory and provided concise notes for later review. A pace of one lesson per day (or two days at most) is ideal; slower is almost as bad as going too fast.
Although the CDs are repetitive and don't teach a ton of vocabulary, they help to develop natural language patterns, correct grammar, and a decent accent.
Rating:
Summary: It's ok. Not worth the ridiculous price.
Review: I've bought tons of Japanese-learning material, both book and software, and most of it at least partially disappointing regardless of price point. Pimsleur, despite its lofty hype and even loftier cost(!), is no different. It's ok, but it's not the holy grail that most reviews would have you think it is, with my own reasons summed up thus:1) You don't learn as much as you think you do. Yes, the method is sound, with the interspersed repetition and gradual introduction of new material, but the actual amount of language knowledge attained by the end of it is a LOT lower than one would hope. 2) The method (any method, in fact) NEEDS written material. I know it is a "selling point" of Pimsleur that it is audio-only, but in fact the course narration and design subtly discourage the student FROM writing things down or using other written material in conjunction with the course. I won't belabor the "why" since it's just plain common sense, but the bottom line is that some written material helps learning. Period. These courses are in bad need of some quality manuals/workbooks/whatever. 3) The speakers aren't very good. On Pimsleur I, for example, the female doesn't sound native in her pronounciation, and the male speaks WAY too quickly...ridiculously so! It's one thing to speak at a natural speed to get the ear "used" to what one hears in a natural Japanese conversation, but when the speaker speaks so fast that he practically mumbles half-sentences, that's an entirely different story. Despite everything else, this was my single biggest beef with these products, and lest the importance of this shortcoming escape you, remember that this is pretty much an all-audio course(!). The quality control on such a fundamental aspect of the product is pathetic. 4) The cost is way, WAY too high. Successful (and not successful) as this method may be, you know that it's too expensive before you even buy it, hype-to-high-heaven notwithstanding. Take my word, it's simply not worth the insane price. It is simply not THAT much better than other available material that it's worth spending several factors more for. If you're able to get it for less, then yes, you'll get some learning value out of it, but bear in mind the above points...it is very over-hyped, and even more over-priced.
Rating:
Summary: sukoshi wakarimas?
Review: The person who said "wakarimas" is a good example of the limitations of this product. (It should be "wakarimasu") For this product to be effective, a written course is also necessary. I'm just a beginner, but I believe I've done well so far when learning with Pimsleur, a Kanji book, and the Living Language (Random House) course (for its strength in grammar).
It may seem like a small thing (because Pimsleur does work well teaching spoken language only), but it only makes it harder to limit yourself to this method.
The price of these products is insane... I completed the short course (that I purchased for $20-30) but borrowed this from a friend also learning Japanese.
To people new to language learning, I recommend the book by Barry Farber: "How to learn any Language" - his story is interesting, but more importantly he gives a good method for learning.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent course!
Review: The Pimsleur courses are certainly among the very best on the market. The "just-right" speed of the set is amazong, it's fast enough to "sound real", but slow enough to get the nuances. One reader/listener criticized the pronounciation of ""wakarimas" vs. ""wakarimasu" - I may add that it is correct that it may be written "wakarimasu", but it is about 15 minutes into the course you learn that the "su" at the end of words is not really spoken in Japanese. Since they use native speakers on the courses, it also appears unlikely they'd make such a simple mistake. Good luck with your learning!
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