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Pimsleur?

MikeM

後輩
8 Dec 2003
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1
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Hey --

My relative bought me all three sets of Pimsleur Japanese for my birthday (3 sets = 90 lessons). Are these any good or are they trash?

I am somewhat new to Japanese. Most of my studies have been studying form and I have mastered hiragana and katakana and am working on kanji, which I am progressing well at.

But I've heard mixed opinions on this. I only know a few dozen phrases, so I am basically new at the speaking part. A friend whose studying said, "No usage of daily japanese at all, (plain form nor keigo)... don't waste your time."

Is that accurate?

Basically, what are your opinions on this? Yay or nay? If nay, what do you suggest?
 
Well, I've been studying Japanese for about 6 months now and have finished the first 75 lessons of Pimsleur. My opinion is that alone, this practically won't teach any Japanese, you will only become a "Japanese Parrot", repeating what he says without any idea of why it is said like that. But combined with other study material these can be very useful and effective. I will attend a university class after the summer but until now I've been studying on my own, that meens that I've not been able to talk to someone in Japanese. But thanks to Pimsleur I've been talking for about 75*30 minutes, very useful to learn pronounciation and get a feeling for the language.

During the summer I've been walking to work, it takes about an hour. During that hour I only listen to Pimsleur or two other courses on my iPod. Since I usually don't meet more than 4-5 people during that walk I don't have to feel ashamed for talking to my self, which I think is very important so that you really try to speak in you normal dialog tone and not just whisper at home.

To sum up, Pimsleur has given me lots of valuable pronounciation practice and a feeling for the language that no book can ever give you. This also means that it is alot easier to remember the vocabulary used in this course since you use them very often, but even makes it easier to learn all new words because you've taken a few first steps towards getting that gut feeling for what sounds right and what doesn't.

Finally, as I said before about only using this. As soon as you repeat something without understanding the underlying grammar, take a break from Pimsleur and keep studying from books, then return and be amazed on how this will make those abstract rules seem simples, some even obvious.

Please share your thoughts after you've taken a few lessons.
がんばって!
 
Yeah, I did the same thing with my iPod. I don't think I could live without my iPod. LOL.

I did five lessons in the past five days, I feel I know a couple phrases although I doubt they are used much in real life but my vocabulary is enhancing. I put these notes together, I have notes written down in hiragana but they are not on the computer, and these are just in romaji:

LESSON 2

ii otenki desu ne - its nice weather, isn't it?
ii otenki desu - its nice weather
sou desu ne - its so, isn't it?
ohayou gozaimasu - good morning.
jaamataa - see you

*"otenki" is polite form of "tenki"

LESSON 3

iyana otenki desu ne - its bad weather, isn't it?
mada - yet
demo - but
demo mada jouzu ja arimasen - but I am not skilled yet
domo - indeed, very much
sumimasen. yoku wakarimasen. - sorry. I do not understand.
konnichiwa - good afternoon.
yoku - well
watashi wa nihon-jin ja arimasen - I am not Japanese.
Anata wa - And you?

*in writing form, wa = ha


LESSON 4

jouzu ni hanashimasu - you speak well
yoku wakarimasu - you understand well
shinjuku - major train station in tokyo
ueno - major train station in tokyo
eki - train station
ee - yes (short version)
shinjuku eki - shinjuku station
koko - here
koko desu - its here
koko ja arimasen - its not here
asoko - there, over there
koen - park

LESSON 5

tabemasu - to eat
nomimasu - to drink
nanika - something
iie kekko desu - no thank you
nanika tabemasen ka - wouldn't you like to eat something?
soo desu ne... - acknoweldging a question, stalling to decide
nanika nomimasen ka - wouldn't you like to drink something?

I'm happy with it so far.
 
MikeM said:
jaamataa - see you
Too many a's for the 'official' version.
Generally ja mata.
MikeM said:
domo - indeed, very much
Not a long enough 'o'.
Should be 'doumo'.
MikeM said:
watashi wa nihon-jin ja arimasen - I am not Japanese.
Well duh. ;)
Actually if you were nihonjin you probably wouldn't have said 'watashi wa'.
MikeM said:
asoko - there, over there
I think they'll be missing the more 'interesting' uses of asoko from the lessons.
MikeM said:
iie kekko desu - no thank you
Officially kekkou
MikeM said:
soo desu ne... - acknowledging a question, stalling to decide
Should be 'sou desu ne' in the approximate romaji system you seem to be using.
 
i have been using pimsleur for about two weeks and find it very very good and useful. the key, and the directions state this, is to be around the langauge as much as possible to compliment what they are teaching you. if you are not around the language then you will become a parrot, but if you are around the language then you will learn quickly along with pimsleur. also i don't what the others have experience but pimsleur not only teaches you the langauge but the grammitical ( spelling ? ) structure of the language which helps you to be able to put together your own sentences.

i have joined a weekly japanese group using meetup.com ( www.meetup.com ) try it and see if there is a group in your area.
 
daBigNY said:
i have joined a weekly japanese group using meetup.com ( www.meetup.com ) try it and see if there is a group in your area.
30 mile trip to meet up with around 10 people most of which will probably know less Japanese than I do. 😌 I don't really think it's worth the effort.
 
or a 10 minute ride on the train....

...to meet with native japanese speakers who can help you greatly with your goal of learning japanese.

sorry i tend to see the glass half full :) .
 
daBigNY said:
or a 10 minute ride on the train....
You obviously don't know trains :p

daBigNY said:
...to meet with native japanese speakers who can help you greatly with your goal of learning japanese.
I've got a Japanese teacher I see once a fortnight or so for around an hour and a half.

... don't spend enough time speaking Japanese with her though. 😌
 
daBigNY said:
i live in new york and i don't know trains? um...hello?
Then where'd you pick up the '30 miles = 10 minutes' from? 'Cuz they sure don't have average speed of 180 miles an hour round my parts - or New York.
 
well i obviously wasn't...

...trying to say that you could travel 30 miles in 10 minutes. i was simply making the point that it could be a 10 minute train ride ( this is not in relation to milage ).

:eek:
 
daBigNY said:
...trying to say that you could travel 30 miles in 10 minutes. i was simply making the point that it could be a 10 minute train ride ( this is not in relation to milage ).
"30 miles",
"about 10 people" and
"most of which will probably know less Japanese than I do"
weren't pulled out of a hat they were what I had determined to be the case from checking out the link.
 
daBigNY said:
...to meet with native japanese speakers who can help you greatly with your goal of learning japanese.

sorry i tend to see the glass half full :) .

Or turn my head and speak to my wife and children....
 
I have also been listening to the Pimsleur lessons, I have only got to about lesson 4 myself as i keep playing them back...they have helped me alittle bit. But i haven't been practicing speaking..just reading and writing. :?

I listen to them on my iPod aswell, and i've also been repeating them under my breathe....😊 🙂

Porl''
 
I've just recently started using Pimsleur Japanese I Third Edition. It is the first language program that I have bought and I must say, I'm very happy with it! Even excited! I've been wanting to learn Japanese for so long. I've been interested in the language, culture, and customs since I was 11 years old and I'm 22 now. My dream of living in Japan one day and teaching Japanese students English is my dream! :D I think this program will help me extremely along in my career ^_^
I'm planning on enrolling in NILS Japanese Language School in Fukuoka, Japan. ^_^ I'll be living in Japan for 3 months (you can enroll to stay longer if desired) and all of my teachers will be native Japanese speakers. I'll attend classes and also excursions to temples, festivals, and other activities in Japan! I'll learn all about their langauge, customs, and culture! And you can go to this school and not know ANY Japanese AT ALL! I'm so excited and anxious! Has anyone else ever heard about or attended NILS?
Sorry if I seem to ramble...I'm just very excited about it! ^____^

~Sammi J.~
 
I'd heard Pimsleur lessons for different languages in the past, as a result of my boyfriend's personal studies of various languages, but I had never made an attempt to listen to any lessons myself. I recently began going through Comprehensive Japanese I, second edition, as a way to give myself a bit of an introduction to the language, whilst working on cementing the kana into memory. I've been keeping my own notes as well, probably chocked full of transcription errors as a result of my inexperience, but Pimsleur seems to be, at the very least, a good way to keep yourself motivated to study, if not a decent way to begin familiarizing oneself with spoken Japanese.

For example, I may take a look at an overview of verb bases and their usage and feel intimidated, or perhaps a bit put off from my studies. But if you listen to a new lesson of Pimsleur, each of which build on the previous, you can reassure yourself that you really are making some progress, however small, toward understanding the language of your desire. A single lesson of Pimsleur doesn't amount to a terribly large amount of information, but it may be just enough to keep a sort of bounce in your step, especially as a beginning student.

I certainly wouldn't rely on Pimsleur as a sole method of studying the Japanese language. The idea that they refuse to include transcripts I suppose I can understand, but the failure to include at least notes which are a little more detailed as far as grammar is concerned, is something that I just fail to understand. And not only to do they refrain from including such information, written or aural, but they seem to discourage you from creating any on your own. I find this to be absurd.

And of course, this says nothing of the fact that, very simply, you will need other resources to gain a full understanding of the language, rather than the ability to mimic sounds. People are often very harsh on language learning materials because they want to learn everything effortlessly with one package. I once read a lovely review on Amazon (I believe regarding some negative comments on a Living Language course) from a person who stated that everyone who'd given the course a poor rating was looking for "Learn ______ While You Eat Popcorn and Watch TV," and I believe there was truth in his statement, however cynical it my have been. Though I myself would, of course, love to learn Japanese (or any other language for that matter!) without effort, it's unfortunately not possible. It's simple fact that one needs a variety of resources to be successful, but Pimsleur can be a nice addition to a selection of methods and materials one has available for learning.

I'm planning on enrolling in NILS Japanese Language School in Fukuoka, Japan. ^_^ I'll be living in Japan for 3 months (you can enroll to stay longer if desired) and all of my teachers will be native Japanese speakers. I'll attend classes and also excursions to temples, festivals, and other activities in Japan! I'll learn all about their langauge, customs, and culture! And you can go to this school and not know ANY Japanese AT ALL! I'm so excited and anxious! Has anyone else ever heard about or attended NILS?

That sounds very exciting (and also a little scary!), Sammi! I've never heard of the program you've mentioned, but I'm slightly jealous. Best of luck to you!
 
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Here's a phrase for you along the lines of "fail to understand": 理解に苦しむ (りかいに くるしむ). I like that wording (理解 is "understanding" and 苦しむ is "to suffer").
 
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