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!
I don't really think it's worth the effort.
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I think this program will help me extremely along in my career ^_^
