Pimsleur Japanese Basic Course – Level 1 Lessons 1-10 CD by Pimsleur

There is a possibility that I might be going to Japan for work, and being somewhat remedial with learning foreign languages, I wanted an inexpensive way to “test the waters”… can I really learn to speak Japanese from a CD? Is Pimsleur the right choice? Absolutely! I put these CDs in my radio on my way to work rather than listen to DJs talk about nothing and have been wonderfully surprised.

Pro:
-Lessons feature male and female speakers to give you a range of voice pitch
-Price of $15 for 10 half-hour lessons on 5 CDs delivered to you door is awesome!
-Some repetition and periodic reviews to help you learn and to keep you sharp
-You learn basics to get around, such as “Do you understand English?” and “Good morning, nice weather isn’t it.”
-5 CDs come with a nice black zippered soft-sided CD holder

Con:
-Each 30-minute lesson is an entire track, so you can’t use the “scan” feature on your radio, you must rewind (or fast forward) manually, despite clear logical breaks (like learning the reponse to a question you just learned)
-No supporting book or pamphlet of words to visually memorize (I need all the help I can get)
-Lessons are not a full 30 minutes typically… would have appreciated more repetition on several words that get almost none (you can rewind, so minor point I suppose)

Neutral:
-Tip #1: CD recommends that if you master 80% of the material, you can move on to the next lesson. I couldn’t disagree more, be nearly 100% to get the most of this (you can do it if I can), rewind if you must
-Tip #2: They say a word and you repeat it, there are a few seconds of delay time for you to respond. Learn to say each word not once in that time, but twice, so that you learn to speak at a reasonable speed. It would be annoying to go up to someone and talk too s-l-o-w-l-y…
-Sample vocabulary you will learn: excuse me, hello, good morning, good day, thank you, thank you very much, I, you, good, bad, weather, so it is (agreement), yes, no, I understand, I don’t understand, do you understand?, skilled, unskilled, English, Japanese (language, heritage are different words), American, but, well (like I don’t know Japanese very well), and so forth… and that’s only a sampling of the first 3 lessons… there are 10 in all.

Bottom line: Excellent introduction, highly recommended especially for ~$15. Note: if you buy Pimsleur I, I believe these are the same five discs that begin that series. With Pimsleur I you’ll get more CDs obviously, just note the overlap if you are considering it. If I knew then what I know now, I would bite the bullet and go right for Pimsleur I.

This is the easiest way to learn a new language. I listen every morning on my way to work and every evening on my way home. I’m able to zip through the lessons and progress fairly quickly. I choose to listen to them at least 4-5 days so I’ve really got a solid hold on the lesson before progressing on to the next. The way these lessons are taught help you problem solve and piece together sentences you haven’t been directly taught by teaching you how they work structurally within the sentence. Once you learn a new verb you automatically know how to use it in a sentence in its various tenses. It’s great to hear two different speakers pronounce the words so you can pick up on subtle pronunciation differences between the two and still be able to understand the word. However, as with English, there are certain words in Japanese that most people will pronounce “lazily” or rushed or condensed. For example, in English, the word crayon can be pronounced as “cran” rather than “cray-on” but it’s still understood. So goes the same with Japanese as in the word itsu, which means when. Occasionally, this word may be condensed to sound like “eets” rather than “ee- tsu”. This can be challenging when listening to Japanese words you may not have learned before but if you pay attention to the rest of the sentence, chances are that you will be able to figure out what the mystery word is. I’m going to be purchasing more pimsleur courses in Japanese for myself, and in Spanish for my brothers. It’s just the best. I’ve taken 6 years of language courses in school, tried self-learning, and tried Rosetta Stone, and I’ve got to say that Pimsleur is way easier to learn. If you’re thinking about learning a new language I suggest going with Pimsleur.

My only regret is the price, as I definitely would love to keep on with the extended version…
Other regret would be the lack of writing part, that is clearly missing should you consider passing the JLPT test, but it’s clearly designed as a 100% oral method, so…
Its system is based on repetition, but in a clever way that does not make you feel like a dumb-dumb nor bored at all, as it is mixed with new vocabulary and exercises that will allow you to remember lots within a short period of time
Plus, accent is perfect, as was able to exchange a few word with locals while I was in Japan (unfortunately that pronunciation positive aspect was quite a poisonous gift, as people tended to think I knew more than I actually did, so…. hahaha)
Just give it a try, as you will be positively amazed of how much you’ll be able to remember after a while!

Having never studied Japanese before, I bought this program as a “tester” to see if I could learn from an audio-based course…before forking over a large sum for the full Pimsleur Program.

Well…it works…for me, anyway.

With this “Basic Japanese” edition, you get the first 10 lessons of the Pimsleur Level I Comprehensive Program. The SAME ten lessons…SO…you can get to own them twice!

The same goes for the “Conversational Japanese” edition. You get the first 16 lessons. SO…don’t buy the “Basic Japanese” AND the “Conversational Japanese” together…you will be buying the same ten lessons twice! Although, Amazon “claims” these two items are “commonly bought together”. And if they truly are, all those people are wasting their money. Thanks Amazon :/

In the first ten lessons, you’ll cover approx. 130 different words (give or take); NOT counting sentence structures.

Overall, the program works well enough…YET…not as efficiently as the company proclaims. The program is sorely lacking in a phonetic-spelling word list. Pimsleur claims looking over written words would only slow or hinder the lessons and your learning/pronunciation…yet…I guess Pimsleur never thought that someone hearing people pronounce words in a foreign language for the first time might benefit from the smallest amount of visual-aid in order to get it right the first time.

NOW…with every new word, the program DOES provide a slow piece-by-piece pronunciation…HOWEVER…anyone who has seen “Lost in Translation” knows it doesn’t matter how slowly someone says “Lip mi Sockins”, you’re still going to need some clarification. (And YES, I realize that scene involves a Japanese Woman trying to speak English…BUT…just wait until you buy this program, and you will see…sorry…hear what I mean).

EVEN…The “full” visual-aid (i.e. a reading booklet) that comes with the “Comprehensive” Program ONLY has but the smallest amount of phonetically-written Japanese words in it. SO…I’ve been writing my OWN as I’ve progressed through the lessons.

NOTE: I’m currently on Lesson 11…which is, of course, not included in the “Basic” edition. The point is…having studied the entire “Basic” program I can honestly say…

If you only want to learn a decent amount of Japanese (for a trip, or what have you), I recommend the “Conversational Japanese” edition; assuming you have NO intention of ever buying the Level I “Comprehensive” Program.

However, if you merely wish to test out the Pimsleur program, then “Basic Japanese” is a good way to go.

AND ONE FINAL NOTE: Don’t buy the “Comprehensive” Program(s) at the way overpriced amount(s). I found a Pimsleur reseller who sells new versions of it for only $156.95 ([…] and will even buy them back (in like-new condition) for $100! Although, you might find a better deal then I did, and should NOT take this as an endorsement for “Pimsleur Marketplace”…I just wanted to warn you before kicking out $345.

May this review be helpful to you.

Happy Japanese Learning ^_^