Interested in learning Japanese with
Pimsleur Digital Japanese?

Best Price: $173.27
(Download Version)

Our Rating:
68%

Pimsleur Japanese review

By Gerrit du Plessis

Pimsleur's history in the language instruction industry isn't as long as Linguaphone's, but it's been around long enough to establish a reputation as a solid and reliable company - with a somewhat unusual quirk. Because its developer, Paul Pimsleur, believed adults should learn Japanese the same way they learned their native tongue - by listening to other people speak it - there is no reading or writing in the beginning stages at all. This works very well with auditory learners, but visual learners tend to find the lessons frustrating and ultimately forgettable.

This might seem odd given how repetitive the exercises are. But if I gave you a sample nonsense word - "ditbon," for example - asked you to repeat it ten or fifteen times, and then asked you what it was three hours from now, there's a very good chance you would have forgotten the word altogether. Now you see the problem with Pimsleur.

On the positive side, Pimsleur stresses communication, and their dialogues reflect very practical social situations you're likely to encounter on a typical visit to Japan. If you're an auditory learner, Pimsleur Digital Japanese will have you speaking Japanese in a very short time. You'll have a very limited vocabulary, no knowledge of grammar, and you won't be able to read any of the Japanese characters or syllabic scripts, but you will be able to ask a lot of questions and understand simple answers. If that's your goal in learning Japanese, and you're a strongly auditory learner, Pimsleur may work for you.

Pimsleur's weakest point is the deadly dullness and lack of variety in their instructional programs. You get dialogues to repeat - and dialogues to repeat. This is a real problem for people who learn better by reading or by performing some sort of activity or exercise.

I may be biased because I'm such a strongly visual learner, that's why I've given Pimsleur Japanese a rating of 68%.

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P.S. If you are looking for a fun way to learn Japanese online, read my Rocket Japanese review here.