Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5783 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish*
| Message 1 of 104 02 November 2009 at 12:45am | IP Logged |
So I finished Pimsleur Romanian 1-10 and am now considering buying 10-20 from Itunes.
But.
I is worth it? I mean, it costs a fortune, there's a lot of repetition (which is kinda
the idea of pims. i know), not that much new material presented, blablabla, yadayadayada.
Has anyone finished at least the first 20 lessons of pimsleur? and what do you
think about it? Is it worth it compared to the fact that I can buy every single book in
Romanian for the price of Pims.?
Edited by Amoore on 02 November 2009 at 1:34am
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Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5912 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes
| Message 2 of 104 02 November 2009 at 2:22am | IP Logged |
I did all four levels of German Pimsleur (I-III + Plus) and my opinion is, yes they were very helpful and yes they are horrendously expensive. Is Pimsleur worth it? Honestly, I wouldn't pay what they ask for it, considering that in my opinion its true value is restricted primarily to being a solid practicing complement to your main course and that by itself you won't get very far. If you can get a decent deal I say go for it, since it will provide you with a lot of confidence and familiarity with some of the basic verbal forms, but do not expect a full course or to cover substantial ground.
Edited by Juan M. on 02 November 2009 at 2:24am
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Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5690 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish
| Message 3 of 104 02 November 2009 at 2:45am | IP Logged |
I think Pimsleur is immensely valuable. Is it worth the money? The answer is relative to
how much money you need for more pressing things in life.
Try: 1) your library
2) used stuff online
3) "less legal" methods
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maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5587 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 4 of 104 02 November 2009 at 7:30am | IP Logged |
I did all three levels of Japanese. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. I want that part of my life back. Seriously, had I spent that half hour a day doing say Assimil instead (just an example, as a course comparable in length and daily regimen), I would have been much better prepared for my first trip to Japan. As it was, I spent most of my time there hoping I'd find myself in one of the pre-scripted touristy situations for which Pimsleur trains. It didn't teach me to use or understand natural language in the slightest (i.e, i couldn't have even the most basic conversation about anything while I was there). I'm only glad that I didn't waste too much money on it, having bought it used.
EDIT: That said, I may be a bit emotionally invested in this one. Japanese was my first self-study foreign language, and Pimsleur Japanese was the first home-study course that I had the tenacity to see through to the end. I put a lot of hope and expectation into it, and it didn't deliver. In hindsight I shouldn't have expected as much as I did, but nevertheless I still feel (and my follow up experience demonstrates that) a proper course would have given me more payback for the time I invested into it. I know Pimsleur is a popular approach on this forum, but I'm staying honest to my experience.
Edited by maaku on 02 November 2009 at 7:40am
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Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5783 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish*
| Message 5 of 104 02 November 2009 at 9:49am | IP Logged |
maaku wrote:
I did all three levels of Japanese. Was it worth it? Absolutely not.
I want that part of my life back. Seriously, had I spent that half hour a day doing
say Assimil instead (just an example, as a course comparable in length and daily
regimen), I would have been much better prepared for my first trip to Japan. As it
was, I spent most of my time there hoping I'd find myself in one of the pre-scripted
touristy situations for which Pimsleur trains. It didn't teach me to use or understand
natural language in the slightest (i.e, i couldn't have even the most basic
conversation about anything while I was there). I'm only glad that I didn't waste too
much money on it, having bought it used.
EDIT: That said, I may be a bit emotionally invested in this one. Japanese was my
first self-study foreign language, and Pimsleur Japanese was the first home-study
course that I had the tenacity to see through to the end. I put a lot of hope and
expectation into it, and it didn't deliver. In hindsight I shouldn't have expected as
much as I did, but nevertheless I still feel (and my follow up experience demonstrates
that) a proper course would have given me more payback for the time I invested into it.
I know Pimsleur is a popular approach on this forum, but I'm staying honest to my
experience. |
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Romanian is my first serious self-study foreign language and I really do not want to
waste my time. So after spending 4 lessons, or 2 hours, saying "Where do you want to
eat" "Here, not there" for the 25th time, I do feel like wasting time.
Thank you for the honest answer. All i needed.
I will not buy more from pimsleur at this point but instead go through the DLI Romanian
- which covers 10 times more words than Pimsleur.
Edited by Amoore on 02 November 2009 at 9:50am
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Eumaeus Groupie Australia Joined 5617 days ago 75 posts - 134 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian
| Message 6 of 104 02 November 2009 at 10:18am | IP Logged |
Good choice Amoore.
l tried Pimsleur ltalian for a while. I'm afraid, l fell for the hype. Had a similar experience to that of maaku and his Japanese. Thankfully I bailed before I finished level one, stumbled on HTLAL, and dicovered Assimil.
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maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5587 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 7 of 104 02 November 2009 at 10:46am | IP Logged |
Have you any ability in French or Italian? There is an Assimil course for Romanian, but alas it is only available in those base languages. DLI Romanian is great, don't get me wrong (I make heavy use of DLI/FSI as well). But I would recommend pairing it with a more lightweight course for when you get sick of drills ;)
Good luck!
Edited by maaku on 02 November 2009 at 10:52am
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Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5783 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish*
| Message 8 of 104 02 November 2009 at 12:39pm | IP Logged |
No abilities in French or Italian. But it will come someday :)
Thanks to all of you. Pimsleur is out, DLI and Colloquial Romanian in.
Edited by Amoore on 02 November 2009 at 1:18pm
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