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Comments about Pimsleur Quick and Simple Mandarin Chinese: Mandarin:
I've been using the CDs for weeks now and I must say these really work. The Pimsleur CDs are best for adults (and I guess even children) who will travel to a China or a dominantly Chinese-speaking community. The vocabulary they have chosen is really for travelers, about asking if they speak English, what country one is from, asking places and where to eat/ drink, what time it is, etc.
Users are asked to "talk" to the CD- to listen and repeat the sentences or respond to the prompts of the guide. The constant repeating makes one eventually learn. I like that the guide also stresses how the tones are pronounced. Also, the literal translation and sequence is given, making it easier for me to piece together sentence patterns.
This product does not have a pinyin word list, and i have been having difficulty looking for the pinyin spellings. It helps for adult total beginners to learn only by listening and not seeing the western alphabet in Pinyin because it would fuzz up our perception of the sound.
But if you plan to learn some Chinese sentences you can use and actually be understood when you say it, use Pimsleur. I love this product, there are quite a few sentences and phrases to learn, but all are usable. For those who can squeeze in 30 minutes a day to respond to the CD, I think you will find no problems learning the sentences.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from AU on 6/21/2009
Comments about Pimsleur Quick and Simple Mandarin Chinese: Mandarin:
my son and i are doing the pimsleur program and i like it.. im hopeless at languages, im 'hard-tongued". but pimsleur's method is easy to follow. my son remembers the sentences more than i do, but at least im coasting along better than i expected.
each cd has 2 main units each, each unit teaches several useful phrases that i can actually use.
my son also didn't want to learn, but after hearing that it is INSTRUCTED that you are not allowed to take notes, etc. (or the boring stuff usually done to learn a language) during the lesson, he agreed to do it and is doing better than I am.
i like the program very much.