The Pimsleur Method?

[MWThomas]

What can you tell me about this so-called 'miracle' solution to learning Japanese quickly?

I want to learn the language, but I'm not sure about this method.

[Glenn]

They talk, you repeat. That's about all there is to it. There are also some grammatical notes and cultural notes involved, but I'm not too sure how extensive that is. I've never actually used the program.

[MWThomas]

That sounds a little too simple.

[Glenn]

Well, to be fair, I did oversimplify. But that's still what's at the root of the program.

[Bucko]

I used it all the way to the end. It was good but I didn't really learn much. Far better to get a good text book and a teacher IMO. Also, Pimsleur is really bad for:
1) listening practice, since it's all translating from English to Japanese, you rarely have to listen out for "unexpected" phrases;
2) writing, as it's all listening and speaking. Although by the end I did learn the kanas and some kanji and began writing down each sentence in a notebook to practice my writing.

[MWThomas]

Are Heisig's books good?

[Bucko]

Yeah pretty good. I've only used the first Kanji book and it has REALLY helped me remember everything. I highly recommend it. (Although I don't know about the hiragana/katakana book)

[moofs]

I'd suggest http://www.yesjapan.com/ - they're pretty good.

You can check out some of their shows:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=george+and+keiko

I like the one titled "Techniques to impress your Japanese friends" or smoething like that. The そう思いたいけど。。。 is pretty useful. =)

[Glenn]

Are Heisig's books good?

Yeah, but just remember that they're only an introduction to the kanji. However, if you get through the second book you should be on pretty solid ground; any new meanings or usages for kanji you can pick up fairly easily once you have the writing, reading, and one meaning for them. Oh, and remember to study vocab, too. Just knowing kanji won't make you fluent, especially when you come across a word like 切手 or 取っ手.

[MWThomas]

How many words must you know to be fluent?

[KrazyKat]

How many words must you know to be fluent?
10 000 :) Thats what they say you need for JLPT 1, anyway. I wouldn't worry about the number of words you need to be fluent at all though.

[Bucko]

I'd suggest http://www.yesjapan.com/ - they're pretty good.

You can check out some of their shows:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=george+and+keiko

I like the one titled "Techniques to impress your Japanese friends" or smoething like that. The そう思いたいけど。。。 is pretty useful. =)

Hey Moofs, those videos were awesome!! Where can I get some more info on YesJapan? I visited their website but I wanna see some unbiased info.

[yorkii]

pimsluer was my introduction to the language. Pimsluer was especially useful to me as a self-studying student because it is the spoken language. something that a textbook can never teach (fully). Since moving to japan in august, i hear some of my english speaking colleagues, and i personally think their pronounciation is quite bad compared to my own. i thank pimsluer for the repition and training of the pronunciation.

[Ben W Bell]

Pimsleur is pretty good, but it is only spoken language and isn't to be used in isolation. You need to supplement Pimsleur with other forms of learning, books, kana practice and the like. I have a tutor I see once a week but I still use my Pimsleur to expand my knowledge and get some additional practice.

Pimsleur doesn't just do repetition, they will come back many lessons after teaching you something and prompt you to recall it. They ask you to come up with sentences they have never said based on your knowledge so far which is much more useful than the simple repetition method many language courses use.

[Mike Cash]

How many words must you know to be fluent?

You can be fluent with a dozen words, provided you are always only in situations where that dozen will suffice.

("Fluency" has nothing to do with how much of a language a person knows).

[acquiredtarget]

Is this the $200+ Pimsluer set or the cheaper set?