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Originally Posted by Tasaio  My knowledge of spoken Japanese from Pimsleur was useless. It didn't help my reading or listening comprehension...at all.
Conversely, when I switched to learning the written language, it helped my listening skills a great deal.
I know of other people who have criticized Pimsleur for its limited dialogue (Do you want to drink osake? Do you want to drink beer? Where do you want to drink? Would you like to drink something? Do you like beer?  ).
I'm guessing, Mark, that you're a very social person who spends more time speaking Japanese than reading and writing it. Would you say that Pimsleur would be helpful to someone more focused on the written language?
(Of course, I'm the person who forgot the "n" in "konnichiwa", so I still have a long way to go in learning the language. ) |
I think your criticisms are valid, and that as helpful as I found Pimsleur, I should have mentioned that it shouldn't be the only resource someone uses. And no, I don't think it would be helpful to learn to read/write. But it did help me get around Japan the first time I was there. It was definitely not enough, but it helped me learn a lot in a short amount of time (especially since listening to the lessons on the tram to/from work was very convenient)
I found Henshall's "A guide to Remembering Japanese Characters" to be useful for learning Kanji, and the Minna no Nihongo series very good for learning everything else (I used that series in classes here in Australia and in Japan).
Oh, and for learning a variety of Japanese conversational speech, I'd suggest people try Japanese dramas. They're better than some anime because anime isn't necessarily the same speech that the Japanese use in general conversation (at least this is what I've been told, I'm certainly not at the 'general conversation' level. And it depends on the anime). Many Japanese dramas are fan-subbed.