Have you ever seen those annoying ads that say, “language professors hate him” and “learn a language in 10 days?” These are (fake) Pimsleur ads, and while you might not learn a language in 10 days with it, it IS a good course nonetheless. Don’t let the ads fool you.
Pimsleur is among the top language courses for beginners that you will find. It’s offered in over 50 languages and many top polyglots such as Benny Lewis from FluentIn3Months.com, recommend Pimsleur as a great resource for getting you started in a language and getting used to the sounds & pronunciations.
50 Languages available
Besides the usual candidates such as Spanish, French, German or Mandarin, there are some rather exotic languages available as well. Among them are
• Haitian Creole
• Ojibwe
• Tagalog
• Twi
• and Urdu
I’ve used Pimsleur for languages such as Spanish and French and have went through the course in full. I’m amazed by how well I came out of Pimsleur being able to pronounce the language and all I had to do is sit back and listen. I never thought it would do much considering this, but I was wrong.
Besides these two languages the Pimseleur approach is growing and adding more languages everyday, check out our software reviews to see where we rank some of the other Pimseleur programs.
Getting Advice from Others:
One thing that we advocate is reading online reviews before purchasing any type of language learning tool. As a rule of thumb I always recommend Amazon as my “go to” place for verified reviews.
What to Anticipate:
Two of the biggest questions we will looking at in our Pimsleur review are, “Does the Pimsleur method actually work and how long will it take?“
You should know that everyone is different when it comes to learning languages. Some learn better by visuals, and some learn better by audio. If you are more of a visual learner, then obviously Pimsleur will not be as good a pick for you simply because it’s all audio based.
Some who prefer learning Spanish through auditory learning feel that Pimsleur is one of the best languages at it helps them mimic the Spanish accent when they listen rather than read.
For the question of how long it will take – some people learn slower than others, so you may be able to finish and retain more in 3 months than another person who listened and studied for 6. It also depends on the amount of free time you have. If you have 5 hours of free time vs someone who has 2 hours, then you should expect to finish quicker.
I found that for me, based on all the time I had available to go through it, it took me around 3 months to get through it all. I didn’t do a lesson every day, however.
Pros:
- All you have to do is listen
- Short and effective lessons
- Teaches everyday language, not tourist phrases
- Your pronunciation will improve tremendously
- You can take it and listen to it anywhere you go since it’s audio based
- Talk at a rate of speech not to slow but not too fast either.
Cons:
- The full course used to be on the pricey side, but they offer an affordable monthly subscription now
- Gets boring fast
- Mostly teaches in formal language as opposed to informal
- No writing lessons
Guarantee:
Pimsleur guarantees spoken proficiency if you complete the first 30 lessons of a Pimsleur program.
Conclusion of our Pimsleur Review:
Overall, I think Pimsleur is a fantastic course that everyone serious about learning a new language should go through. It confuses me how programs like Rosetta Stone get more attention than something like this. You won’t come out of it being fluent of course, but your pronunciation and vocabulary will be far improved. It’s a great course for beginners. You should check out my Pimsleur vs Rosetta Stone post before you make any final decisions though.
I say, if you really want to get started with a language, have the time for it, and have the extra cash to spend – go for it. You won’t be disappointed. They also offer a free seven day try out course, which gives you the opportunity to check whether their style suits you.
Try Full Pimsleur Course Absolutely Free for 7-Days!
Zachary the “Languageholic”
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, which means you don’t have to pay more, but we get a small commission if you choose to pay for a course.
