Review
“Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed.”– AudioFile Magazine”EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE…each section within the lessons is short enough to hold our attention, and there is enough repetition to teach even those who consider themselves slow learners…Pimsleur [programs] are extremely thorough and easy to use — quite lively!”– Boston Herald”Learn French while commuting, German while jogging, Spanish (or Russian, Italian, and Japanese) while cooking all with NO WRITTEN MATERIALS!”– New York Daily News”Designed for the ear an [Read More...]
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This course is good and worth the price. The only reason that I didn’t rate this 5 star is because you will need more than this course to feel confident. The additional lessons from PIMSLEUR are extremely expensive. I recommend PORTUGUESE IN 10 MINUTES a day (less than $20) and a basic Brazilian Portuguese course(often inexpensive or free). If you wish to go deeper into the language, get “501 Portuguese verbs” and “Essential Portuguese Grammer”. Don’t waste your money on the Lonely Planet Brazilian Portuguese Phrase Book.
The Pimsleur series is very different from the other language CDs I have tried. It uses repetitive short conversations and sentences to intuitively learn grammar and structure without formally “thinking” about the grammar and structure. This approach is slow, but very effective. Each lesson is 30 minutes in length and gradually adds to the previous lesson. Other language CDs often just have you mimic and repeat different words or sentences over and over, which gets old fast. Pimsleur has you repeat the words a few times, but then asks you to recall them on your own, and puts them in context using short conversations where you ask and answer questions with an imaginary Brazilian woman sitting next to you (presumably at a bar). The Conversational series are just an introduction to PImsleur Level I courses, so you won’t know much by the end of them, and will need to buy the full set (over $300). But if you aren’t interested in learing formal grammar, then give the Conversational Brazilian Portuguese CDs a try before you invest in the full level I course.
I am using this in conjunction with other sources. I listen to it to get a better grasp on pronunciation. However, I also purchased a good book (Portuguese in 10 minutes a day) as well. I tend to like underlining things and making notes etc, so for me a good book was a necessity; as well as reference material, such as a book of verbs, and a dictionary. I am close to halfway through the CDs and it is excellent for teaching you how to say certain phrases competently. But I want to learn more than canned questions and answers. Besides, if one has memorized the phrases and responses by rote, they would probably not be able to carry on a conversation if the subject matter changes. I intend to get a good grasp on the basics to begin with, and then proceed to an intermediary level, so I am using this CD series as well as some written material too.