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Conversational Mandarin Chinese: Learn to Speak and Understand Mandarin with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's) | 
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| Author: Pimsleur
Publisher: Pimsleur
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $17.50
You Save: $32.45 (65%)
New (23) Used (12) from $17.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 17623
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Blg Una
Number Of Items: 8
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 7.9 x 2.2
ISBN: 0743550498
Dewey Decimal Number: 495
EAN: 9780743550499
ASIN: 0743550498
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - FACTORY SEALED - We pride ourselves in our customer service (Hours: M - F, 8:30 - 6:00PM EST)
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Product Description
This Conversational program contains 8 hours of interactive audio-only instruction, effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions.HEAR IT, LEARN IT, SPEAK ITWhat is the Pimsleur difference? The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Mandarin Chinese structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Mandarin Chinese can actually be enjoyable and rewarding. The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only these pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or thousands words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts. When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed. With Pimsleur you get: - Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
- Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
- The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
- 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.
Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without textbooks, written exercises, or drills. Conversational Mandarin Chinese includes the 10 lessons from Pimsleur's Basic Mandarin Chinese plus an additional 6 lessons. The 16 lessons in Conversational Mandarin Chinese are the same first 16 lessons in the Pimsleur Comprehensive Mandarin Chinese Level 1.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 I love Pimsleur's method, but NOT FOR STARTING Mandarin. Needs more explanation, not "listen and repeat". April 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love Pimsleur's method, but NOT FOR STARTING Mandarin. Needs more explanation, not "listen and repeat".
For an English speaker, Mandarin requires more up-front explanation of how the pitched syllables work.
I've used Pimsleur's audio CDs for learning basic Japanese and Spanish and *LOVED* it.
But when I bought Pimsleur's Mandarin, I was stumped. I couldn't even imitate the very first sentence, no matter how many times I went back and tried again. My mouth just didn't know how to make that sound. And there was no explanation, just "listen and repeat".
After an hour of trying one sentence of this Pimsleur Mandarin, I had to give up. Knowing there must be a better way, I was about to take private lessons.
Instead, the brand new "Michel Thomas Method" to Mandarin has just been released by Dr. Harold Goodman and it made all the difference in the world. A completely different approach that I feel needs to come FIRST, BEFORE you get into the Pimsleur method.
In the Michel Thomas method, someone really takes the time to explain the sounds and grammar. No memorization, just explanation then experience. It gets you really understanding the basic building blocks of Mandarin first, so that when you're done with its 10-hour audio CD program, THEN you can come back here to Pimsleur's Mandarin and it'll all make sense.
Good but could be better April 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let me first state that I recommend this product to anyone with no prior experience with Mandarin or someone who wants to casually learn a little. Here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
1) CD format is great
2) Lessons are short and easy
3) You can learn very quickly IF you dedicate the time
4) Lessons learned in the previous section are reinforced in the next.
Cons:
1) There is no pin yin to go with the CDs. I had a hard time distinguishing between, for example, "ni" and "yi". This is probably because I listen in my car instead of at home. Your best bet is to listen through your home stereo system or walkman.
2) The words and pharases you learn are not necessarily the ones you want. For example, in Lesson 4 you are taught how to say "Where is Long Peace street?" Who needs to know this??
3) There is no discussion of sentence or phrase structure so that you can form your own. For example, the sentence "You speak Mandarin very well" is structured "You Mandarin speak very well". The serious learner needs lessons on sentence structure.
Overall this is a good beginner product. If you're a serious learner, you'll need additional resources like a dictionary, phoenitics guide, and phrase book.
 Mandarin Chinese April 6, 2008
These CD's were worth twice the price. Knowing absolutely nothing about Mandarin, I listen to them while driving and amazingly, I find myself remembering and correctly pronouncing Mandarin. Languages are difficult for me and I had a special mental block about the difficulty of Mandarin.
Anyone who wants to/needs to begin learning Mandarin should buy these CD's.
 Decent audio guide to a confusing language April 5, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really like the Pimsleur series. What you learn sticks pretty well due to the repetition.
However, Mandarin is just so ridiculously complex and different from English, that trying to learn it just through CD's is almost a joke.
Amaze your friends! February 14, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Upfront notice: This package offers the same first 15 lessons as in Pimsleur's Mandarin I. (Wish I'd known, because I bought them all over again, in order to continue with just the next 15 lessons!)
I like learning languages and have used all kinds of tapes / CDs to practice in the car. Used in that way, this program is tops! (A friend from mainland China was astonished at how, in just a few weeks, I started speaking in fluent sentences, with a near-perfect accent -- and using current, idiomatic expressions.)
With Pimsleur, you won't progress through many topics or an extensive vocabulary -- but what you encounter, you'll learn well. (The program repeats concepts over and over, configured in different ways to avoid monotony and to embed them into your head.) And--as far as it goes--the material is all high-value, immediate-use.
To really learn Mandarin, you'll also need to take up other resources about the written characters and grammar, and to build vocabulary. And be aware: this program proceeds at a fairly sedate pace. If you want to go zero-to-60 in Mandarin for a trip to Beijing in 2 weeks, you need to find a different approach. For me, this is a way not to waste time in the car--and I go through about one lesson per week until I know the content cold! But Pimsleur has been an incredibly effective kick-off to what clearly will be a lifetime of effort . . . like losing 10 pounds, the first week of a diet.
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