[.ca] Chinese (Mandarin): Learn to Speak and Understand ... (ISBN 0671790331)

Good as an appetizer:
Basically I do not believe in learning to speak a language without learning to read it at the same time. You will acquire knowledge of the principles of Mandarin pronunciation and some syntax. The course is very repetitive and the amount of vocabulary you will learn is very limited. The repetition is part of the Pimsleur method of memory training, absorption and immersion. Having completed the course, I now feel somewhat familiar with Mandarin pronunciation and at ease with it. But you will only acquire about two or three dozen sentences of polite conversation between an American Gentleman and a Chinese woman he meets.

great for the price:
This program offers a lot of value for how much it costs. It is the best audio Chinese program you can buy in its price category. Pimsleur did a good job on this one. I particularly appreciated how they explained how to pronounce the pinyin equivalent of "ren." They said that this was pronounced not with a R but a cross between an R and Y. As you know, Mandarin is a language that does not always map 1 to 1 over to English. This great explanation on how to pronounce a difficult word for Westerners learning Chinese typifies the thorough research Pimsleur did to create this program.

An Excellent way to become acquainted with a Language:
This is not a language course but it is an easy and pleasant way to become acquainted with the language. It is easy but it is slow. If you don't want to work too hard and you want to see if you would like to continue at a higher level I would recommend it. You don't get any written material but just listen to the recording. It is easy but thorough. It gives you enough to get started. I wanted a little Chinese as I will be working in China and Singapore next year and it has given me a start. If I decide I want to learn the language seriously I will probably buy a different program. This program has done exactly what I wanted.

A fun start to a challenging language:
I'm over half way through the program now and can happily say that I'm not discouraged! I had heard from others who do speak Mandarin that learning outside of an immersive Chinese environment is not possible. I'm no longer convinced that this is true. Mind you, I haven't tried conversing with Chinese co-workers yet (I'm waiting to learn more), but I'm certain that this day will come. I'll be signing on for the 30-tape epic when I'm done with this mini-course. Oh, get a good book with pinyin in it as a companion. The Basic Chinese (I think -- tall & red) book seems great. I used Lonely Planet & I'm not impressed -- a lot of the terms differ from what Pimsleur is teaching.

Good Introduction to Pimsleur:
Anyone who thinks he can learn a language in four tapes is of course a fool. The real purpose for these introductory tapes is determining whether the Pimsleur method is going to work for you -- before dropping a couple hundred dollars on the Comprehensive volumes. Certainly, over the course of the four tapes you'll get some basic vocabulary, the ability to construct a few simple sentences, and good practice on pronunciation. I give these tapes five stars because 1) I had fun going through them, 2) I love the fact and the challenge that the course is purely audio, 3) I got to jump start my mainly book-learned and non-conversational Chinese, 4) and they confirmed that the Pimsler method works for me. If you already know that you like the Pimsleur method, then go ahead and get the Comprehensive I set -- which contains these four tapes.