Pimsleur vs Foreign Service Institute?

[Barb in Maryland]

Hello -

I am wanting to do some self-study in Mandarin. The two sets of audio-visual mateirals that I have seen discussed are Pimsleur and Foreign Service Institute tapes available through NTIS.

1. Has anyone used the FSI materials? I understand that they are very complete and very expensive, but possibly worth the cost because of their thoroughness.

2. Is it true that with the Pimsleur materials there is no pinyin or basic character transcript of the lessons? This seems like a big negative to me.

3. Does anyone know if the FSI materials include pinyin and/or character transcripts?

Other suggestions? I am starting from zero.

Thank you for your help.

[J.B. Frog]

I understand there are unofficial ones available for download at ezmandarin.com. I can vouch that the one for Mandarin I is pretty good.

[onebir]

JB frog - do you know exactly where the files are? I couldn't find them.

Barb - some of the people on www.how-to-learn-any-language.com have experience with both the pimsleur and (parts of ) the FSI courses.

[zh-laoshi]

I have found that the FSI courses are thorough, yet sometimes can be confusing as they will pack a lot of information in the lessons, and the possibilities exits that the lessons haven't been updated in years. But I do recommend them over Pimsleur.

Pimsleur is good for listening and speaking practice. The things I don't like is that they are not able to allow you to create sentences - if you can try, it's difficult on your own. And they don't continue making advanced courses.

For example, the Irish couse has beginner and Intermediate lessons, even though it seems like it should continue to the advanced course, most languages in the Pimsleur series also vary like that - some stop at the beginner level and others stop at the Intermediate level, and some have advance courses.

So, in my opinion, Pimsleur is good for listening and speaking practice, but FSI is good for really learning how to use the language.

[Dav-X]

I understand there are unofficial ones available for download at ezmandarin.com. I can vouch that the one for Mandarin I is pretty good.

Thanks for the great suggestion! I tried to dnload it from here, but it seems that there's only a strange text. Do you know how i can use it?

http://ezmandarin.com/modules/Downloads/files/Pimsleur%20Mandarin%20I%20vocabulary.pdf

[Dennis]

If you want to learn chinese; go a chinese bookstore in any major city and buy:

1 a good dictionary like 漢語詞典/汉语词典/Hanyu cidian

2 a good character dictionary like 新華字典/新华字典/Xinhua zidian

3 good literature like the novel 家 Jia Family from the writer 巴金 Ba jin and work you way trough it to get a vocabulary of 300000 words

4 any cheap elementary course with tape/CD which you after you read the novel use as reference material for good pronunciation good grammar and the 1000 basic word vocabulary

[Ken]

I have worked my way through Pimsleur Mandarin I, II & III...all 90 lessons. It provides great built-in practice/repitition. If you are a very fast learner, there may be more suitable learning tools. However, the one comment that really resonates about Pimlseur is that it trains a person in the use of tones. For us ben3 ben3 people, it makes mandarin possible.

Even though my mandarin skills are limited, native speakers say they clearly understand what I am saying.

Re: ezmandarin.com There are several useful files in the download section to assist with Pimsleur. The course is strictly listening/speaking, i.e., nothing written. However, a body of tools is developing to fill the void.

I hope to provide a vocabulary list (English/Pinyin) to the site for II & III very soon. Vocabulary for the first course is already available there.

[Altair]

I have found that the FSI courses are thorough, yet sometimes can be confusing as they will pack a lot of information in the lessons, and the possibilities exits that the lessons haven't been updated in years. But I do recommend them over Pimsleur.

I agree with zh-laoshi.

The Pimsleur approach is basically like memorizing thoroughly and learning to pronounce well a good section of a phrase book. It is a good entree to a language, especially for those who really cannot deal with grammar or written materials, and will allow you to say a lot. I think, however, that it does not allow a person to reach a true functional level of fluency without something more.

The FSI approach is aimed at people who really intend to achieve functional spoken fluency. Since it tackles so much, it can be daunting. Also, my recollection is that their audio materials are a little too much like authentic Beijing street speech for the average learner. I think it is better to begin with hearing clear distinct speech and then to find other listening opportunities to adjust to how people really speak in casual circumstances.

I also think that Pimsleur tends to be deceptively expensive, because of what you actually get for your money. The three courses together are not cheap and will not get you all that far. FSI courses, on the other hand, tend to teach quite a lot, just in very concentrated fasion.

If money is no object and you really want to learn Chinese, you might want to consider this link: this link to one version of a Chinese FSI course.

[mlomker]

I also think that Pimsleur tends to be deceptively expensive, because of what you actually get for your money.

I'll have to disagree with that. You can buy the sets for $154 from www.cheappimsleur.com and then resell them for $125 on E-Bay. I've done that with all three sets. I lost a few dollars for shipping and transaction costs, but it seems trivial to me.

[Tyr]

Also check your local library. I found Pimsleur Mandarin I, II and III at my local library.

[badr]

I love the pimsleur lessons. I credit them fully for improving my pronunciation. That said, I'm a fan of the Rosetta Stone now. While pricier and more difficult, it provides you for a chance of complete immersion.

don't forget that there are certain ways to "sample" the pimsleur before you buy it....

[owshawng]

I like the Pimsleur series. My wife and in-laws from Taiwan say my pronounciation has greatly improved since I started using Pimsleur. I've recently discovered Communicate in Chinese published by CCTV. I'm only on the lesson 4 of the first set. There are four levels in this series. Each series has 10 lessons. The series is on VCD and you can buy a book to go with each level. The books are great I think. Besides conversations, the series also teaches vocabulary, substitution and pattern drills, plus teaches some chinese culture. The conversations are spoken at a more natural speed then Pimsleur, however Pimsleur is reat for developing speaking and listening to the tones.