Rating: 
Summary: Good foundation for further study
Review: This is the third Pimsleur course I have done (Russian, Eastern Armenian, Hebrew). I can't say enough good things about the Pimsleur system in general. It is all audio, so it is useful for commuters. The repetition of the vocabulary is good. The introduction of grammatical concepts is good, particularly for an all audio system. The speakers are clear, although occasionally, I had to consult a book for spelling. Only present, imperative, and infinitive verb forms are used in level I. The focus is on 1st and 2nd person like all the Pimsleur tapes. The problems I have found are: 1. Hebrew is only available at Level I, so you will not learn enough to be functional even as a tourist. 2. The course is good for learning syntax and grammar, but does not provide enough vocabulary. Also, in the Hebrew course, some nif'al and hif'il forms are introduced as imperatives or infinitives, and it would have been nice to introduce the present (active participle) as well. 3. The extensive use of imperatives, although grammatically correct, is not so colloquial in Israel, as I discovered living there. Imperfect and infinitives are more common with the exception of a few verbs that are commonly used in the imperative form. This course could give you the wrong impression about the use of the imperative. Finally, Pimsleur costs too much!
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