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Rating: Summary: Awful to the ears of a Cantonese native! Review: As a Cantonese native speaker born and raised in Hong Kong, I find the recording (the conversations, tones and ways the speakers speak) unnatural, not authentic and to sum up in one word: awful! I felt embarassed as a native Cantonese speaker when I listened to the tapes as the recording sounded ridiculous to me. The expressions used in the recording are dated and are from,I guess, the generation of our grandparents. And the way the speakers speak... I would say you won't hear genuine Cantonese native speakers talk like that in realistic conversation in Hong Kong (well perhaps in Canton they talk like that?!) Perhaps the way the speakers speak (their tempo and intonation etc.) is good for pedagogical sake, that's fine. Just wanna warn those who would like to have "a taste of Cantonese" that Cantonese doesn't sound that awful and ridiculous in real life. Rest assured and go ahead if you want to learn Cantonese, though probably not with this Pimsleur program, Cantonese doesn't sound that ugly at all in real life!
Rating: Summary: A Worthy Investment Review: I originally started learning Cantonese when I was little, since my parents are both native speakers. But over the years I used the language less and less, until we only spoke English at home. Sadly, as much as I am able to understand in Cantonese, my speaking and pronounciation are not where they should be. After I convinced my parents to look into the Pimsleur Method, they agreed to buy the course for my sister and me. With just one lesson, I am happy to say that it did not disappoint me and my levels of tones have greatly improved. The only drawback I find is that the lessons are more formal that what I'm used to hearing and the accents of the Cantonese speakers are extremely thick. Overall, this style of learning a language is much more effective than others out there.
Rating: Summary: A Worthy Investment Review: I originally started learning Cantonese when I was little, since my parents are both native speakers. But over the years I used the language less and less, until we only spoke English at home. Sadly, as much as I am able to understand in Cantonese, my speaking and pronounciation are not where they should be. After I convinced my parents to look into the Pimsleur Method, they agreed to buy the course for my sister and me. With just one lesson, I am happy to say that it did not disappoint me and my levels of tones have greatly improved. The only drawback I find is that the lessons are more formal that what I'm used to hearing and the accents of the Cantonese speakers are extremely thick. Overall, this style of learning a language is much more effective than others out there.
Rating: Summary: a few tips Review: I'm currently using Pimsleur to learn Japanese and Cantonese, and I'm thrilled with my progress. Pimsleur has a truly effective system for learning language painlessly and effectively. I've noticed, though, that on many Pimsleur reviews here on Amazon, people say they needed to listen to each tape 4-5 times before they felt they knew the material. Fortunately, that's not necessary. Here's how to make equal progress on just one listening: Each time you're prompted to come up with an answer on your own, *stop the tape* and give yourself time to think before you get interrupted by the soundtrack. If the tape gives you the answer before you've come up with an answer yourself, you haven't learned anything. Also, as much as I love Pimsleur courses, they're still wildly expensive, even with Amazon's sometimes-substantial discounts. (...)
Rating: Summary: Good, but please publish part 2 and 3 Review: I've discovered Pimsleur language courses surfing the Web (I live in Italy, and they are not available in the bookstores). Languages study is my hobby and before knowing Pimsleur I wasted a lot of money in books and tapes with any results. I learned German and Spanish with Pimsleur and I'm fluent in both languages.
I've studied Chinese for two years with a tutor's help (very expensive) and I dare say I learned more with this Pimsleur Chinese Cantonese course and with less pain than with a qualified teacher.
This set is expensive, but shop around for teachers and ask for fees!!!
Moreover you can choose when and where to study provided you have available a cassette or a Cd player.
The snag is that after the 30 lessons you need to continue your study and unfortunately so far they haven't published set 2 and 3 (available in German, French, Spanish, etc....).
Rating: Summary: The only way to learn Chinese. Review: Of all of the languages that I've learned so far, Cantonese is the most difficult. Pimsleur makes learning such a complex language enjoyable and stimulating. I really like the way the narrator goes into detail about the Cantonese word order and the variety of tones associated when speaking the language. So far, my progress has been excellent. When I speak the small amount of Cantonese that I've learned, people tell me that I sound like a native speaker. Who knows, I might even purchase the Mandarin in order to be knowledgeable of both Chinese dialects. I think that anyone considering to study an Asian language should definitely try the Pimsleur Chinese programs. It would give that person such an advantage to a complex language.
Rating: Summary: The best to give you a taste of Cantonese Review: This is the best program to begin learning Cantonese. The recordings in this set will mainly give you just the taste of Cantonese, or rather if you considered learning Cantonese hard and even impossible, this program will convince you that you can learn Cantonese easily. Yes, you will definitely want to continue with Pimsleur's Cantonese I. If you're committed to learning Cantonese, you may as well just go and get Cantonese I, since all the lessons in this package are repeated in Cantonese I.
Rating: Summary: Simply the Best Review: You will not find a better language course than Pimsleur. I've tried several other courses for Cantonese and struggled with them without really learning much. Since Pimsleur focuses on pronounciation and speaking, you really get into the language itself, without having to learn someone's system of writing tones and vowels. My Chinese wife and her family tell me I speak without an accent.
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