Instant Immersion Mandarin Chinese

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: Don't waste your money. You'll never learn any Chinese using these CDs. There is no rhyme or reason to their system. The CDs contain random Chinese vocabulary words which are rattled off by the speaker along with the English translation. At the end of the 1st CD, I only knew how to say "mother, father, and older brother," and I'm bilingual Eng/Spn. There was no conversation on the 1st CD & I suspect the 2nd wont be much different, though I wont waste my time listening to it. You'll learn more chinese at your local Chinese restaurant than you'll ever learn from this CD.

Rating:
Summary: good, but not for true beginners
Review: The only reason I found this set helpful was that I had a solid background of elementary Chinese. This tape helped me transfer some of that knowledge to oral comprehension rather than just reading comprehension. However, the tapes use rote memorization and repetition to learn words and phrases. This may be food for some, but not for me. I don't feel that my money was a waste, but I am confident there is better out there.