Living Language Complete CoursesHow do these inexpensive courses compare to the heavy hitters?For the purposes of this review, I took the German and Italian courses for a test drive, but rest assured, all other languages follow the same format. Having been through several of the Pimsleur courses, I find myself comparing everything else on the market to them. The presentation quality is simply incredible - and the only thing they lack is adequate accompanying written material. Cost, however, is a big concern. If you can't find them at your local library, you'll need to shell out a substantial amount of money to get through them. That's where these living language courses fill in a nice niche. They are very inexpensive, the quality is good, but the presentation doesn't match up to the 500 dollar programs. The courses include 3 audio CD's, a coursebook and a dictionary. The reader reads the words or phrases that are in bold in the coursebook, and you follow along reading the English translations and speaking aloud (if you wisely choose to do so) - learning the pronunciations. Words and phrases start out pretty much as you would expect - "Hello", "Good Morning", numbers, colors, etc..., but with the addition of numerous English cognates as well - a nice touch. The progression goes forward naturally, and builds upon previous lessons - adding more complex phrases, etc... After so many repeated words, the student is greeted with multiple choice and fill in the blank questions in the book. The quizzes are simple, and if you paid attention during the lessons, you should have no trouble completing them - at the time. And, there is no shortage of material packed into these courses. Also on the plus side, the audio quality was excellent on the two courses I went through, which is crucial, but often overlooked in other courses. These courses are not without their issues. One big problem is that if you don't repeat the lesson a few times over, your unlikely to retain what you learned - and this is in part, due to the speed at which the lessons progress and part due to the presentation of the material. The program simply moves too fast from one word to the next, and you will find yourself with your finger on the pause button frequently, taking a bit away from the learning experience. The other problem is the presentation. By that I mean - lack of encouragement and personality in the lessons. This is where Pimsleur shines because it feels like a classroom presentation, rather than an exercise in rote memorization. Essentially this course is a builder, based on memorization, not active communication. This isn't all bad because I have found that most all courses follow this general course of study. Also, the English translation is not read on the audio - meaning you're required to follow along in the book. While this is not a bad thing by any stretch (I love the additional written material), it does mean you will not be able to use this course in the car on the way to work. Even with these faults, those on a budget simply cannot overlook that fact that these programs are under 20 dollars for the complete course. That's astounding for any audio based language course these days. While you don't get the polished presentation of a Pimsleur course, you get a great value for the amount of money you will spend. Pros
Cons
- Katheman Don't just take my word for it, check out what everyone else is saying about these programs
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