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Pimsleur Comprehensive German #1
Pimsleur German Level 1 CD: [Lessons 1-30]
German is the official language of Germany and Austria and is one of the official languages of Switzerland, Belgium, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg. Nearly 100 million people speak German as their first language: about 77 million in Germany, 8 million in Austria, and 4.5 million in Switzerland. The Pimsleur® Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You’ll be speaking and understanding in no time flat! German I, Comprehensive includes 15 hours of spoken language practice and one hour of reading instruction in thirty, 30-minute lessons.
In the first 10 lessons, you’ll cover the basics: saying hello, asking for or giving information, scheduling a meal or a meeting, asking for or giving basic directions, and much more. You’ll be able to handle minimum courtesy requirements, understand much of what you hear, and be understood at a beginning level, but with near-native pronunciation skills.
In the next 10 lessons, you’ll build on what you’ve learned. Expand your menu, increase your scheduling abilities from general to specific, start to deal with currency and exchanging money, refine your conversations and add over a hundred new vocabulary items. You’ll understand more of what you hear, and be able to participate with speech that is smoother and more confident.
In the final 10 lessons, you’ll be speaking and understanding at an intermediate level. More directions are given in the target language, which moves your learning to a whole new plane. Lessons include shopping, visiting friends, going to a restaurant, plans for the evening, car trips, and talking about family. You’ll be able to speak comfortably about things that happened in the past and make plans for the future.
Reading Lessons begin in Unit 10 and provide you with an introduction to reading German. These readings, which total about one hour, are designed to teach you to sound out words with correct pronunciation and accent. A Reading Booklet to be used with the audio lessons is also included in PDF format.
16 audio discs
16 pages, Audio CD
First published October 1, 2000
19 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 20, 2021
First time I tried to learn German, I used this course and hated it. I thought it was too slow and didn't feel like I was learning anything.
So for years, I taught myself instead with a grammar book, and the Assimil courses. I learned a lot, but whenever it came time to speak, I'd have to mentally build the correct sentence in my head before speaking, and it was a weak situation.
Doing this course after I had done all that stuff was a good choice. The infrastructure was already in my head waiting to be used. Understanding what I was listening to, the content and the structure, was a huge advantage when using this course and things progressed more efficiently; I didn't have to waste time second-guessing what I heard or look up the spelling because I had it all in my head already. I just didn't know how to use it. This course gave me a reason to open my mouth and actually speak.
The slow pace this time around didn't bother me. In fact, it was enjoyable and hypnotic. It was a calm, quiet 30 mins in my day where I could just sit in a quiet room, listen to the course and talk out loud to myself.
So, I recommend learning some grammar first.
So for years, I taught myself instead with a grammar book, and the Assimil courses. I learned a lot, but whenever it came time to speak, I'd have to mentally build the correct sentence in my head before speaking, and it was a weak situation.
Doing this course after I had done all that stuff was a good choice. The infrastructure was already in my head waiting to be used. Understanding what I was listening to, the content and the structure, was a huge advantage when using this course and things progressed more efficiently; I didn't have to waste time second-guessing what I heard or look up the spelling because I had it all in my head already. I just didn't know how to use it. This course gave me a reason to open my mouth and actually speak.
The slow pace this time around didn't bother me. In fact, it was enjoyable and hypnotic. It was a calm, quiet 30 mins in my day where I could just sit in a quiet room, listen to the course and talk out loud to myself.
So, I recommend learning some grammar first.
July 29, 2020
Dieses Buch gefällt mir sehr gut aber ich möchte mehr Vokabular und Grammatik.
August 30, 2019
There were a few things I really liked and disliked about this program. I took a few semesters of German in college so I wanted to brush up on my German skills and learn a little more.
Dislikes- There is a lot of repetition and sometimes I felt that there may have been too much. I felt this more in the first few lessons than the end lessons. I also wonder if this is just because I had a level of previous knowledge. There is not a lot of vocabulary that you learn but you will know how to have these specific conversations. There are no rules that are spelled out for you, it's just how you can converse. (Ex. conjugating verbs)
Likes- Despite the repetition, it's pretty fast paced and you review previous lessons in later lessons. The speed that they speak at is at a conversational tempo so that was a bit challenging to learn to speak, respond and listen quickly. I really liked that. With the repetition, they would sometime point out sounds that you may be pronouncing wrong (and I was a few times). They also explain some of the literal translations of phrases to help you know what you're actually saying. (Ex Wie geht's?)
Dislikes- There is a lot of repetition and sometimes I felt that there may have been too much. I felt this more in the first few lessons than the end lessons. I also wonder if this is just because I had a level of previous knowledge. There is not a lot of vocabulary that you learn but you will know how to have these specific conversations. There are no rules that are spelled out for you, it's just how you can converse. (Ex. conjugating verbs)
Likes- Despite the repetition, it's pretty fast paced and you review previous lessons in later lessons. The speed that they speak at is at a conversational tempo so that was a bit challenging to learn to speak, respond and listen quickly. I really liked that. With the repetition, they would sometime point out sounds that you may be pronouncing wrong (and I was a few times). They also explain some of the literal translations of phrases to help you know what you're actually saying. (Ex Wie geht's?)
April 26, 2011
An effortless way to refresh my admittedly sketchy German. I listen to a lesson each night as I cook dinner. I've done so many of these Pimsleur language courses that it's a bit ho-hum now, but I guess the main point is that it's a method that works for me. Gets me out there talking in whatever language I want to "get by" in. To date I've done Croatian, Norwegian, Japanese, Czech, and a bit of Spanish. The main drawback is the limited range of vocabulary that is introduced. However, it can't be beat for instilling a decent pronunciation and for attuning the ear to what the language REALLY sounds like. It's a confidence builder, for sure. Those who (like me) are "ear learners" love it; those who aren't (like my husband) find the approach a bit painful at first, but learn to appreciate being "pushed" to speak and listen rather than rely on text.
December 22, 2024
I listened to Pimsleur German 1 before my summer vacation in Austria. I listened to each track twice and it took me two months to finish the course. By the end, I was able to say all the basic phrases one needs when traveling: (“Where is the toilet?” “I would like mineral water, please.” “Excuse me.”)
But the real value was that I was able to construct my own simple sentences that allowed me to flirt with locals. Coming up with basic but creative phrases allowed me to connect more with people, and made my trip so fun and memorable.
All of the young and educated (I would say, under 40 years old) people speak English, so you don’t really *need* to learn German for traveling. But the surprised smiles I got from simple constructions made possible by replacements like “I would like a coffee” >>> “I would like a friend” were just delightful and added a new dimension to my trip. That was possible through Pimsleur.
And not everyone speaks English (like janitors, hotel cleaners, immigrants, fast food service workers) so it is good to learn some of the language of wherever you’re traveling to. More than once I communicated successfully with someone of these demographics.
Some of the phrases are old-fashioned and all are formal, so the course isn’t perfect. There are a few annoying parts where the speakers seem to be joking around with each other, but at level 1 I can barely keep up with what they’re saying so I certainly didn’t grasp the jokes.
Still, just two months of studying to be able to get around Austria and even show off some of my personality in their language earns an easy five stars from me.
But the real value was that I was able to construct my own simple sentences that allowed me to flirt with locals. Coming up with basic but creative phrases allowed me to connect more with people, and made my trip so fun and memorable.
All of the young and educated (I would say, under 40 years old) people speak English, so you don’t really *need* to learn German for traveling. But the surprised smiles I got from simple constructions made possible by replacements like “I would like a coffee” >>> “I would like a friend” were just delightful and added a new dimension to my trip. That was possible through Pimsleur.
And not everyone speaks English (like janitors, hotel cleaners, immigrants, fast food service workers) so it is good to learn some of the language of wherever you’re traveling to. More than once I communicated successfully with someone of these demographics.
Some of the phrases are old-fashioned and all are formal, so the course isn’t perfect. There are a few annoying parts where the speakers seem to be joking around with each other, but at level 1 I can barely keep up with what they’re saying so I certainly didn’t grasp the jokes.
Still, just two months of studying to be able to get around Austria and even show off some of my personality in their language earns an easy five stars from me.
October 23, 2017
If you've had a bit of German (or French or whatever) this is a brilliant resource for improving your fluency before that European vacation.
June 3, 2018
Pimsleur is a great way to learn the spoken part of a language.
June 3, 2018
Does a fine job. Repeats the old vocab when needed so that I don't have to go back to previous tracks
September 9, 2018
Ich mochte es sehr.
March 30, 2022
ich mag es!
January 13, 2025
It's just boring. I don't get why audio language programs have to make it as boring as possible. It's possible to be educational and still interesting.
January 1, 2017
The Pimsleur German language program has been the best program for me to actually begin speaking and understanding the spoken language. You lean by the repetition of listening and speaking portions of conversational German over and over again. It works for me! I finished the first set of CDs and have started on the second.
May 11, 2012
Won't teach you German, but it's a great start to get your toe in the water. Builds confident basic responses to some common everyday situations.
November 7, 2012
Brushing up on my German for an upcoming trip. This won't make you fluent but if it refreshed my memory of High School German.
October 28, 2014
Very good! Easy to read and learn.
April 28, 2015
Great for brushing up.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews