Pimsleur Chinese (Cantonese) Quick & Simple Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-8 CD, Volume 1: Learn to Speak and Understand Cantonese Chinese with Pimsleur Language Programs

I should preface this by saying I have no natural language ability what so ever. None. I really cannot express clearly enough how bad I am at learning languages. However, thanks to this CD I have enough Cantonese to get by.I bought this (reluctantly) when I learned that my new job required me to spend a fair amount of time in HK, and while most people there speak english to a very good level, I thought it courteous to at least learn a little bit, and to help when out and about on my own. The lessons are really easy and clear to follow, and the repeated lessons and words really drill the language into you, meaning you find yourself retaining things really quickly from day one. I used it on my commute, so a couple times a day for a few weeks, and in what seemed like no time I was through the course and remembered the majority of it. I have tried a few language courses before, but have never had one that has been this easy.As for practically applying the language, once over there and using it, the standard reaction is shock that you know the language, followed by a happy response to your question! I know it may sound like Im over selling it but It really does work!

I found this way of learning ideal for myself, it was a bit too basic for myself as I already know a little bit but not enough to have a conversation. I have tried many other CD learning techniques and the Pimsleur way I have found that I have learned more about word order. It is a great way of learning for myself and I will definitely order the complete course.

Very practical topics -- much more practical, I found, than Rosetta Stone (which is how I studied Mandarin when I began). By lesson 7 you're learning how to ask if someone wants to come back to your place for a drink. :-)Also found the coverage of pronunciation very good. However, I found their insistence on having no writing a minus. I realize that romanizations can throw people off if they're trying to read them like English; but if you realize that it's *not* English, then a good phonetic representation is a really big boon when trying to make sense out of a language, and when trying to review. Additionally, since I already know a lot of Mandarin characters, it would have been useful to have the Cantonese characters, so that I could match up the words that are meant to be the same.Overall a very good buy though. I went on to buy lessons 9-30 off their website (mp3 format), and I'm sad that's all they have!

Not getting on with this. Too much chat and explanation instead of focusing on teaching Cantonese.

i really love this product it’s helping so much with my cantonese learning

Recipient thrilled to receive.

I am a Chinese adoptee who is learning my native language and it is fantastic, money well spent! Within the first 30 minutes I learned so much and it isn't tedious at all!

Coming from someone who is learning my mother's native tongue of Cantonese, it seems pretty good in terms of pronunciation of tones and common phrases they speak. However if you're like me who prefers some book or text to follow along with the pinyin and Chinese traditional characters for a more effective learning, then this isn't sufficient for the learning student. This is only good for those who learn better through audio or need a good listening CD, as they have natives speaking fluently and helps you to master the whopping seven tones in Cantonese! Another thing which kind of confused me was some of the phrases they used. For example for the phrase 'I can understand' the CD says 'ngoh sik teng' but both my mum and the lonely planet book use 'ngoh ming baak'? Either way, there will always be various ways of saying something... so don't be surprise of a phrase you've not heard of! XDAnother good resource is CantoneseClass101.com where they have some good youtube videos as well as podcasts.

I am writing in response to a previous review that was posted from a native Cantonese speaker in Hong Kong. I am originally from Hong Kong myself and have been speaking Cantonese my entire life though I've lived in The United States since I was very young. Listening to the CD's they sounded perfectly fine to me and not at all dated or incorrect and not in any way different from how I speak to my family or friends.I believe what the previous poster was objecting to in these CD's is that Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong is constantly changing in very subtle ways. The language is essentially the same but imagine the difference in English between Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, The U.S. (The South, in New England, in New York, in the West Coast, etc...)Its funny but whevenever I return to Hong Kong and I speak to someone who lives there they always try to guess whether I'm from Canada, the US or Australia because I'm not completely up to date on the changes in inflection, slang, intonation, etc...Overall, a good system to get your feet wet in learning some basic Cantonese. I bought it for my girlfriend who is not Chinese and so far she's learned enough for us to carry out basic conversations in Cantonese. Also, one of the speakers in the CD's has a bit of a nasally voice which does detract a bit from his pronunciation which I've had to correct for my girlfriend.

「読む」「書く」より「聞く」「話す」を重点的に学びたい方には絶対にオススメです。字に頼れませんので。日本人は漢字が読めるのでテキストがあるとどうしても字に頼ってしまうと思いますから。初心者＆初級者向けです。

These CDs really do exactly what they claim they will - they get you able to understand and regurgitate the info in their example conversations very well. While they only provide conversation lessons (no writing component), I find that to be a plus because it means to me it seems better to become a very good speaker than to be just passable in both speaking and writing.The only reason I give this 4 stars is that Pimsleur doesn't seem to have much in the way of advanced lessons which sucks. Since I don't have people to practice with really, that means my learning will end once I get through all these CDs. The other asian languages seem to offer much more comprehensive foundations. Wish this one did too.

テキストは一切なく、耳だけで覚える方法です。「すみません、あなたは英語を話せますか」「私は米国人です」「King's Roadはどこですか」。。。何度も何度も繰り返しリピートさせられるので、いやでも覚えます。語学は反復学習にあり、と実感させられるやり方です。

Not What I expected. I was looking for some simple everyday Cantonese conversation lesson to teach my grandson. It is for adult and more for traveling conversation. I am a little disappointed.