Pimsleur Arabic Review
Pimsleur is one of the most popular publishers of foreign language learning material. The Pimsleur method is an all audio course that promises to teach you a foreign language “effortlessly”. The courses consist of 30 audio lessons each, with each lesson lasting approximately 30 minutes. Pimsleur strips down the Arabic language to the essential vocabulary and grammar and reinforces the language through spaced repetition.
There are two Arabic courses by Pimsleur – Eastern Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Thus Pimsleur focuses on two of the most popular Arabic colloquial dialects. Pimsleur Arabic (Eastern) covers roughly the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine/Israel and Jordan. Pimsleur Arabic (Egyptian) covers Egypt itself as well as some parts of Sudan.
The comprehensive courses (30 lessons) teach you how to:
- introduce yourself and maintain a basic conversation
- ask for information and respond appropriately
- satisfy personal needs
- establish rapport with the locals
- participate in casual conversations
My personal view on Pimsleur is that it’s a great way to learn one of these two Arabic dialects. Sure, it won’t teach you formal or Modern Standard Arabic, but it will certainly ensure that you can make yourself understood in the Middle East. The main advantages of Pimsleur Arabic are:
1. the use of actual colloquial Arabic
2. the great consistent learning experience
3. easy to follow lessons
If you do a lesson every day, then you are virtually guaranteed to acquire a basic level of fluency in Arabic after 30 days – which is great!
Overall, I would say that Pimsleur Arabic is a great way to get started with learning the Arabic language. The only drawback is that the courses are not cheap, so only purchase them if you really follow up and start using them!
If you follow the links on this page you'll get to a store, where you can download the complete Pimsleur Arabic program instantly.
Buy Pimsleur Arabic (Eastern) I Complete Course
Buy Pimsleur Arabic (Egyptian) I Complete Course
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
