Pimsleur Dutch Basic Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-10 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Dutch with Pimsleur Language Programs (1) Audio CD – Unabridged, July 17, 2007

When traveling to another country I like to learn some basic phrases, it helps me understand the country better. its also a great way to connect to people if you can speak a little of their language; people appreciate that I at least try. I'm not really interested in pursuing a long course to become totally fluent. That said, this course isn't really designed for travelers. In fact, I'm not sure who its designed for. (Why do so many of the Pimsleur courses seem to focus on asking local women out for drinks?!) For example, it covers numbers (as part of telling time) but omits 0, 6, 7, and 10. How hard would it be to give all numbers zero through ten? It does give some directional phrases (over there, here, hotel, restaurant, Park Square, Church Street) but not enough to ask for directions (right? left? go? turn?). I do like the Pimsleur method. I understand that apps and workbooks are also a good approach but I'm less likely to do that when I get home. So the CD-only approach works well for me because I have an hour of commute time in the car and now I can put it to use. So for 5 hours of instruction (10 half-hour lessons) you'll become very adept at a few phrases but with huge gaps in your ability to even converse as a traveler.

Excellent introduction to the language. It is strictly conversational - meaning there is no written text to go with it. The program is based on listening and pronunciation. It gave me the confidence to actually speak aloud to others during my learning that I would not have had by just reading and learning the grammar of the language. Definitely needs to be paired with a written text for more comprehensive learning, but great if you want to hear everything said aloud. There is some variation between the way the male and female voices pronounce certain words which can be confusing.

I learn a language both by being plunged into it and also reading it at the same time. So I used this series in combination with the Lonely Planet Dutch phrase book and people in Flanders commented with surprise on how good my Flemish was. I spent a full week just before my trip immersed in the CDs and found them tremendously useful for tuning my ear to Dutch vowels and the rhythm of Dutch sentences. Time after time in Bruges, I was grateful for the Pimsleur approach because I had no problem asking for directions (and understanding them) or shopping. Now, I did need the phrase book to augment my learning, for things like getting train tickets and using taxis, but I never expected either to be comprehensive. The Pimsleur gave me the confidence to speak Nederlands wherever I went and I enjoyed the feeling of being a bit more inside the culture than if I'd used English. The repetition might annoy some people, but I found it soothing to have coffee in the morning and study, or a glass of wine at night and follow along. P.S.--the Lonely Planet book is great if you're going to Flanders because it lists variants in Nederlands between Holland and Belgium.

My Dutch learning goals are to be fluent and to learn the Flemish (Vaalams) dialect for use in the Low Lands of Belgium. I had very little exposure to Dutch before this program.These CDs are easy to listen to. They break down pronunciation for you and repeat it several times. I listened to each CD once, which I felt was enough for me. They cover previous learning at the beginning of each CD and also throughout the entire series. So you only need to repeat a CD if you feel you need to.The strengths of this program is that you can listen to it on your commute or while doing other simple tasks. You Do Not need to pause/rewind the lesson. You can listen straight through. I liked having a male and female speaker. It makes learning Dutch simple and non intimidating. After the first lesson or two I felt like I was really learning. They break down the words and repeat often. I feel that I can understand the basics of Dutch. They cover basic sentence structure in a very natural way.I thought this series was shallow...it is mostly for travelers (for which purpose it would be highly practical!) It covered greetings, eating, drinking, basic directions, telling time (and therefore numbers) and how to ask if one speaks English/Dutch. What it covers, it does so very thoroughly, but I was hoping for a little more range. It is also a true-Dutch...no dialects, so for my purposes of learning Flemish I learned about 75%-95% of the same words etc, used in both. There are a few words and such I'll need to change out. (For instance replacing the formal 'uu' with the 'je'.)I enjoyed this series very much and I feel it is a great confidence builder. I do not know how it will work in the 'real world' as the only person I have to practice with is a Dutch speaking American. So I have not tried it yet on the ground, but I would feel confident to do so.For travelers or others wanting a basic understanding of Dutch, or for nervous beginners, I recommend this highly. I feel I have more confidence to go on to learn more.Lastly, I would also say this is a good dollar value for the set. Enough to know if you'd like to continue or just give you the basics if that's what you want without spending hundereds of dollars.

Helped me to pronounce words and letters which may be difficult for an englishman to pronounce. Enjoyable and quite effective.

American accent.

Really difficult to get to grips with

I must admit I became bored with this but I have to say that is more to do with my character. If you are serious about learning than the is is an excellent way to. Great value for money.

Bought it for my husband so he could learn the language I grew up with. I was very impressed as he learned the language in 2 weeks time. He did it twice just to make sure he got it correct and he is now able to have a conversation on the phone with my non English speaking Oma!