Often we are asked the best method to learn a new language - whether it be books, audio books / CDs, DVDs, software, classes or language exchange etc. Each method has it's advantages and disadvantages but today we will be focusing on which audio CD programs we consider to be the best.
A great advantage of audio only language learning programs is that they force you to rely 100% on the pronunciation of the native speakers for accent. A known issue with books and learning methods involve reading is that often when you read a romanised version of a foreign language the way you would read and pronounce English can affect your pronunciation. A good example is Chinese. Each Chinese character represents a syllable. If you learn Chinese characters from the beginning of your language training then you should end up with great pronunciation. The first thing a teacher does when teaching new words is he/she drills into you the correct proninciation of a character. If however you rely on pinyin then it is common to find that pronunciation is not so good. While pinyin does a good job in providing an easy way to read Chinese sounds for English foreign learners there are many sounds in the Chinese language that pinyin does not do a good job of and it can be confusing. After all, 26 letters are no match for thousands of characters.
So, which audio only program is best? We highly recommend the following audio only courses:
earworms are very much the new player on the block in the langauge learning industry but they have released a unique and remarkably effective range of Rapid learning 'Musical Brain Training' language programs. The theory is simple. You know those tunes and jingles that advertisers put together that you can't get out of your head? Well, what earworms has done is combined great music (we are not talking about crappy elevator music either) and combined it with rythmic words and phrases in foreign language. An English speaker along with native speakers talk you through the program. Unlike many other audio programs which require constant focus on the audio, earworms is designed to be used without requiring such focus and is ideal for driving or any activity where you can be distracted but still want to use your valuable time to improve your language skills. We tried out Rapid Chinese Vol.1 and were amazed at how well it works.
Pimsleur language learning programs have a great reputation and in our opinion this is deservedly so. Lessons are approx. 30 mins each which is quite a manageable chunk of time to dedicate to learning a language each day. Many educators believe that our subconscious assimilates what we have learned during the day while we are sleeping and any more than 30 mins of a learning activity that requires intensive use of the mind ends up being wasted as it is not assimilated effectively that evening.
Each lesson begins with a conversation between two native speakers. When you first hear the conversation you might feel overwhelmed in that you don't understand any of it but don't worry, the remainder of the lesson is dedicated to breaking the conversation down into it's components, teaching you the vocabulary and most importantly allowing you to interact with the native speakers in conversation. Grammar is generally picked up in the process of learning the conversation although important tips are forthcoming. There is some repetition of words to make sure you get the pronunciation right however there are no mindless drills and repetition as is contained in many other programs.