Czech Phase 1, Unit 06-10

Learn to Speak and Understand Czech with Pimsleur Language Programs

By: Pimsleur

Narrated by: Pimsleur

Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

Surprise your friends! Astonish your family! With Pimsleur, you’ll be speaking and understanding like a native in no time. 30 minutes a day is all it takes. Czech Phase 1, Units 6-10 build on material taught in prior units. Each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. Each lesson contains practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak Czech.

©2006 Simon & Schuster (P)2006 Simon & Schuster

Critic Reviews

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." ( AudioFile magazine)

Excellent as always from Pimsleur, except ...

Compared to the similar level Pimsleur lessons in other languages (Spanish, German, Hungarian), Czech 6-10 goes too fast. I had to use the Audible App at 75 percent of full speed -- fortunately not distorting the voices -- in order to hear what was said and to have time to repeat. But that worked. The other thing I have trouble generally with is hearing the foreign speaker's consonants. Contrary to instructions, I frequently go to Google Translate to see the words spelled out in order to clarify that. Also, the speakers in various languages sometimes vary significantly in their pronunciation.

Another idiosyncrasy in the Czech, unlike other Pimsleur programs, is that it always assumes the student is a man.

But it is worth it to get past all of that. The programs are always excellent.

The best way

Czech ain't easy so start with this course. it's all spoken, no writing, no memorising lists. simple conversations that gradually introduce new ideas. I love it.

disappointing, but still somewhat helpful.

I'm using phone apps to learn vocabulary and for the most basic elements of grammar, and Pimsleur is useful for mentally joining these bits in a comfortable conversational setting.
But the male speaker is often hard to understand, and when I slow it down to 75%, the sound is slightly scratchy and warbled. I can understand it better at the 75%, but many consonants are still unclear, and it's not pleasant to listen because of the warble.
I would not recommend the Czech Pimsleur program on its own, I'd be totally lost!! But I think it can be very useful to teach you to go a step further than language learning phone apps--to think as if you're having a real conversation.