Pimsleur vs Michel Thomas (Which Language Method Is Best?)

[@TestPrepInsight]

🚨 GIVEAWAY ALERT 🚨 We're giving away a FREE language course every month to one of our subscribers. It takes less than 10 seconds to enter! More details can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5nbaXiiZcafZqc

[@shainewarren1173]

Pro tip for anyone living in the United States. Check your public library. I was able to find both the Pimsleur audios and Michel Thomas audios at my local library. So you might be able to easily get access to all the content for free with your library card. 🙂

[@AdamYLM]

Here is why you need to use Michel Thomas, or Pimsluer. 1 - Michel Thomas, you are 100% new to language, you don't know anything on how language works. In this case, Pimsluer will not work right. Michel Thomas will hold your hand and guide you through the courses. Also reviewer forgot to mention it I think, but Michel Thomas also has reading PDFs for each course, you are recommended to look at it after finishing a recording or recordings. 2 - Pimsleur, you already know language at some level, enough to read is slowly, or know the upper basics grammar structure. Or maybe you can read pretty much anything in new lang but cannot speak it. Michel will not work for in that case. You need Pimsleur here, their courses will immerse you and aid your speaking and listening abilities. Overall speaking, Michel Thomas for 100% new learners, Pimsleur after you know upper beginner grammar.

[@TUBESTEAKNIG]

100% Agree. I just did MT and Pimsleur Japanese and this was my same thoughts. MT did a great job teaching me the sentence structures, grammar and giving me some sort of foresight into "guessing" how words are spelt after hearing them which helped with my pronunciation and recall ability. Pimsleur seemed much more difficult had I started first, and doesn't do a good job of teaching the structure of sentences rather it makes you remember a bunch of phrases with particles you don't quite know how to use. But after knowing the basics from MT Foundations and Intermediate courses, I can now learn from Pimsleur as they move onto more complex topics. It's a shame there is no further courses from MT.

[@Массинисса-у1э]

I tried both courses. And I got very quickly bored with Pimsleur's audio courses, I guess because they were too long. In my opinion, Michel Thomas's short lessons and bite-sized grammar do play a very important role in keeping the student motivated.

[@alexsmith9972]

This video seemed biased as fuck against the Thomas method - almost like a paid advertisement…

[@summerholloway5833]

I’m a fan of Pimsleur! Great review! Love the fresh haircut too, looking sharp.

[@TestPrepInsight]

haha, thank you

[@matthewandrew]

Yeah he’s hot

[@alvodin6197]

Having tried both and reached b2 in one language using both methods, Michel Thomas blows pimsleur out of the water. Unless you want boring repetitive phrases with no explanation whatsoever..Michel Thomas at least teaches grammar and conjugations easily without trying to memorize shit. My complain is only the price and the short length. Overallz the best audiocourse still to this day I've ever encountered.

[@alanguages]

I really like Pimsleur ever since the early 2000's. I do think Michel Thomas also has value, but only after going through Pimsleur first. MT teaches the structure, while Pimsleur does that by inference. Pimsleur gives a great pronunciation in the target language. I say use them in conjunction.

[@TestPrepInsight]

Thanks for watching and sharing! Appreciate the insight

[@wellcoachlynell]

It seems that Pimsleur has some advantages. Thank you for explaining things like voice coach. You are so thorough.

[@NewportSolar]

Thanks for another great video. I am using Pimsleur right now to learn Farsi and I am really enjoying it. I also have used Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, Mondly, Drops, and a few other apps. Pimsleur is by far my favorite. A good friend of mine taught himself to speak Japanese fluently and he used Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, and some other supplemental tools. He spoke highly of both Pimsleur and Michel Thomas. I appreciate your review, I don’t think I would like Michel Thomas. For me, the Pimsleur audio lessons are great, I love their teaching style, but I love their additional practice tools even more. The combination of both makes for an almost perfect app. I wish Pimsleur also included transcribed text on the screen while the audio is playing, like closed caption. That would be VERY helpful. Also, the ability to playback audio at a slower pace (like you can with KZbin videos) would be really helpful too. Other than that, Pimsleur is near perfect. I also like Mondly for practice. And I have a love/hate relationship with Duolingo. I love the Duolingo exists. I love that that app got me started on my language learning journey (as an adult, I studied 4 languages in school). I hate that Duolingo is so random in what they teach, all the crazy useless sentences, but they have me addicted with the stupid streak system. I’m too far in to quit 😂 I’m approaching a year and I don’t want to give it up. Even though I have FAR superior apps, with better content, that teach me more, in a more effective way… I’m competitive and Duolingo has the best gamification of any language app I’ve found. By far. Hence… love/hate.

[@TestPrepInsight]

All of your comments are 100% on point. Thanks for dropping such a detailed comment!!

[@thedesertwillowlunchtable]

Thank you so much! I will probably be trying Michel Thomas due to my high-stress college schedule and such, but I will keep Pimsleur in mind for afterwards!

[@eduardocorrochio3132]

Eduardo was not aware of the Michel Thomas language learning app - and he's stoked!! Eduardo is a Rocket Man, but really likes the Michel Thomas course format, shorter lessons, and grammar emphasis. I'm taking a trip soon from my home here in Madrid to Kyiv and want to improve my Ukrainian to help my friends. Thanks TPI!

[@TestPrepInsight]

So cool!

[@71Jupiter]

Michel Thomas is great because some of us learn the natural way by listening.

[@wellcoachlynell]

Having said that, Michel Thomas seems better for my needs.

[@Mike-rp1hw]

Heyo! A easy win for Pimsleur. If I was looking for a more short form language course, I think I would rather go with Mango languages than Michel Thomas. Mango's UI just looks more engaging and correct me if I'm wrong, Mongo is cheaper as well. It seems there are a lot of language courses that *can* teach you something, but doesn't necessarily go out of their way for the best learning experience. The kings of language programs seems to be Pimsleur, Rocket Languages, Busuu & Babble (in no specific order). Thank you for taking the time to review all these courses so people can make the best purchasing decisions. It definitely helped me :).

[@TestPrepInsight]

All great points, and well said. Thanks!

[@jonaskeepauthor1935]

I have been going through the Pimsleur course and have been looking at Michel Thomas in the last couple of days, this video came at a very convenient time for me! I am currently trying to learn Spanish so both options look like they would be helpful.

[@TestPrepInsight]

Fantastic! Thanks for watching!

[@ANGELIsHere]

Thanks! I'm really enjoying using Pimsleur.

[@TestPrepInsight]

Great to hear!

[@mermaidDS]

I’m currently trying to learn how to fluently speak and read Spanish because of your channel I’m leaning towards Pimsleur 🥰! Thanks !

[@TestPrepInsight]

Glad we could help!!

[@devalerina]

I'm the biggest fan of pimsleur! I first tried it when I was middle school using my brother's cds. It felt like it unlocked a world to me! I was sad we couldn't buy more lessons back then. I'm so grateful that it is so accessible now

[@TestPrepInsight]

Yes, and the online version allows them to expand on just the audio lessons

[@Jim10082]

Great Pimsleur vs Michel Thomas video review. Thx.

[@garryfay8000]

Seeking how to learn Portuguese from Spanish - looking for best methods or systems. I hope to use it in conjuction with my current English to Portuguese studies. Thanks!

[@sanaa3151]

Hey John, I’m looking to learn French! Awesome review btw

[@strawbs2336]

Thank you for this video! I’m starting to learn Spanish and wanting to find the best platform to do so!

[@TestPrepInsight]

You can do it!

[@richardross612]

Great review, thanks

[@animespeculator4599]

I have tried both actually and Pimsleur works much better.

[@TestPrepInsight]

Agreed :)

[@jeffdavidson3859]

Very helpful review

[@TestPrepInsight]

Thanks for watching!

[@andrewross6060]

Great review

[@kennybania5177]

Great language comparison. I’d go with Pimsleur!

[@kingsofsummer858]

So Michel Thomas is basically the same as Pimsluer but without all the extras? No brainer to me

[@Tout-Le-Monde02]

For French/Spanish/German/Italian I would go with Margarita Madrigal books ..... they are the best ...... Michel Thomas also provides pdf booklets with the lessons , not just audio ............

[@garryfay8000]

Hi. At 2:10 you state that one learns from one's mistakes... As a language instructor, it has been my observation that one's own monitor is not always able to discern issues with one's own pronunciation, stress, and flow. Which method has a better feedback system? AI might eventually be able to effectively do most of this analysis. Which system is currently best? How do they do it?

[@alainar6674]

Thanks for the great review! I think I’d go with Pimsleur!

[@Flutey14]

I would like to learn Spanish! Thanks for the great review!

[@TestPrepInsight]

Any time!

[@GayaneMkrttchian]

You are so knowledgeable!

[@TestPrepInsight]

I appreciate that!

[@jackiechiles7552]

Pimsleur for the win! Thanks for this

[@envy4932]

Looking to learn Korean to try and watch film without subtitles!

[@siobhanmerle9203]

A few but currently FRENCH! I'm starting to wonder if I should pause french and try one of the others on my list bc French just isn't sticking to my brain

[@TestPrepInsight]

Might be time for a shake up!

[@yelenaXrenee]

I'm glad you did this review, I haven't even heard of Michel Thomas but it sounds like I'd choose Pimsleur out of the two.

[@TestPrepInsight]

Thanks for watching!

[@josef8648]

I'm trying to win the giveaway so I can learn German. I have just graduated with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, so am wanting to learn something new. I initially wanted to learn Samoan as I am Samoan on my mother's side and would like to reconnect with the culture. Unfortunately, online resources for learning Samoan are scarce, so I decided to take a stab at German. While I find an alternative method for learning Samoan.

[@andyetheridge]

Never tried Pimsleur but i have the Michel Thomas course. His version is great because you can have it on while doing stuff around the house for example.

[@Oakette]

That's the exact opposite of how the course is designed to be used. It literally explains that in the introductory insert.

[@andyetheridge]

@@Oaketteworked for me, reached C1 just listening to the advanced levels, and no it’s not really the opposite!

[@Oakette]

@@andyetheridge It's great that you were able to achieve that, and it's good to know it's possible. I was just pointing out what the instructions say on the course itself. Myself, I'm very easily distracted. Let me guess, you're a polyglot?

[@vipnetworker]

I want to learn French for business and just for fun.

[@συστρατιώτης]

I'm looking to learn German. I learned it some in the past but am still at a beginner level.

[@tomellis487]

Better of two.

[@marcellbyers3195]

Hi! I would love to win the free lessons my goal is to understand Spanish by the end of the year, I would be so grateful if you could help me succeed with my resolution!

[@shiubshiushiu]

Japanese

[@msjennable]

German

[@TestPrepInsight]

Nice!

[@mrpickle23]

Except Pimsleur vocabulary is geared towards traveling or picking up girls for some weird ass reason

[@davepazz580]

But once you internalize all the phrases, you can just as easily apply them for non-travel or other social situations simply by applying different words to the basic structures...

[@siobhanmerle9203]

This might be the lowest rating I've seen you give a language course yet

[@TestPrepInsight]

It just didn't impress at all.....

[@BonMooney]

​@@TestPrepInsight oh pay affiliate commission for everyone that signs up through your link 🙄

[@jackfavvv0280]

Dude, your head tilts and sways way too much when you talk.