For over four decades, countless Pimsleur students have decided the Pimsleur Method was the best way to begin learning a language for them. Whether the Pimsleur Method is the best way to start learning a language for you depends on several factors.

The best way to become as fluent as possible in a language is by living and interacting with native speakers. What Pimsleur courses can give you is an efficient, structured head start: a strong foundation, an ear for natural accents, and a working knowledge of vocabulary and phrases for everyday conversation. For most people, this makes language proficiency easier to achieve than "jumping in cold."

The Pimsleur Method will be best for you if your top priority is learning to speak the language. Pimsleur courses devote almost all of their time to conversation skills, in some cases just touching on reading or societal differences. If you are more interested in studying precise grammar rules, writing, literature, history or culture (outside of your travels), then books or classes might be more appropriate for you.

If you want more flexibility in where and when you study, Pimsleur courses are for you. You can begin a Pimsleur program whenever you like, and study on your own schedule, in contrast to taking classes or meeting with a tutor. Since Pimsleur courses rely almost entirely on pre-recorded audio, you can even choose to listen when you're on the go, away from a computer.

If you still plan to use the language a month or more from now, you should be happy with Pimsleur. If you will be traveling and returning from another country in two or three weeks, with no further use for the language, you might be more interested in competing programs that are shorter, and that focus on memorizing rote phrases most useful to tourists.