How far can you get with Pimsleur German?

[Barton212]

What CEFR level can you reach after completing all the levels of Pimsleur German?

What’s the best course to get to a B1 level?

[GermanIsHard]

Take what I say with a grain of salt, because I am still a beginner myself. But, I really like Assimil's German with Ease (although I only got to about lesson 30/100 last time before I stopped using it because I got sidetracked by other resources). However, I am going back to it, and will be completing it in it's entirety. I like the way that it is laid out, as it progressively introduces new vocabulary and grammar concepts. Although, the reason why I chose Assimil is because I listened to the advice of other experienced language learners who also recommended using the book and audio course.

[Deinonysus]

I've finished all five levels of Pimsleur German and I don't think it gets you up to any specific CEFR level, because it isn't supposed to. It will make you very comfortable with spoken interactions for travel and general pleasantries without needing to rely on English, but it won't give you the vocabulary or grammatical knowledge to read a novel or write an essay or anything like that.

I think that Assimil and Duolingo are good for filling in the gaps that Pimsleur doesn't cover. I don't know if there's any one course that will get you to B1 by itself.

[iguanamon]

I've finished all five levels of Pimsleur German and I don't think it gets you up to any specific CEFR level, because it isn't supposed to. It will make you very comfortable with spoken interactions for travel and general pleasantries without needing to rely on English, but it won't give you the vocabulary or grammatical knowledge to read a novel or write an essay or anything like that.

I think that Assimil and Duolingo are good for filling in the gaps that Pimsleur doesn't cover. I don't know if there's any one course that will get you to B1 by itself.

Thanks, Deinoysus, for saving me from writing my usual long post. Pimsleur is really good at what it does- generating automaticity with language. Combine it with Assimil, Teach Yourself, DLI Basic or any good course (textbook with audio) and a good grammar book and you are on to a winner. You most likely won't get to B1, but you will have a good foundation to start to get there by reading; listening; speaking; writing. You really start to learn the language when you finish your course(s). Have a look in the signature block for my link to the multi-track approach which can help you as you self-learn a language.

[kanewai]

I've occasionally experimented with seeing just how far Pimsleur could take me for new languages that I had no experience in. My experience was that it was near impossible to get through Pimsleur II, and sometimes Pimsleur I, using that alone. I reached a point where I was just imitating sounds, without understanding them. I think I crashed with Russian on Level I, Lesson 5. I don't even know if it's possible to finish all five levels without outside study unless you have experience with the language, know a related language, or are an actual linguistic savant.

With that, using Pimsleur is absolutely one critical part of my learning strategy. Beyond that, I agree with everything everyone already wrote.

Note: Same with Assimil. Same with the old Colloquial and Teach Yourself courses. Same with 'em all. I never get far using one single approach.