I was asked to post this as a discussion. Previously I posted it as a note. I'm on lesson six of the Pimsleur Approach to Mandarin (there are 100 lessons total) and I have already learned so much. 

The great thing about this program is that it doesn't take language learning by a step 1, step 2, step 3 process, such as learning common greetings first then how to count, and then how to say colors. In fact, by the third lesson you're already having full conversations in Chinese. 

It literally forces you to stop thinking in your head, "This is what I want to say in English, now how do I say it in Mandarin?" Instead, you blurt out the language without realizing it. It's like you're learning as a kid, and you're simply mimicking the adults you hear speak a language. 

The greatest compliment I had so far is after a Skype meeting with a member of iTalki who lives in Beijing. She said, "Your Mandarin level is much higher than I thought it would be, have you been learning for a few years?" She was surprised to find out that it had only been six days -- 30 minutes a day. I was equally as surprised how easy it was for me to talk to her. Now when I watch my favorite kung fu movies, I am even recognizing complete phrases. I can't wait to see where I'm at within 100 days. 

I learned about the Pimsleur Approach and chose it over Rosetta Stone due to this woman's review of it (I'm posting part 2, but there is a part 1 as well) where she basically sais she learned more Spanish in just a month of Pimsleur Approach than she did in several months of Rosetta Stone, and when she visited a Spanish speaking country people were asking her to translate for them. 

Anyway, I love hearing: 你普通话说得很好

I'll post it here:

http://youtu.be/lSOMKcTytgw

Do any of you have experience with Pimsleur?