I have gone through the three levels of pimsleur japanese (I'll sell them to anybody interested). When I did the first level, I listened to the tapes as I was driving around in my car, and I was also taking japanese at a local JC. Not to brag, but I was far and away the best student in the class. The homework was easy, and the instructor on several occasions told me to speak slower while responding orally to questions in japanese so the class could understand me. I also used Kevin Trudeu's "Mega Memory" techniques to make memorizing vocabulary easier. I highly recommend both methods for learning languages.
George
