I love love love love love learning languages. It is one of my favourite things to do. Last year I decided to get back into studying Japanese seriously, and my friend shot me the files for the Michel Thomas Japanese course. It was a great refresher on basic grammar. The Michel Thomas Japanese course was my first time using Michel Thomas myself and I enjoyed it a lot, but I then got my hands on the Pimsleur Japanese course as well and decided to give it a go out of curiosity. Having used both of them now, I've got opinions on them both and thought I would give them a rundown in case it helps anyone else.

For context: I am very good at learning languages and pick them up quickly. I lived in Japan as a child but never learned Japanese to fluency, so I did go in with a good grasp of the sounds, structure, and foundational grammar. I've tried to do self-study a lot over the years, but nothing stuck with me until the audio courses, and I think this is now my preferred primary method of picking up a language from scratch. As of writing this, I haven't completed the Pimsleur Japanese course but I'm far enough in to be able to give a good comparison between the two courses. This is only reviewing the Japanese courses, since I haven't done any of the others and I know the quality varies from course to course, especially the Michel Thomas one.

Also, these are both paid courses. If you're a sucker. Which I'm not.

Michel Thomas

    Pros
  • Gives a good foundational grasp of some very basic N5 grammar points (I think ~27 of the ~80 N5 grammar points come up between the Foundation and Advanced courses, going off this list).
  • Explains the basic constructions behind those grammar points*.
  • Gets you creating overall basic but complex beginner sentences by the end of the course (eg. if I go to X, I will eat Y; I have not done X but I want to do Y).
  • Compact - just over 12 hours to do both the Foundation and Advanced courses.
  • Fast moving, always pushing onto new topics and grammar points, building on what was previously taught.
  • You can relisten to sections without feeling like you're constantly re-treading old material, as each lesson is contained and doesn't ask you out of the blue to produce unrelated sentences.
  • The example sentences are spoken very clearly and slowly.

    • Cons
  • Because of the structure (two students, a non-native teacher, and a native speaker who doesn't teach) the courses contain more bad Japanese than actual good, mimicable Japanese. The teachers in both the Foundation and Advanced courses have very poor accents and we hear the students' attempts before we hear the correct, native pronunciation.
  • Does not cover useful travel phrases like telling the time or basic conversation.
  • Misleading course names - "Advanced" Japanese is still foundational/N5 and does not actually approach any advanced grammar other than introducing the -te form.
  • There is very little vocabulary other than words that have come directly from English (hoteru, resutoran, etc), but this is intended; the focus is on grammar, not vocabulary.
  • It can be frustrating to hear so many mistakes from the students, especially simple or repetitive mistakes.
  • The example sentences are spoken slowly so they don't train the ear to listen to normal speech.
  • There are no sample dialogues so there is no real chance to learn listening comprehension or understand the flow of conversation. You only learn output.
  • You do need to pause the audio to give your answer out loud before the students speak, as there is very little time given. This is annoying when you're listening while doing something else.

Pimsleur

    Pros
  • The only Japanese you hear is from native speakers.
  • The method drills phrases, sentences, and concepts into your head so you can respond instantaneously in those situations without thinking about it.
  • Gives you a good amount of vocab and situational phrases.
  • Teaches you about Japanese culture, such as common alternate vocab (ee rather than hai), basic responses (sou desu ne), and specific place names (Shinjuku eki, Ueno koen).
  • Most units open with a sample conversation, so you are trained to listen and understand as well as speak.
  • All the sample Japanese is spoken at a natural pace and encourages you to repeat the phrases quickly as whole units, instead of breaking phrases down word-by-word.
  • There is often no need to relisten to lessons to review, as each unit continuously prompts you to remember previous vocabulary and phrases, similar to SRS (Spaced Repetition Systems) like Anki.
  • Gives you enough time to give your answer out loud without needing to pause the audio.
  • Occasionally the teacher prompts you by asking something like "What would you say in this situation?", which makes you come up with responses on your own rather than directly translating.
  • Covers phrases and grammar points not included in Michel Thomas (eg. X ga hoshii desu, noun counters, telling the time).
  • Spends time breaking down the pronunciation of each new word or phrase and makes sure you really know how to pronounce something before moving on.

    • Cons
  • Very slow and repetitive in the beginning, which may be offputting if you have a basic understanding of Japanese already, but it soon increases in difficulty.
  • Once the course really gets going, it picks up the pace, and if you didn't fully grasp the concept or remember all the vocabulary from the previous lesson you might struggle to keep up with the next lessons.
  • Very, very long - 30+ hours to complete the entire course I-IV.
  • Does not give you a foundation of the grammar nor explain the reasons behind the constructions that you're using, it just presents things as a whole or trusts you to infer the pattern*.
  • Built for an American audience, which annoyed me specifically - you have to repeat "I am an American" over and over and over and they don't offer vocab for any other nationalities.

Which would I recommend?

Overall, I think the Pimsleur course is far superior. This surprised me, as I was singing Michel Thomas' praises when I was doing that course last year and have sent it to multiple friends who have been interested in learning Japanese. The first few lessons in the Pimsleur course had me rolling my eyes back into my skull with how simple and repetitive it was, but once it gets into the swing of things I think it's got way more going for it: less time spent listening to poor Japanese, more vocabulary, more listening practice, and a wider range of grammar points taught.

That being said, I'm aware the Pimsleur course is very, very long. Each Michel Thomas lesson is quite short, but the Pimsleur lessons are 30 minutes long each and you do need to do the whole lesson all at once for maximum effect.

If you're going to Japan in a couple of weeks and you want to learn some basic grammar, and especially if you don't mind looking up vocabulary on your own, I think the Michel Thomas does a good job of giving you some basic constructions to slot words into. The Michel Thomas course will be most effective if you are an active learner and confident enough to make your own sentences out of what you've been taught. I think the Michel Thomas course is also good if you want to get a basic overview of some grammar before you start a class or do your own self-study. If you have far longer before your trip, or if you are happy to take your time with learning, I would recommend the Pimsleur course.

How best to use these programs?

Whichever course you go for, I have three main bits of advice for you.

1. Speak out loud. Both the Michel Thomas and Pimsleur courses exclude writing, reading, and homework. You will be learning exclusively through listening and speaking, and if you don't do the speaking portion then you will be wasting your time. Speaking helps strengthen neural pathways in your brain and you need to speak fully out loud, not whispering or mumbling, to get the most out of either course.

2. Pace yourself. This one might not apply to all learners, but blasting through either course will burn you out and won't teach you as effectively. Limit yourself to maximum 30 minutes a day to not only give yourself time to absorb what you've learned, but also to spread your learning out. Time is a super important element of learning a langauge - when you wait between learning and recalling something, your brain has to work harder to remember, and that too strengthens the neural network in your brain. It's real science, I'm not making this up.

3. Use other learning sources. Most importantly, you need to use other learning sources concurrently with either Michel Thomas or Pimsleur. I use Wanikani to learn kanji (which I will write about another time), Japanese for Busy People to do grammar drills and learn vocabulary, 1-on-1 lessons with a teacher to practise speaking, and I also (am trying to) read manga and short children's books. If you don't have access to manga, I recommend reading children's fairy tales online like on this site. When I come across a grammar point I don't fully understand, I look for an explanation from Japanese Ammo with Misa or Kaname Naito. I also occasionally use Anki, but haven't been gripped by it as much as many other online learners. Using Michel Thomas or Pimsleur alone will not get you fluent, but they will give you a good foundation for continued learning, and Pimsleur especially will get you confident in speaking.

Good luck with your Japanese-learning journey!