# Pimsleur

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/pimsleur/

8 people recommended Pimsleur in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as an audio-based course that builds pronunciation, vocabulary and conversation through structured repetition. Critics say it does not work well as a complete way to learn a language.

Summary written by Claude from 10 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Audio and repetition approach (2 comments in the sample): "starting with something like Pimsleur which is the same idea (audio and repetition) but more structured and focused" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46320572)) "end up with good pronunciation, vocab and a conversational skills" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723260))
- Good pronunciation and conversation (1 comment in the sample): "Pimsleur is also a great place to start for spoken fist" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46321034))

## What people warn about

- Weak as a complete method (2 comments in the sample): "debatable whether that will get you out of A1 by itself" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47544371)) "is a pretty poor tool if you want to actually learn a language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46323683))
- Poor for Mandarin (1 comment in the sample): "Pimsleur is awful for Mandarin. I wish I hadn’t wasted my time on it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46322068))
- Forced acting breaks immersion (1 comment in the sample): "The acting is so forced that it completely breaks the immersion." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47120047))

## Other language learning apps people recommend

- [Duolingo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/duolingo/): 16 recommend, 19 mixed, 101 criticize
- [Language Transfer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/language-transfer/): 13 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [italki](https://hackerapproved.com/p/italki/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Voxel Tokyo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/voxel-tokyo/): 6 recommend, 3 mixed, 5 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.pimsleur.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Pimsleur", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pimsleur/ (8 recommend, 1 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.