When comparing Pimsleur vs Ayni, the Slant community recommends Pimsleur for most people. In the question“What are the best sites for learning foreign languages?” Pimsleur is ranked 17th while Ayni is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Pimsleur is:
Spaced repetition in and between lessons are timed for maximum recall. This also means you can't skip days between lessons, or work ahead. Each level takes one month.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Graduated interval recall
Spaced repetition in and between lessons are timed for maximum recall. This also means you can't skip days between lessons, or work ahead. Each level takes one month.
Pro Very effective for beginners
Pimsleur is based on proven memory science, it's not perfect, but it is very effective. Intermediate learners may not get as much out of it.
Pro Learn while you commute
Pimsleur uses daily 30-minute audio lessons. You can probably fit this in while you're driving to work.
Pro Principle of anticipation
Rather than simple listen-and-repeat, you also have to translate phrases and answer questions in the target language during the lessons.
Pro Teaches pronunciation well
Uses the backchaining technique with native speakers.
Pro Focuses on practice
It is focused on practice with penpals and it provides content about how to get the most out of language exchange.
Pro Engaging conversations
Writing a real person is much more engaging than repeating words from a program. You are more likely to continue with Ayni than other programs because you can actually have a conversation instead of simply learning words and phrases.
Pro Free
Pro Great to find an active penpal
This is a small community (+2000 active users) but active, as it does not look like a social network but more like a collaborative platform for matching.
Cons
Con No writing practice
Pimsleur is an audio-only course. This can be easier for beginners learning languages that don't use the Latin alphabet, but for serious language learners, it's a gap they'll have to fill using something else.
Con Expensive
All the CDs for one language cost nearly a thousand dollars. The .mp3's are about half that. Your local library may carry the CDs, those that don't may be able to get them via inter-library loan (ask your librarian). You can also find them used and re-sell them for nearly as much (depending on how long you want to wait), after you finish. Be certain to get the same edition for all levels.
Con Too slow-paced and repetitive for some learners
If you learn quickly, you may find that the 30 minute lessons covering only a small handful of vocabulary move too slowly for you.
Con Limited vocabulary
It teaches hundreds of words. A great start, but not enough to achieve the thousands required for fluency, even with all three levels. Pimsleur deliberately focuses on the most common words of the target language for maximum recall.
Con Not a lot of users to interact with
It is very hard to find a Japanese or Korean pen-pal on Ayni. However even some of the more popular languages don't have many users to talk with.
Con Website has a lot of grammar mistakes
The website itself (English version) has quite a few grammar errors throughout. The lack of attention put into the site, especially language errors on a language site, are concerning.
Con Not recommended for beginners
There is no content if you start learning a language from scratch.
