test prep insight.com and today I'm
going to be comparing the language
programs for Michelle Thomas and pimsler
the methods Behind These two courses are
pretty similar in nature and as such
they get compared to one another pretty
frequently so today I'm going to break
these two apps down and see which one is
better and it's a quick note since this
is just a video review if you find you
need more information about either of
these courses at any point we have tons
of helpful reviews and comparisons over
on our website an easy way to get there
is just to Google test prep Insight
Michelle Thomas vs pimsler it's a quick
way to get more info
all right so let's start with pricing
since that's always an important
decision Factor first starting with
pimpser they offer two different
subscription options a Premium plan
which costs 20 per month and includes
access to one language course or for one
dollar more per month you can upgrade it
to pimsar all access plan which grants
you unlimited access to all the
different pims or courses there's about
50 of them in total then Michelle Thomas
on the other hand does things a little
differently they sell courses
individually that range from 12 all the
way up to a hundred dollars for example
their intermediate Spanish course which
consists of around 20 hours of content
cost ninety dollars or you can purchase
an entire Michelle Thomas language
bundle for around 275 so overall it's
sort of like comparing apples to oranges
here but I would say that pimsler is the
more affordable option especially if
you're the type of person who likes to
take things month by month plus pims are
sometimes are in special sales and
promotions so make sure to keep an eye
out for those all drop any current
discounts and coupon codes that I can
find down in the description for you
that way you can hopefully save some
money
okay so now that we've covered pricing
let's quickly compare what the lessons
from both companies are like and let's
start with Michelle Thomas their lessons
are shorter and generally speaking more
basic than pimsles each Michelle Thomas
lesson only takes around 5 to 15 minutes
to complete for each lesson you
essentially just listen in on a
conversation between a teacher and two
beginner students the teacher will
introduce some new words phrases and
Concepts and then ask the students to
participate by asking questions and when
the students reply you hear their
answers as well as the corresponding
feedback from the teacher so basically
the lessons are designed for you to fill
the role of one of the beginner students
pausing the audio for as long as you
want in order to formulate your own
response to the teacher's questions and
then learning from your own mistakes and
the mistakes of the other students in
the lesson but do keep in mind here the
Michelle Thomas lessons are Audio Only
there's no videos writing exercises or
reinforcement drills or anything like
that following the lessons and that
leads me into the pimsler lessons their
lessons are also centered around audio
as well but in a slightly different
manner unlike the Michelle Thomas
lessons in which you essentially
eavesdrop on a pre-recorded session
between a teacher and two students the
pims or lessons make you the center of
the attention for each audio lesson and
English speaking hosts will slowly walk
you through a conversation in your
target language you'll listen to two
fluent speakers Converse in your target
language and every few sentences the
host will pause to describe the
situation and provide some context and
then prompt you to participate in the
conversation as well so the biggest
difference between the audio lessons
from both companies is that pimpser
places the spotlight on you rather than
the two beginner students and then the
other big difference is that following
each pims or audio lesson you review
what you just learned through a variety
of drills and exercises including
digital flash cards quizzes
pronunciation practice and speed games
and I know I covered all that pretty
quickly so if you do want a deeper dive
or see examples of the lessons or drills
from either company make sure to check
out our full detailed rate comparison
I'll have it linked Down Below in the
description for you I have screenshots
and examples over there so you can get a
better feel for how each program works
okay so with pricing and lesson format
checked off our list let's cover the
main advantages of using Pimsleur over
Michelle Thomas and vice versa and let's
start with pimpster Advantage number one
and their favorite is that in my opinion
their audio exercises are simply better
than those from Michelle Thomas they're
just more comprehensive and interactive
the pimsler audio lessons do a really
good job of holding your attention
whereas the Michelle Thomas audio
lessons can get boring and monotonous
but perhaps more importantly I don't
like how the Michelle Thomas lessons are
designed to put you in the place of
somebody else I much prefer the format
of the pims their audio exercises in
which the lessons are specifically made
for the learner themselves plus the
Michelle Thomas audio lessons use far
too much English don't get me wrong some
English directions and translations are
helpful but Michelle Thomas takes it way
too far the English teacher takes up
well over half of the lesson whereas
with Pimsleur the moderator is really
just there to help guide you so overall
if I had to choose between the audio
lessons from both companies I would go
with pimsler 10 times out of 10. okay
next up Advantage number two is that the
pimsar courses are more complete and
well-rounded while Michelle Thomas only
offers audio lessons Pimsleur takes
their learning process to a different
level after each audio lesson you're
prompted to complete a variety of
practice drills encompassing Reading
Writing speaking and listening to help
reinforce the material you just learned
in the audio portion not only does this
make the pimsar courses more effective
in my opinion but these various drills
and games also make the learning process
more fun so I gotta tip my hat to pimsle
for going the extra mile all right
Advantage number three is that pimsley
utilizes speech recognition technology
while Michelle Thomas does it so this
new feature for Pimsleur is called voice
coach and as you might guess it provides
instant feedback on your pronunciation
during drills and exercises now it's not
perfect no speech recognition technology
is but it's still really helpful this is
especially true considering Michelle
Thomas provides no feedback on your
pronunciation it's basically up to you
to figure out whether you're pronouncing
words and phrases correctly so at the
end of the day this is just another easy
win for pimsler okay last up here
Advantage number four is that pimsa
provides a better digital experience for
Learners as I've already mentioned
several times now the Michelle Thomas
language programs are audio based there
are no special features or dashboards to
help keep you organized track your
progress or visually see what you're
completing pimsler on the other hand
excels in this department their digital
platform and user experience across both
their desktop and mobile app is awesome
it's modern sleek and extremely
intuitive they make it super easy to
navigate through audio lessons you can
pause at any time and practice what
you've already learned you can track the
skills you've gained and perhaps most
importantly keep track of your progress
and streaks so from a pure user
experience standpoint pimsler blows
Michelle Thomas out of the water
all right so that's pimsley now let's
turn the tables and cover the main
advantages in favor of Michelle Thomas
but before I get to that I do just want
to mention that every single month here
at test prep Insight we actually give
away a free language learning course to
one lucky person it's super simple
dinner everyone out there is elsewhere
I'll have all the details Down Below in
the description on how to enter but just
know that it takes like 10 seconds and
hey you never know you could win a
totally free subscription to Michelle
Thomas or pimsler okay so the First
Advantage in favor of Michelle Thomas is
that their lessons are shorter than
pimpsers and Michelle Thomas does this
on purpose the course is designed so
that you never feel pressure or anxiety
they want to help keep you relaxed
positive and moving forward so if you
get frustrated easily or you're a busy
person that simply doesn't have 45
minutes a day to dedicate to language
learning then the Michelle Thomas
language programs might be a better
choice for you that way you can knock
out lessons easily and feel like you're
constantly making progress alright so
Advantage number two is that while the
English-speaking teachers within the
Michelle Thomas lessons talk far too
much in my opinion I have to say that
they do a good job breaking grammar down
into easily understandable chunks they
don't hit you over the head with overly
detailed or complex explanations for
example instead of giving you a long
lecture about verb conjugation the
teacher instead quickly defines a verb
form and then verbally illustrates how
to use that particular verb in a
sentence it's very quick and painless
they give you some brief context and
then right into an example so I have to
give Michelle Thomas credit for that
they do a great job of making grammar
easy to digest
and that about does it for the detail in
this comparison so let's get to the
final verdict should you choose Michelle
Thomas or pimsler to learn a new
language
well after using and testing at each
program I actually don't even think it's
close Pimsleur is by far the winner to
be honest I wasn't very impressed by the
Michelle Thomas method there's probably
five to seven other language apps and
programs that I would recommend ahead of
Michelle Thomas pims are being near the
top of that list I actually really like
the pimsler language programs between
their interactive audio lessons diverse
set of reinforcement drills and
top-notch mobile app I think pims are
superior to Michelle Thomas when it
comes to learning a new language
anyway that's all I've got for you I
hope this video was helpful and you
learned a little something about both of
these companies if so make sure to
return the favor by subscribing to our
Channel liking this video and drop us a
quick comment below that would be really
appreciated and again if you want to see
that full detailed written compariso I great
content out there but as always thanks
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