[jeza]

Pimsleur isn't the most efficient way to learn a language. I find Assimil to be a much more interesting method. The audio component is required purely in the target language with no instructional content and very little repetition. So it is up to the end user to decide how much or little repetition they need. This ultimately means that the recordings contain far more vocabulary and phrases than what you'd get in the same time as Pimsleur. Though it certainly doesn't feel like your hand is being held as with Pimsleur.

The audio is used alongside a printed book that has one side of the page in your target language and the other in your native language for a direct comparison.

You still learn good pronunciation, grammar, words and phrases, but in a far less boring way than Pimsleur. Also there's the added benefit that you get some language immersion since the audio is purely in your target language.

Even still I would say that Assimil isn't enough on its own. To make the process of learning a language interesting you need to utilise a variety of tools and methods.

[maaku]

Assimil is also really good if you add the sentences/phrases of the dialogs and exercises to an Anki deck as you go along (flipping the card direction when you reach the "active phase"). The review gives you really high retention (and you can kill cards or the entire deck once you finish and get them to maturity).

If you want to use Assimil for a European language however, try to find the older "without toil" courses - they are so much better.