Pimsleur is like learning a language with training wheels. The lessons are facilitated in English, and it’s based on repeating the same phrases over and over. But to really learn a language, you have to dive in. #languages
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I used Pimsleur tapes a looong time ago to study Spanish. I’d have them on in the background while I was doing simple tasks around the house or outside. There wasn’t a large selection of learning tapes or videos available back in the 1980s and '90s, but I gave up on Pimsleur and eventually found ones that worked better for me.
I tried Pimsleur again a year or two ago, and I just didn’t care for how the lessons were formatted, and how limited they were. I get a lot more out of simultaneously reading and listening to books and podcasts, etc. on LingQ.
It’s way too boring. Logically it seems like a good way to get an audio only lesson in and if you’re like me you probably spend too much time reading in the beginning. This makes Pimsleur seem like a good idea to address your weakness. It is audio based and if you do it right you’re outputting also. But it’s SO boring. I’d rather do Rosetta Stone or even Duolingo. Actually I’d really rather read something on LingQ 
which is what I do.
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Whilst the conclusions might be valid - I really have absolutely no idea - the idea that the big cheese of one language learning product reviews a competing product is a curious idea given the obvious conflict of interest. Then of course there is the fact that Steve Kaufmann is a super learner, with experience, knowledge and dare I say superpowers that almost everyone else lacks.
My view, rightly or wrongly, is that we need is a curated course consisting of a large number of short stories, with audio, which we can access using a reader such as LingQ.
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I found Pimsleur rather inefficient and boring, with limited (and sometimes odd) vocabulary covered. I also found it harder to retain new vocabulary when I wasn’t simultaneously looking at the word in written form. I wouldn’t use it for a language close to English. That being said, I listened to it for Persian when I was maybe at an upper A1, and I thought it was useful for getting used to the different word order (SOV) and how questions are formed (in-situ question formation).
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Pimsleur as the only method wasn’t all that helpful, but it REALLy helped me understand the flow, and way of pronouciation of Russian and Ukrainian. I wouldn’t want it as the only thing.
I got a live tutor (online) and this is the main thing that is helping me learn. A trip to an area that speaks the language is next (but in my case a war needs to end!)
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I tried Pimsleur a while back, before I even knew LingQ existed. It didn’t really work for me at the time—I think mainly because I didn’t know much Spanish vocabulary. It was hard to follow along, and I often didn’t understand what I was supposed to repeat.
Now that I’ve been using LingQ—listening and reading for hours—I’ve built up enough vocabulary to understand more and have basic conversations.
I decided to give Pimsleur another try to help improve my speaking. I think it can be a useful tool, especially when combined with something like LingQ and speaking practice through tutors on iTalki. But on its own, I don’t think it was enough for me to learn how to hold a conversation.