The Cunning Linguist

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and gift ideas are required double-quick before shelves empty and the last post goes. Fortunately here are some cracking gifts around for the linguist in your life!

1 - Pimsleur Comprehensive & Complete

Being a bit of a Pimsleur fan, their comprehensive courses would be top of the list. They’re the best language courses I’ve ever encountered, and I rely on them heavily for my own study. Since they’re only published in the US this may involve international shipping, but don’t despair; Amazon US can ship to Europe using expedited delivery on orders placed before December 10^th, and priority shipping before December 16^th.

Pimsleur Comprehensive Mandarin I

Pimsleur Comprehensive Japanese I

More Pimsleur Comprehensive courses …

Presents can be sent direct by designating items as gifts during the order process. International orders may attract import tax; in the UK gifts are only exempt when valued under £36. Gifts are shipped without an invoice, but international shipping requires the value of the consignment to be recorded on a customs sticker on the outside of the box. Amazon will assist with import fees by holding an import fee deposit to avoid your gift recipient being stung with a customs charge on receipt.

Despite their chunky price tag, the Pimsleur Comprehensive courses are still great value when compared to other course formats. But, if your lucky linguist is just starting out or you’re on a budget the Pimsleur Conversational courses might be a better option. These contain half the material of the Comprehensive courses at a fraction of the price, and are great gifts where you’re not sure if someone’s language aspirations are more of a whim than a vocation. They come in below the UK import tax gift-value threshold too, which keeps things nice and simple.

Pimsleur Conversational Mandarin I

Pimsleur Conversational Japanese I

More Pimsleur Conversational courses ...

The material is identical to the first sixteen lessons of the Comprehensive course, so if you graduate to that later on you will essentially have to buy the same recordings again. However, with Pimsleur sale prices on eBay pretty respectable and such a significant gap in price between the two courses, this may well be a compromise to realistically consider.

For the full range of Pimsleur Japanese courses, don’t forget to drop by the Audio courses section of the Japanese book guide for some cunning recommendations!

2 - JapanesePod101.com gift vouchers with 20% discount

Aside from Pimsleur, there’s plenty of other great ways to make a language student’s day. For fans of the immensely successful Japanese class pod-cast JapanesePod101.com, can now be sent a holiday gift voucher. Options start from a 1 month basic subscription voucher for just $8 USD, right up to a 12 month premium voucher with all the premium features for $180 USD – and as a special holiday treat the JapanesePod101.com team are currently promoting the vouchers with a chunky 20% discount. Last but not least the vouchers are entirely electronic, so you can still beat that sleigh-bell deadline if you’re reading this on Christmas Eve!!

JapanesePod101.com gift vouchers with 20% holiday discount

3 - 20% off at Linguaphone

Speaking of 20% discounts, don’t forget to check out Linguaphone’s Christmas offer on all their courses; 20% off all orders placed before December 24^th. It’s a good few years now since I tried the Linguaphone method, but they are an established and highly regarded publisher of self-study courses. The volume of audio material is more in line with the Pimsleur courses (eg. the Russian Complete course comes with 8 cds) but there’s also a good amount of written material including a handbook and exercise books, and the course structure is more traditional (as with the “Teach Yourself” books). The 20% offer can give you a substantial saving on these popular courses.

Linguaphone courses with 20% holiday discount

4 - 10% off at Rosetta Stone

For those who like to tackle language challenges with the latest technology, Rosetta Stone are offering 10% off their language products including their three, six and twelve month subscription deals. These present great value for money, as you get all the content from both the level 1 and level 2 courses, accessible anywhere, with a refreshingly low price tag. If you’re confident the person you’re buying for is going to get stuck in (or perhaps want to give them the added incentive of a limited time subscription!!) one of these could be a great idea.

Rosetta Stone (US) courses with 10% discount

Rosetta Stone (UK) courses with 10% discount

5 - Amazon gift vouchers

The really fabulous thing about gift vouchers is that you can be confident you’re giving something the recipient really wants – because they choose it themselves! Also a great way to avoid Christmas delivery deadlines, customs delays and hefty delivery charges, vouchers at one of the many international branches of Amazon can be redeemed for a stunning array of goods and are guaranteed to deliver a smile!

Gift vouchers at Amazon.com (US)

Gift vouchers at Amazon.co.uk (UK)

Those shopping days between now and Christmas are slipping away fast, so I hope some of these language-related gift ideas will help you find that perfect present for the special people in your life. Don’t forget, if you buy your gifts having followed a link from the Cunning Linguist website, this blog will receive a small commission which will help support your favourite over-ambitious multi-lingual blogger during the year ahead. Every penny is very much appreciated.

Happy festive shopping!