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Struggling with Pimsleur | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Jezrul Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5071 days ago 27 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 17 of 23 02 September 2010 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm using a transcript as well. I use Pimsleur at my computer with winamp, a piece of a paper, a pencil, and a transcript. Every time a question is asked (How do you say 'water' in Spanish?) I pause the recording, and write the answer down on my piece of paper. If the word is just being introduced, or maybe if I forgot how to spell it, I'll glance over at my copy of the transcript. I retain the information a lot better when I write the answers out in this way. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5214 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 18 of 23 04 September 2010 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I "struggled" with Pimsleur, but think it was extremely valuable. On average, I did the lessons 2 or 3 times each. But, instead of simply doing them over when I was having difficulty I would go back several lessons and just "back up". I found that the previoius several lessons contained so much of what was in the lesson I "failed" that when I got back to the tough lesson it felt easy. Also, the program really seems to be heavily dependent on the spaced intervals concept of repetition so going back several lessons and doing 4-6 lessons covered some of the intervals that are more than simply one day. For example, if I needed to re-do lesson 20 I would go back to lesson 14 and simply do 14-20 over again. When I got back to lesson 20 I did it quite easily and then could press on to lesson 25 or 26 without "failing" and then I'd back up again when I had a problem. I felt this was much more enjoyable than simply doing ever lesson 2-3 times before moving on to the next lesson.
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| oceankyle Newbie United States Joined 5080 days ago 28 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* | Message 19 of 23 11 September 2010 at 11:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I have several of the problems mentioned here with Pimsleurs. However I think it is
exactly what I need. The focus of comprehending audio and quick thinking response which have been a definite weak spot of mine. I do get very frustrated/upset with it at times. Thats when I find doing some assimil lessons are a big relief and joyful since I comprehend better when seeing things. Assimil explains in words some things Pimsleurs does not. So my advice is get assimil too and switch back and forth. I'm just starting out, so take it for what it's worth. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lexii Senior Member United States Joined 5061 days ago 162 posts - 194 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 20 of 23 12 September 2010 at 2:46am | IP Logged | |||||
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Pimsleur and I had a major falling out just this afternoon. Back in August, when I first responded to this thread, Pimsleur and I were soulmates. Now, a month and nearly 15 lessons later, the relationship is definitely strained.
I received some encouragement, however, and I know I'm going to go back to it. I'll just take it a bit more slowly. I always made transcripts (I have to, I need to see the words) but only after listening "by the rules" for the first go round. I always look up words I don't know, and even many I do know, to verify "spelling" and pronunciation. I was listening to each lesson 2-3 times. Now, however, I think I'll also incorporate James29's suggestion of backing up a lesson or two when a lesson is too overwhelming (like the one I tried today). I'm also considering Assimil as yet another avenue to work simultaneously. In any event, lethalfairy, if you're still following this thread, I'll pass along to you the encouragement that was given to me. Hang in there. :). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| oceankyle Newbie United States Joined 5080 days ago 28 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* | Message 21 of 23 12 September 2010 at 3:57am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm happy to hear people struggling with Pimsleurs like me. I was reading some threads on
here about people saying Pimsleurs is too easy and they answer too fast and get tired of waiting for the correct response being repeated by the program... made me feel dumb haha. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| zekecoma Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5183 days ago 561 posts - 655 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 22 of 23 12 September 2010 at 9:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've struggled with Pimsleur because I needed words also while learning and it really
helped. I switched to Assimil and been happy since then. I'm learning more because it's much faster and I can actually see what I'm learning instead of just listening. Listening is very helpful to me too, but I don't like it without seeing words I'm learning. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Desacrator48 Groupie United States Joined 5147 days ago 93 posts - 127 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 23 of 23 14 September 2010 at 1:24am | IP Logged | |||||
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A little advice if I may on what I did with Pimsleur French (now finished I-III).
I chose this program as my initial introduction to the language because I was drawn to the only audio method of the course. After learning Spanish rigourously with book, pencil, and paper, I wanted to learn my next one in a more natural way, ie like a child who doesn't know how to read and write. Therefore on my first two listens of a new lesson, I would be introduced to new words every time, words I have no idea how they "look" on paper. I put "look" in quotation marks because I'm hinting at the notion that a language is probably initially spoken before a writing system developed and not vice versa. As such, my goal is to most precisely reproduce the sound of the word I hear, not knowing if it begins with an English C or T sound because the sound might be something in between. I didn't want my first introduction to the word to be seen with biased-English eyes. However by my 3rd lesson, I did create my own transcripts and look up all the new words simultaenously, with pausing, rewinding, and repeating looking at the word and saying it out loud with Pimsleur. This satisfies my adult desire for a somewhat structured learning approach, but only after my initial introduction in a more naturally assimilated way. But now that Pimsleur is over for me, I have moved onto Assimil and no longer have that luxury of just doing an audio-only course, because that will only take you so far. However because of Pimsleur, I have relatively good pronunciation and was introduced to the core words through audio-only methods first. Not a bad foundation if I were to say so, and it only makes me happy when I come across others on this forum who have done something similar. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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