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Is there Life after Pimsleur? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| global_gizzy Senior Member United States maxcollege.blogspot. Joined 5543 days ago 275 posts - 310 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 11 29 September 2010 at 8:03pm | IP Logged |
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I'm trying to do all 100 lessons of Pimseluer Spanish. I've started and stopped a few times. When I restart on the first, I'm going to start with lesson 10 and try, try, try, to do 1 lesson, 2x a day UNTIL the end.
I have access to Pimsleur for $00.00 and from doing the first 10 lessons I KNOW that there is good in it, even if it doesn't do much, it is good at what it does. I dont have access to Michael Thomas or Assimil, but I'm planning to by all three Levels of Learn Spanish Like Crazy when I'm done with Pimsleur. When I can get into the swing of it, I like Pimsleur. Its mellow, its easy, its boring and a little inane (Beer, beer, beer!) but it is effective and the price is unbeatable, thanks to my library. But the idea or thought of...90 days and nights of Pimsleur isn't fun. Has anyone out there actually COMPLETED all 100 lessons and how did it effect your target language ability/confidence etc? Could you see a great deal of improvement in the end? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
 budonoseito Pro Member United States budobeyondtechnRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5645 days ago 261 posts - 344 votes Studies: French, Japanese Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 11 29 September 2010 at 8:18pm | IP Logged |
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I am using it for French. Also through the library. I am waiting for French III B to come
in. So, I have done about 85 lessons so far. I use it during my commute where I would normally have wasted time. I think the exposure helps in pronunciation; but, the vocabulary build up is slow compared to reading. I wouldn't pay retail for it; but, it is good at the very beginning. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5396 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 3 of 11 29 September 2010 at 8:36pm | IP Logged |
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My patient girlfriend completed all 3 levels of German Pimsleur, and then went on to do the additional 10 hours provided by the supplementary advanced course. She says it didn't bring her anywhere beyond low beginner level, but it did help her to assimilate some useful common phrases and improve her pronunciation along the way.
I also did some Russian Pimsleur about 6 years ago, whilst running by the river or down the gym, but only reached half a dozen lessons into level 3. And I'd say roughly the same thing. There's probably 400-500 words in it all I guess, and most of the time you're listening to English. It's still a little exposure though, and if you can get hold of it for free, it's a start. For me, it's main strength was that I was able to walk and talk and review basic phrases hands-free with relative ease. It's generally a safer bet to do this with fewer people around, however, as you might just risk a few odd looks in the supermarket or a giggle on the street. Good luck. :) Edited by Teango on 29 September 2010 at 8:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7061 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 4 of 11 29 September 2010 at 8:53pm | IP Logged |
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I finished all 100 lessons last year. It was a great feeling having accomplished it. Confident enough to hold simple conversations, but I did not think nor dreamed in Spanish. Native Spanish speakers have thought I was from a Spanish speaking country. Examples: Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador. One lady thought I had a Brazilian accent of Spanish, finally the U.S. for a non Spanish speaking country? Vocabulary wise it is still a long road ahead. This is why I supplemented with Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish book. Pattern recognition for converting English words to Spanish. I was happy with the program, but I felt I should be further than what I am. This is the reality of a program. It is still limited and I guess feeling dissatisfaction indicates the process to continue on and progress further. Fluency does not even come close with all 100 lessons finished. This way at least a person can be aware the programs limitations. Actually I think since then I estimate my vocabulary is around 2000 words. It just doesn't seem like it, so I bought the Big Red Book of Spanish Vocabulary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| El Forastero Pentaglot Senior Member Colombia alijunakai.blogspot.Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6109 days ago 186 posts - 228 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Portuguese, FrenchB1, EnglishC1, Italian Studies: German | Message 5 of 11 29 September 2010 at 9:16pm | IP Logged |
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I finished 90 lessons of Italian, and I have done no more in that language. I can't read Italian text, i can't write it, but i can speak a little bit fluenly with Italian speakers if they speak a bit slowly. For me, Pimsleur is a good method, but it's only one of them. You need to have also a method which teach you how to write and how to read.
If you don't have time to study and all your free time is this one when you walk or wait somewhere, pinsleur is the best method. But if you have more time to study, try with aditional methods 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 5965 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 6 of 11 29 September 2010 at 9:22pm | IP Logged |
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For me, what made Pimsleur tolerable was listening to the recordings while taking walks around town. This was just enough additional stimulation to keep me from getting too bored.
Pimsleur while sitting at a desk or computer terminal would be deadly. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5796 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 7 of 11 30 September 2010 at 12:57am | IP Logged |
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I have finished all three levels of Pimsleur French. I think it is an awesome learning resource and apart from considerations of cost I highly recommend it. It may contain less unique vocab items than other programmes perhaps, but it gets you using the vocabulary items and idioms in a way that helps you internalize it.
While not exact, I find it analogous to learning a martial art - I would much rather have an instructor show me three throws or kicks or whatever and then work on those in a focussed way until they become internalized than I would want to work with an instructor who shows me fifty moves once in the hope that this may be of some use to me in my next cage match. To be clear in the interest of avoiding unnecessary catastrophic injury, Pimsleur will not adequately prepare you for mixed martial arts competition, but as far as helping you develop language skills, it will get you well along the path to having your target L2 tap out in submission. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 5964 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 8 of 11 30 September 2010 at 1:02am | IP Logged |
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I did all 100 lessons of Pimsleur Italian while driving to work. As said above, it's an excellent use of what would be wasted time. I don't think I could have used Assimil this way in the beginner stage, as the concentration required would have been inconsistent with driving safely, but because of the amount of English and the in-built pauses (and I do have an easy and quiet road to travel) I found it to be no distraction from the road.
I actually never found it boring, I enjoyed the repetition, with the feeling that I was building a solid base of understanding, and I really wanted to achieve excellent pronunciation. And I believe this is what keeps Pimsleur in the list of top audio programs, despite it's many detractors - it builds excellent pronunciation. It just keeps on hammering that pronunciation into you. I certainly wouldn't suggest you keep at it if it's driving you crazy - this is supposed to be fun, isn't it? But if you look at it from the perspective of what you want to achieve out of it, and if that goal is excellent pronunciation, then I think you will get more value and sense of achievement out of it as you see your progress in that area. Of course you may not care that much about really good pronunciation, but just want to accumulate vocab and grammar, and get out there and communicate. A friend of mine who also studies Italian has appalling pronunciation and grammar, but all the confidence in the world, and boy can she communicate (her long blonde hair and big boobs might help there too, LOL) ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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