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Your favorite language program? | ||
Tags: TellMeMore | Fluenz | Living Language | Colloquial (program) | DLI | Linguaphone | Teach Yourself | Platiquemos | Rosetta Stone | Michel Thomas | Listening-Reading (L-R) | Pimsleur | Language Program | FSI | Assimil | Book | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Leopejo Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6111 days ago 675 posts - 724 votes  Speaks: Italian*, Finnish*, English Studies: French, Russian | Message 49 of 376 10 October 2009 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
It's not only the price. People get easily Pimsleur for free (library). But I haven't yet found a less time-effective course than Pimsleur (Rosetta Stone excluded). 45 hours of language learning are much. Plus there is the boredom factor. I know people who are all happy to drill all day long à la FSI, but can't stand more than one lesson of Pimsleur. (this said I am a happy user for some specific reasons) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| zorglub Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 7002 days ago 441 posts - 504 votes 1 sounds Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin | Message 50 of 376 11 October 2009 at 12:45am | IP Logged | |||||
I think this is interesting. I find that some people I lent my Assimil or Pimsleur don't like it because it's different from how they were taught to learn languages. As if they could ot jump into it and give it a good try. Indeed I had been thinking Assimil was a joke for decades before I gave it a try , and really I think I'd have enjoyed life better had I started earlier. Another reason I observe people don't get satisfied with those programs is that they DARE NOT do it the right way. What they do not do is speak aloud . really loud. And shadow with no text. Same with Pimsleur I read here that some members "listen" to Pimsleur while commuting. maybe this is not what they mean, but if you just listen and don't play the game speaking aloud you waste your time and your money (unless you get Pimsleur from your Library). I read Pimsleur is not time effective. Maybe there are more effective programs I did not try. But what I notice is what I lear with Pimsleur I don't forget, and it is a great base. I agree that their claims are commercial and deceptive. Of course (in this I differ from Arguelles), I find it very useful to use the Assimil book to understand what I'm shadowing. And shadowing means getting to the point where I'm almost simultaneous with the audiotrack and understand what I'm saying, and when I can even add some sentences of my own in the exercise part where the track has short blanks. I'm very sad that some friends I showed the programs are sort of panicked by the idea of doing this audiowise. And I see them struggle with the good old "hairshirt way" as the webmaster says only to not being able to speak in a short time; Another fact I observed in a person I know very well and who uses Assimil to learn English is that when shadowing with no access to the book, she really sounds fine. And when she shadows while reading the book, her pronuciation sounds disastrous. The same person , the same lessons 2 days apart. Of course it's important to read and write, but when the aim is to speak, hell, Pismleur and Assimil-shadowed are jewels. And IMO, starting wth anaudio only method is the best path to best pronunciation. Not that it is important to sound like a native or close, but having the right tones is very important. and like music it sticks in your ear , not your eyes. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6289 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 51 of 376 11 October 2009 at 1:00am | IP Logged | |||||
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For French
1) French in Action (at home and road, I have the videos on my iphone.) 2) FSI (at home - textbook required) 3) Pimsleur (on the road) 3) Assimil (at home) 4) DLI French (at home - textbook required) 5) Rosetta Stone (at home - computer required) 6) Michel Thomas (on the road) I mention on the road and at home, because these factors do affect how we utilize our language-learning time. Although I have 5 of these programs on my iphone (minus rosetta stone), they are not all well-suited for when I am physically moving about. In all cases, they all MUST be audio driven. I don't like reading novels. So L-R method is not for me. Edited by xtremelingo on 11 October 2009 at 1:00am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7123 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 52 of 376 11 October 2009 at 9:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'd add Hugo's 'Three Months'to the list. These unassuming books are great, in spite of the title.
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| joebelt Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6335 days ago 51 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 53 of 376 11 October 2009 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
I think you MISSED the part where PIMSLEUR CAME DOWN IN PRICES a few years ago. If you are paying their old list prices, you are the only one to blame. Go to Amazon, and most Comprehensive courses are $120-$130 shipped brand new (look at their MarketPlace resellers especially) or buy their courses in digital download format like on the iTunes Store and they are less than $160. I've seen some of their resellers offer even better deals during some promotions. If you are paying $1,000 for Pimsleur these days you are not spending your money wisely. At the old price, it was still the best introductory method imo but with their new prices, I don't see how you could discount them.
Really??? I find it to be quite the opposite actually. While some methods are more thorough, the time you need to invest to be able to permanently retain the information is much greater than with Pimsleur. In 45 hours of study, I think Pimsleur achieves a hell of a lot. I think people sometimes forget that it's not just how much vocabulary & structures that Pimsleur teaches that is valuable, there are some "hidden" benefits to the method. You start thinking in the language to form your sentences (that's essential to any meaningful language learning). You get used to the flow of the language, how natives speak at normal conversational speeds. Again, that training of your ear is invaluable. There's no other course that gets you started with a proper accent as well as Pimsleur. There's really something to how they break down the syllables and get you to absorb the subtleties of the sound system. All those "hidden" benefits are assets that people forget are instrumental to your learning and the effectiveness of Pimsleur's method imo. Edited by joebelt on 11 October 2009 at 4:19pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Leopejo Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6111 days ago 675 posts - 724 votes Speaks: Italian*, Finnish*, English Studies: French, Russian | Message 54 of 376 11 October 2009 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
I know Pimsleur very well. I know its benefits, including the "hidden" ones, which I have praised many times, here in HTLAL too. But I also know that in 45 hours you can achieve much more than with 45 hours of Pimsleur, and if you only have 45 hours to learn the language, other methods serve you better. This said, if you are not in a hurry to learn the language, or those audio only hours somehow fit well in your schedule, or you just don't feel like starting a more intensive study that actually requires mental effort, Pimsleur is an excellent albeit time-consuming introduction - that fits my approach to languages well. Edited by Leopejo on 11 October 2009 at 5:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Grosse Affe Newbie United States Joined 6838 days ago 32 posts - 47 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 55 of 376 12 October 2009 at 2:09am | IP Logged | |||||
I second the library option. If your local library doesn't have it then pressure them to get it. After all, your taxes already pay for everything in there. Why not have something you'll actually use? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lecorbeau Diglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 6022 days ago 113 posts - 149 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Serbo-Croatian, Turkish | Message 56 of 376 12 October 2009 at 2:45am | IP Logged | |||||
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Joebelt, do you work for or are you in any way affiliated with Pimsleur or Simon & Schuster? Your post history would
strongly suggest so. And conflict of interest aside, you should really tone down your attitude. There are ways of expressing yourself on these forums with a little more tact. EDIT: Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I agree with you on most of your comments... Edited by lecorbeau on 12 October 2009 at 2:48am 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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