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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| novemberain Triglot Groupie Russian Federation Joined 5846 days ago 59 posts - 87 votes  Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC1, Italian Studies: Spanish, Portuguese | Message 17 of 104 03 November 2009 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
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You can buy Pimsleur much cheaper with Audible membership. With Platunium annual it is $229 for 24 audiobooks, or about $9 per item (with 5 lessons each).
I finished comprehensive Italian and Spanish courses, and going through Portuguese. So far, I find Pimsleur very effective. However, I am sure there are other great and cheaper audio courses out there I did not try ;) 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Urban_Sasquatch Newbie United States Joined 5503 days ago 11 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 18 of 104 03 November 2009 at 4:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've been making my way through Pimsleur Spanish I. While there are aspects of it I can see people becoming irritated with (repetition, a seeming lack of vocabulary) it becomes relatively obvious (and right quickly at that) these courses ARE designed for people who do not speak the language, or who speak very little of it.
Where I see a lot of people complaining is with regard to repetition; well, isn't that how a purely audial-based course should work based on the learning theory behind it? I've been playing these around my two-year-old son who is, like me, a mimic; he goes along with the first 15 minutes of each lesson until he gets bored, and it's noticeable. He's only two and he greets his hispanic daycare teacher with "Buenos dias!", leaves her with "adios" or "hasta luego". I've played some Mandarin around him and he's greeting a Chinese boy in his room with "Ni hao" and leaving with "Zai jian!" There IS something to it; it simply may not be the right course for everyone. I have a 30-minute commute at a minimum, so I play a lesson on the way in and repeat it on the way home for reinforcement. This is despite my linguistic ability and DLI experience. Another thing I hear people fussing about is the lack of vocabulary in Pimsleur. However, the way the courses are constructed a linguist could take those lessons and add a book of vocabulary, effectively tripling their ability with minimal effort. Sometimes it's not the course itself; nothing is perfect. Sometimes it's just how you USE the material provided. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6896 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 19 of 104 03 November 2009 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I did the complete 90 lessons of Pimsleur Mandarin and found them useful and they worked for me. You just mustn't expect too much of them. Even the full program will just give you a small introduction into the basics, a long way short of the "fluency" or "conversational level" that you sometimes see claimed.
But for an "easier" language than Mandarin Pimsleur would have been way too easy and too slow for my taste and I'd have tired of it after a few lessons. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| B-Tina Tetraglot Senior Member Germany dragonsallaroun Joined 5529 days ago 123 posts - 218 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Polish | Message 20 of 104 03 November 2009 at 10:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
Agreed. I use Pimsleur French and made my way through the first 11 Lessons by now. As I already have spent a year in France, the course does not offer any new vocabulary at all to me - but it does quite a good job as a pronunciation teacher. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LatinoBoy84 Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5577 days ago 443 posts - 603 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Latvian | Message 21 of 104 03 November 2009 at 10:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The course has been invaluable in Russian, which is fairly distant from my native languages. I wish more courses would do the backwards pronunciation break down...that has made things sooo much easier (as oppose to getting tongue tied, or babbling). For an "Easy language" probably not that useful but for "Harder" (more distant) ones, it's definitely an asset to your arsenal.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5901 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes | Message 22 of 104 04 November 2009 at 12:11am | IP Logged | |||||
This is how I use Pimsleur (and Michel Thomas) as well. I load a course on an MP3 player and listen to it whenever I'm not home. That way I don't waste any time and always have something entertaining to do whether I'm in line at the bank, waiting for a bus, waiting for someone, walking somewhere, etc. Edited by Juan M. on 04 November 2009 at 12:13am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5523 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 23 of 104 04 November 2009 at 1:59am | IP Logged | |||||
You still sort of waste time, if you had been playing Assimil or some other more efficient course you would learn much, much more... 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5772 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish* | Message 24 of 104 04 November 2009 at 2:02am | IP Logged | |||||
In Denmark 5 lessons is $50. So thank you so much for the link. Edited by Amoore on 04 November 2009 at 2:03am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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