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How many have finished Pimsleur? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5526 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes  Speaks: Swedish* | Message 33 of 104 04 November 2009 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
You can use whatever method you like, even listen to Michel Thomas if that suits you, but this is certainly not what I suggested. You read through the lesson translations in the evening, which takes a few minutes, just to get a grip on the stories. The actual learning takes place on the road, as you listen to and read out the dialogs again and again and absorb the vocabulary and patterns.
You are not supposed to be looking at the text when you listen, that would defeat the purpose and make it less efficient. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5775 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish* | Message 34 of 104 04 November 2009 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Wow. I just want to say thank you!.
I really benefited from this thread, and the fact that people are taking time to write informative and serious posts is just a evidence that this forum one is of the best on the web. Thanks. Edited by Amoore on 04 November 2009 at 10:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Urban_Sasquatch Newbie United States Joined 5506 days ago 11 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 35 of 104 04 November 2009 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Would it be okay with you if I just went ahead and stuck with what I've already got AND answered queries regarding what I find useful about it (per the thread) if I solemnly PROMISE to check out Assimil sometime and possibly even use it?
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Warp3 Senior Member United States forum_posts.asp?TID= Joined 5540 days ago 1419 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Korean, Japanese | Message 36 of 104 04 November 2009 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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For what it's worth, Assimil sounds like a great program, but they don't offer my primary target language (Korean) unless I already know French (which I don't and it isn't one of the languages that I plan to learn), so that doesn't really make it very useful to me. Pimsleur, however, does have a Korean course for English speakers in both Comp 1 and Comp 2 levels. (Both offer Spanish, of course, but I'm concentrating far more heavily on Korean at the moment.)
Regarding those that noted using Pimsleur during their commutes, that is exactly how I use it as well. My commute takes about 35-40 minutes and Pimsleur courses run around 28-31 minutes each. My current method is: first pass of Korean in the morning, second pass that afternoon, third pass the next morning, then Spanish that afternoon. So every two days, I've advanced one lesson in each language. (I try to keep up the 2-passes-per-day method on the weekend days as well, but it often falls back to 1-pass-per-day for those days instead.) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Eumaeus Groupie Australia Joined 5609 days ago 75 posts - 134 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 37 of 104 05 November 2009 at 7:19am | IP Logged | |||||
Well said Amoore. Let's keep it nice and not start a war between the Pimsleur and Assimil camps. Having said that, and with the utmost respect to you JuanM, I think you are missing Gusutafu's point. Continuosly listening to the Assimil lessons, not neccessarily even shadowing, just listening and understanding, is an integral part of the Assimil process. It is not going over old ground and wasting time on things that have been learned, it is an essential part of the learning process. Edited by Eumaeus on 05 November 2009 at 7:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| starst Triglot Senior Member China Joined 5519 days ago 113 posts - 133 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, Japanese, EnglishC2 Studies: FrenchC1, German, Norwegian | Message 38 of 104 05 November 2009 at 8:54am | IP Logged | |||||
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I finished Pimsleur French I-III right before going to France for a 3-month internship (which had nothing to do with the language, for all my colleagues spoke very good English). It helped me to make some basic conversations such as asking for directions, but it didn't help much on more complicated topics. So I think it would be a useful tool if you have never really spoken the language and have some difficulties on saying even simple sentences.
Moreover, personally I think it works better when you already have sufficient knowledge on grammar and vocabulary. I had a try with Pimsleur German without a clear idea of the grammar, and had to drop it somewhere near the end of II because its pace was getting too fast for me. But this may depend on the language. I'm not very sure. In a word, it's worthy trying when your speaking skill gets stuck between beginner and intermediate. Edited by starst on 05 November 2009 at 8:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6055 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 39 of 104 06 November 2009 at 5:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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Of course I have completed Pimsleur; Pimsleur Spanish, Chinese, and Tagalog, all available courses. Is it worth it? Well, yes, assuming you don't have to pay 500 something dollars.
Here is what the anti-Pimsleur people need to understand; 1)Pimsleur is not for everybody. It is not for visual learners, or people with poor audio ability. 2) Pimsleur is boring. Yes, it is. Who cares? Get over it. Life isn't meant to be titillating. It is only 30 minutes a day, whereas if you are serious you should be studying at least 3 hours a day anyway. 3) Pimsleur III is usually not worth your time. Pimsleur I and II are good, but returns start dimishing and you start learning silly filler words and review too much. 4) No one ever said Pimsleur will get you to fluency. Only you get you to fluency (hint; it isn't going to be "fun"). Pimsleur is meant to be an introduction to the core of the lanaguage. 5) "Pimsleur only teaches you 500 words!" Yes, it does, but this is the CORE of the language. These 500 words are infinitely more important than a long list of colors, animals, and other kindergarten words you are never going to use. 6) "Pimsleur doesn't teach grammar" Yes, it does implicitly It has you infer grammer based on the drills it gives you. It makes you guess and infer the grammar rule you derived before giving the correct answer. This is much more valuable in my opinion than just explicitly telling you the rule, because it builds automacy which, unlike knowing a rule, is important for fluency. Still, there will be people who need to know rules, have things explained, or are visual learners, etc. By all means, try out Pimsleur beforehand, but it is clear that Pimsleur is very useful to many language learners here. 16 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Urban_Sasquatch Newbie United States Joined 5506 days ago 11 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 40 of 104 06 November 2009 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
Huzzah! Most especially with regard to number 6! 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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