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Using Pimsleur | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| ragnar1230 Newbie United States studygreek.wordpress Joined 4486 days ago 15 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 14 11 June 2013 at 7:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm learning French, starting with Pimsleur. I got levels I-III from the library, and just finished level I. My general plan was to work through Pimsleur, then start Assimil NFWE and follow it up with Assimil Using French.
I'm asking for general advice, hints, and tips for getting the most from Pimsleur. In particular, I have a couple of questions: 1) I'm pausing the audio fairly regularly to give myself enough time to respond. If I don't, I find the audio gives me the answer when I'm only about half through with my response. It's incredibly frustrating; not only do I feel interrupted, but I feel prevented from “working it out for myself.” Is pausing acceptable, or is it a sign that I need to simply repeat the same lesson over and over until I can produce the responses in the time allocated? Pimsleur is pretty boring; I don't think I could tolerate the same lesson over and over until my speed increases. 2) Pimsleur fluctuates from super easy to really difficult from one minute to the next. One moment, I'm letting my mind wander, answering the questions easily, then it pops out some long construction and I think, “Wait, what was that?” and before I can hit the “Pause” button, much less rewind it, it's given me the answer. How can I stay focused? (I know some people do a repetitive manual task while listening, but if I do that, I won't be able to get to the “Pause” button when I need to.) Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5264 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 14 11 June 2013 at 8:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
Sorry for being blunt but, forget the *#%# pause button! One of the main points of Pimsleur is to get you to respond during the pauses allowed in order to help you to generate "automaticity" in speech and listening. This is an integral part of the program. Pimsleur is not passive. It asks you to participate. It puts pressure on you to respond, somewhat similar to the pressure you would have in a real conversation. You really have to put some effort into it to answer within the allotted time or else, why bother? When I went through the 30 lesson Haitian Creole course, I always used it while on my afternoon walk. I can't imagine using it while sitting down. Yeah, it's not the most exciting method out there, but it was a tool that helped me, along with the other methods I was using, to be able to have some simple conversations in Creole with an acceptable accent in a short amount of time. What kept me going was my focus on the goal instead of the tedium. My mantra was that every lesson I successfully completed would get me that much closer to my goal. Every time I went through a lesson my goal was to be as mistake-free as possible. If I was unsatisfied, I did the lesson over until I was satisfied. I considered a mistake, not just uttering the wrong word but also not being able to respond within the allotted time frame. Pimsleur can serve as a good compliment to another resource/course. If it's not working for you, if you find it too boring to use, then move on to something else. If you can't, or don't want to, do Pimsleur, there's no shame in that. A heck of a lot of people despise the course. There are a thousand different methods and courses available for French. Find another one that you like and stick with it. Assimil itself will work provided that you are consistent and persistent. Though I always advocate a "multi-track" approach to learning. You might like French in Action. Good luck in your studies. Edited by iguanamon on 11 June 2013 at 8:51pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Darklight1216 Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5102 days ago 411 posts - 639 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German | Message 3 of 14 11 June 2013 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Having to pause the recording is not a good sign. Basically I agree with iguanammon, but I might add that you may want to see if you can find Michel Thomas Speak French for Beginners. That course encourages the use of the pause button. But if Pimsleur is boring you then the same problem could arise with MT.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5567 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 4 of 14 12 June 2013 at 12:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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Use the pause button as much as you need to learn the language and ignore anyone who tells you otherwise.
You are learning the very basics of a language and not having a conversation with a native. Edited by Elexi on 12 June 2013 at 12:50am 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6552 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 5 of 14 13 June 2013 at 7:39am | IP Logged | |||||
Well said. My first experience with Pimsleur was with Japanese. I read the propaganda, and expected miracles. I followed the instructions to the T. It took me 7 tries to finish the first lesson. After a few lessons with only a slight decrease in repetitions, I took stock. I was loving the results, but hating the amount of effort. So I decided to break the rules. I started to take notes on my first try, and memorize the new vocabulary and sometimes even phrases. Later on, I found a transcript, which saved me even more time. I was now able to pass lessons in 2 tries, and results were even better than when I was taking 7. Although I've gone long stretches in some of the easier languages where I could pass with only one try, I always work with a transcript and do 2. It gives me a very solid base. The very beginning is where I think it's most important to be very careful regarding quality. I'm really picky about pronunciation at this stage, and it's the time I'm more likely to repeat material.
This is Pimsleur, not Michel Thomas. It's designed not to be paused; less new material, longer gaps. If you don't want the benefits that come by not pausing, that's fine. But please don't tell others to do this without explaining how your language plan differs from the average Pimsleur user. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ljones29 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4799 days ago 35 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Arabic (Written), Greek | Message 6 of 14 14 June 2013 at 2:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hi! I just had a tip for you. Walk around during your Pimsleur lesson. I used to find
Pimsleur quite dull myself until I started doing this. If you'd like, you could get the digital version of it and use it on an Ipod or something like that. Or skip the pause button and walk around while it's playing on the computer. Just an idea. Hope this helps. By the way, I'm one who thinks it's okay to use the pause button in moderation. :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5132 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 7 of 14 14 June 2013 at 4:46am | IP Logged | |||||
This has always been by far most effective or me. I could never just sit and listen to any audio lesson, Pimsleur included. Considering there is no transcript, I have to be moving for it to be effective. Plus, if you're using the lesson while walking outdoors, you're getting some exercise and fresh air, so there's additional benefit there. Since each lesson is a half hour, just plan on walking a mile every day, give or take a bit depending on your speed. If you can combine both activities, you might even be more inclined to stick with them, since you're killing two birds with one stone. R. == 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| shmjay Newbie United States Joined 5364 days ago 12 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, German, Spanish | Message 8 of 14 14 June 2013 at 4:50am | IP Logged | |||||
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Use the pause button if you need time to think. The pause button police are not going to search you out, confiscate your Pimsleur, and make you use Rosetta Stone instead. Frankly, some of the pauses are not long enough to actually give the answer at a normal conversational speed.
You can always go through the course again few weeks later as a review and try to answer within the CD's pause time (or with as short a pause as possible) to see if you've learned it. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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