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Response to past Pimsleur discussions | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6446 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes  Studies: German | Message 17 of 148 13 July 2007 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Dear Mr. Heinle
Welcome to this forum! I for one am very glad to hear from someone who has worked with the great Dr. Pimsleur. I have tried a couple of your courses from the local library, I have yet to finish one or use it as it was intended, but I find them helpful and rather effective - especially for "scary" languages like Japanese. I would greatly appreciate to hear what you think about the silent period. Does it make sense to listen through the course first to get some exposure to a sort of a comprehensible input and then do it properly, as it was intended, to get the full benefits? You have to realize that we're a rather perfectionist bunch, we like to experiment, and more often than not, we're successful at what we attempt to learn. However we're all in search of the holy grail of language learning. We're not forcing ourselves to experiment, we simply need to. Combining different courses is an accepted method by many grizzled language teachers. A lot of us go far beyond that. We're not exactly your average customers. P.S. Guys, don't act like kids. Make your own conclusions but hear the gentleman out and ask a few language-related questions. Edited by reineke on 13 July 2007 at 11:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7375 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 18 of 148 13 July 2007 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Dear Mr Heinle, welcome to our forum! We have spoken once, many years ago when I published my first language learning website and I'm glad you are interested to tell us more about the Pimsleur language program.
For clarity I have moved this thread to the Language Programs room. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cage Diglot aka a.ardaschira, Athena, Michael Thomas Senior Member United States Joined 6623 days ago 382 posts - 393 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 19 of 148 14 July 2007 at 2:04am | IP Logged | |||||
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Mr Reineke,
We HAVE found the Holy Grail of language learning or at least the gold standard! It's FSI! At least in French and Spanish it is. A couple of the others might not be so hot. If I had not gone through Pimsleur Spanish first, I might not have been able to manage FSI and given up on it. I don't think it is a good first choice for first time language learners at least it wouldn't have been for me. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ge'ez Newbie Canada Joined 6402 days ago 14 posts - 26 votes | Message 20 of 148 14 July 2007 at 9:23am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks for the posts, can you comment on the following:
Do not have a paper and pen nearby during the lessons, and do not refer to dictionaries or other books. The Pimsleur Method works with the language-learning portion of your mind, requiring language to be processed in its spoken form. You will only interrupt the learning process if you try to write the words you hear. I think the Pimsleur Method mentions it is only a starting point to the learning process, clearly they must know what ~500 words learned means. Can you provide some very basic statistics on the success rate, subjective/ in your opinion is fine, of the Pimsleur Method, if used properly? I understand stimulating/ isolating the language-learning portion of the mind, but at which stage is a written, visual input additionally beneficial. Especially if it is the exact same material, not new material, being inputed orally? The following day, at the end of the program? Can you comment on the move to the next lesson, the following day if an 80% grade is achieved on the Q&A quiz?? I have read that the lesson can be repeated often the same day, but not to move on to the next lesson until the following day. I understand the thinking being that (memory/sleep), but where does the program separate the good language learners from the ones that need much more time? Is that the repeat until an ~80% success rate is achieved. The easy on the memory part of the learning is what interests me the most. How much of the success of the anticipated recall methodology can be attributed to the anticipated portion vs light-progressive/ easy on the memory portion, in your opinion. lastly, outside of the ideal 30 minutes only, with more time, is it better to learn 2 languages for 30 minutes each daily or 2+ lessons of a single language daily? Neither is intended with the program, but which of the 2 cases would be preferable? Edited by Ge'ez on 14 July 2007 at 4:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6446 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes Studies: German | Message 21 of 148 14 July 2007 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'd like to believe it, but the sound quality is too poor for most novice learners. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cage Diglot aka a.ardaschira, Athena, Michael Thomas Senior Member United States Joined 6623 days ago 382 posts - 393 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 22 of 148 14 July 2007 at 2:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree with you on that plus the speech is too fast. That is why I don't think I would have made it with FSI without having done Pimsleur first.
I was not able to do every lesson to an 80% correct rate in one day. Sometimes I took 2 or on occasion 3 days. Each new lesson felt good when I was ready to progress. Pimsleur does teach you a small vocabulary and a small amount of grammar but it teaches what it does very good. It will give you survival skills. In my opinion Spanish plus which comes after level 3 spends way too much time on publishing industry specific vocabulary. They could have used the space to expand more on the subjunctive which was only touched upon earlier. It delivers well on what it promises. It does not claim to make you fluent or even to take you to an advanced level. I do heartily recommend it as a springboard in beginning your language studies. I till remember how most of those lessons went after a couple of years. Edited by Cage on 14 July 2007 at 2:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6549 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 23 of 148 14 July 2007 at 11:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's the royal "we". 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| manny Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6357 days ago 248 posts - 240 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Tagalog Studies: French, German | Message 24 of 148 15 July 2007 at 1:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
It's also very affordable (i.e. "free") for us commoners. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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