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Response to past Pimsleur discussions

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
148 messages over 19 pages: 1 2 35 6 7 ... 4 ... 18 19 Next >>
reineke
Senior Member
United States
https://learnalangua
Joined 6446 days ago

851 posts - 1008 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 25 of 148
15 July 2007 at 2:32pm | IP Logged 
Do you think Mr Heinle knows the thread has been moved? I'd imagine he's not a regular on message boards.
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Farley
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7091 days ago

681 posts - 739 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 26 of 148
15 July 2007 at 2:55pm | IP Logged 
Mr Heinle,

I like the Pimsleur Programs' emphasis on pronunciation and core vocabulary, but why not provide a script? What was it in the research that says that a script would be detrimental? Was there any research done on the effectiveness of the program between auditory and visual learners? I think format of the course is of marginal value for visual learners.

Thanks,

John



Edited by Farley on 15 July 2007 at 2:56pm

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Charles Heinle
Language Program Publisher
Newbie
United States
pimsleurdirect.com
Joined 6344 days ago

12 posts - 13 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 27 of 148
16 July 2007 at 11:45am | IP Logged 
reineke wrote:

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?



Thanks for all of the replies. Being a newcomer to both the internet and this Forum, I’m finding it difficult to offer a serious response to so many questions— all at the same time- So I’ll try to suggest a few idea. Regarding the so-called “silent period,” I suspect that just listening does not give the learner any feed-back and therefore seems wasteful of your time. I’d suggest that you work with a Pimsleur program as is recommended, and follow the general working of the Pimsleur Methodology; otherwise whose suggestions are you trying?

You can trust your own opinion after you give it a real try. Give the program a chance to accomplish what it’s created to do. Otherwise you will never truly know if it works for you or not. It seems reasonable to seriously try what Paul Pimsleur suggested as an effective approach. If you give it a fair trial...and works for you, you have everything to gain. Failure to try it as suggested, seems pointless. Only you can make it happen for you and there is no magic way to wish things to happen on their own, as I know you know.

Charles

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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 28 of 148
16 July 2007 at 4:10pm | IP Logged 
I for one can say from experience that Pimsleur shines in all that i expected it to do at least in Spanish. Most of the constructions were validated by native speaker friends of mine. Might have been different if I had polled teenagers though. But I felt that Spanish Plus which came after level 3 was too publishing business specific. I didn't feel a transcript was necessary 99% of the time. I think that a level 4 concentrating on the subjuctive would be great.

Edited by Cage on 16 July 2007 at 4:14pm

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Charles Heinle
Language Program Publisher
Newbie
United States
pimsleurdirect.com
Joined 6344 days ago

12 posts - 13 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 29 of 148
16 July 2007 at 5:11pm | IP Logged 
We suggest not having paper and pen handy when you go through a Pimsleur Program, because we will be concentrating on spoken language.
Pimsleur is based on a methodology which concentrates exclusively on spoken language at the start, and we introduce reading in parts of the course.
We concentrate on language as speech because these skills are not dependent upon the written language at this stage of the process. And the written language can cause interference — as we all know. And yes, the Pimsleur Method is a starting point in spoken second language learning.

We introduce reading in most of out programs as early as we feel it can be effective, and that is as far we we go with the written language. This is simply because the majority of our users have a single-minded purpose and that is to be able to hold an effective conversation with the native speakers they meet. We do not offer more in the written language than basic reading skills. If you have additional or specific questions on higher levels of language acquisition, you can feel free to phone me at 978-369-7525, Ex. 201 from 9 to 5— leave a call back number if I’m not there. I appreciate the chance to talk with you.

Charles
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LilleOSC
Senior Member
United States
lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6690 days ago

545 posts - 546 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)

 
 Message 30 of 148
16 July 2007 at 6:21pm | IP Logged 
Mr Heinle,
Have you guys ever considered designing vocabularly courses to supplement the other language courses? A common criticism of Pimsleur is the amount of vocabularly words.
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Charles Heinle
Language Program Publisher
Newbie
United States
pimsleurdirect.com
Joined 6344 days ago

12 posts - 13 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 31 of 148
18 July 2007 at 11:30am | IP Logged 
Volte wrote:

What do you consider the end results of Pimsleur to be?


Among other results, we consider it essential for the Pimsleur learner to progress through stages of recognizing the meaning, and becoming increasingly able to respond out loud to the target language to which he is exposed. In short, to acquire the facility of grasping meanings from situations and responding effectively to them in context.

The purpose of creating situational dialogues provides opportunities for the learner to experience life-like conversations — which is different from merely listening to target language and merely trying to translate what it going on. That’s unique in Pimsleur Programs.

Volte wrote:

How closely does the modern incarnation of Pimsleur match Paul Pimsleur's methods and research?


There are no essential differences between the few original Pimsleur Programs Paul wrote, and all of the current editions of Pimsleur Programs. If anything, we have been including more and more interactive exchanges in the Programs.

Volte wrote:

Ok, taking as a given that these proficiencies are measurable: what level, stated in a -measurable- way, do the "instant conversation" courses aim for? What about level 1/the first 30 lessons? All 3 levels? How much does this vary between different Pimsleur courses for different languages?


In connection with spoken-language proficiencies, Pimsleur aims to provide as much spoken-language practice as time permits in each lesson. The “instant conversation” selection does not provide as much opportunities for speaking practice as the full comprehensive thirty-lessons-Programs do! Available time for practice in the shorter programs is tight.

Volte wrote:

Why is trying to compare learning steps in various programs pointless, from your point of view?


The point about comparing various learning steps in different programs, was merely a suggestion that some steps may work better than others, based upon possible developmental steps which may have taken place prior to that particular step. The point being that learning steps may reflect other previous steps in a program.

I can only speak for Pimsleur Programs, and in this case we would suggest that when you do a Pimsleur Program, we strongly suggest that you follow the Pimsleur Methodology to get the maximum spoken-language proficiency possible. We have a very direct interest that each Pimsleur user achieves the maximum spoken proficiency which is built directly into every Pimsleur Program.

Sincerely,

Charles

Edited by Charles Heinle on 18 July 2007 at 11:32am

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Charles Heinle
Language Program Publisher
Newbie
United States
pimsleurdirect.com
Joined 6344 days ago

12 posts - 13 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 32 of 148
18 July 2007 at 2:23pm | IP Logged 
Here is one of the best statements Dr. Pimsleur made about foreign language teaching, and he made this one in connection to classroom teaching of languages in the schools and higher level classes:

“It does not matter how many pious things are said about the importance of speaking the foreign language or of reading it, if tests are collections of fragmentary facts about grammar, vocabulary, and even pronunciation, returned to the teacher by the student in much the same form in which he received them but never put together into a fabric of habits we call a skill. Tests are the truest reflections of the teacher’s pedagogical aims: he should be aware of his tests, for they tell the truth about his objectives as a Teacher.”

---Dr. Paul Pimsleur [Trends in Language Teaching, edited by Dr. Albert Valdman.]

Exactly the same thing can be said about the foreign language program materials which are offered [on the internet and elsewhere] today as reliable and acceptable teaching materials for the language learner to use for self-study programs to acquire spoken-language proficiency.

Edited by Charles Heinle on 18 July 2007 at 2:28pm



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