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Pimsleur: Russian vs. Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| jody Senior Member United States Joined 6240 days ago 242 posts - 252 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Bulgarian | Message 1 of 2 01 October 2008 at 7:47am | IP Logged |
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How different are the overall structures and materials for the various Pimsleur materials? I completed all 90 lessons (Levels 1, 2, and 3) of Pimsleur Russian. I really liked it, and I really learned a lot. I have forgotten a lot of it now, but that's my own fault due to lack of practice. I have recently started doing the Spanish series. So far I'm only on Lesson 12 of Spanish 2 (Lesson 42 overall), but I feel like my level of Spanish is already very close...if not higher...than the level i had achieved in Russian. I have several hypotheses about this phenomenon, and I wonder if a few of you can tell me your thoughts.
First of all, I have had some background in Spanish prior to using Pimsleur. I took two years Spanish in high school and college, but really felt like I didn't know much. Very basic vocabulary, and VERY basic grammar. But it was something. Before I started Pimsleur Russian, I didn't know anything except the Cyrillic alphabet (which you don't even use with Pimsleur). Perhaps my sense of accomplishment in Spanish is due to my previous experience with the language, and not with the quality or content of the Pimsleur lessons. My second theory is that Spanish is just easier than Russian. When I was doing the Russian lessons, I had to do each lesson AT LEAST twice. With Spanish, i skipped several early lessons, and i can now usually move forward after only going through each lessone once. It also seems that the material is moving much more quickly in Spanish. I feel like I can already say more in Spanish in 42 lessons than I could with Russian after the full 90. Sorry for the long post. And sorry to repeat myself, but I just wonder if the Pimsleur Spanish covers material more quickly, due to the relative ease of the language compared to Russian? Or if all of this is just in my mind because of my previous experiences with Spanish? Thanks for your thoughts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6448 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 2 of 2 01 October 2008 at 9:50am | IP Logged |
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I've used both Pimsleur Spanish and Russian, albeit very shortly - I soon discovered that I utterly hated the program. However, before abandoning ship, as it were, I noted that they seemed fairly similar in layout. I'd agree with your second theory - Russian is grammatically more complicated than Spanish, so I'd say it's easier and faster to see progress in Spanish.
I'd also agree that your previous exposure to the language played a role. I took French in high school, and while I felt that I learned very little, when I started using Assimil's French with Ease, I discovered that a good deal *had* registered somewhere in my brain, and was reactivated when I began studying the language again. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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