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Pimsleur method

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24 messages over 3 pages: 13  Next >>
Asiafeverr
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Hong Kong
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 Message 9 of 24
07 February 2010 at 12:21pm | IP Logged 
TheBiscuit wrote:
Nothing against Pimsleur but it's just so... boring.

I found it quite entertaining to be in the shoes of an American man who asks random
ladies to go to his place and eat with him.
7 persons have voted this message useful



Cainntear
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 Message 10 of 24
07 February 2010 at 12:31pm | IP Logged 
datsunking1 wrote:
I CAN'T finish pimsleur. Honestly, it's a good program, useful phrases and everything, but so boring I can't take it.
...
If you can make it through pimsleur DO IT. Otherwise find something else.

I disagree entirely.

The human brain wants to learn. It likes to learn. If you're feeling bored it's because your brain isn't getting enough stimulation, and learning is very stimulating. So if you're bored, you're not really learning.

That said, Pimsleur is boring because it's too slow, but other courses are boring because they're too fast. It's definitely easier to learn from a course that's too slow than one that's too fast, so Pimsleur is easier to learn from than a lot of the rubbish on the market today. I still wouldn't call it "good" though.
1 person has voted this message useful



tractor
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 Message 11 of 24
07 February 2010 at 1:01pm | IP Logged 
datsunking1 wrote:
I CAN'T finish pimsleur. Honestly, it's a good program, useful phrases and everything, but
so boring I can't take it. It makes me angry! lol


Ha ha. I tried Pimsleur once but gave it up after just 15 muinutes because it was so slow that I got both bored and
angry.
1 person has voted this message useful



tractor
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 Message 12 of 24
07 February 2010 at 1:05pm | IP Logged 
Cainntear wrote:

I disagree entirely.

The human brain wants to learn. It likes to learn. If you're feeling bored it's because your brain isn't
getting enough stimulation, and learning is very stimulating. So if you're bored, you're not really learning.



I donĀ“t think it's that simple. I find the written excercises in my Linguaphone German course boring, but I do
believe I'm learning something while doing them.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Hobbema
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United States
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 Message 13 of 24
07 February 2010 at 3:44pm | IP Logged 
Paskwc wrote:
I think Pimsleur is best used when engaged in physical activity; I don't get bored when
I'm moving. Aside from alleviating boredom, there is a positive link between physical
activity and enhanced brain functions. Give it a try, if you haven't already.


To sit down and study, I myself would prefer something else. But if you use Pimsleur with physical activity, like at the gym or exercising, it relieves the boredom factor AND your brain is getting experience with the language.

Same thing for commuting to work or school, if you have that opportunity. Take otherwise "dead" time and turn it into something useful, even if it might be not as efficient as other methods.

Edited by Hobbema on 07 February 2010 at 3:46pm

3 persons have voted this message useful



BartoG
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 Message 14 of 24
08 February 2010 at 7:36am | IP Logged 
My experience lines up with Hobbema and Paskwc. Listening to Pimsleur in the evening at home usually turns into planning to listen in an hour, then not listening at all. But listening while walking at lunch I got through Italian I and Spanish II.
1 person has voted this message useful



Paskwc
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Canada
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 Message 15 of 24
08 February 2010 at 10:05am | IP Logged 
Asiafeverr wrote:
TheBiscuit wrote:
Nothing against Pimsleur but it's just so...
boring.

I found it quite entertaining to be in the shoes of an American man who asks random
ladies to go to his place and eat with him.


Perhaps the greatest post ever.
1 person has voted this message useful



Warp3
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United States
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 Message 16 of 24
08 February 2010 at 11:13pm | IP Logged 
I haven't found either of the Pimsleur courses I've worked with boring. Korean was too different from English (and thus challenging) to ever really get boring and Spanish (while lacking that steep difficulty angle) has plenty of amusing dialog (most of which I'm not certain was even meant to be intentionally funny) to keep it interesting.


1 person has voted this message useful



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