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During pimsleur--additional resources? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| deutsch_lernen Diglot Newbie India Joined 5053 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English, Hindi | Message 1 of 8 19 July 2010 at 7:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Hi guys
In the 'Guidelines for success' of the Pimsleur German language manual: "Do all required activities according to instructions, *WITHOUT* reference to outside persons, book, or course. 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 brain, requiring language to be processed in its spoken form. Not only will you interrupt the learning process if you attempt to write the words that you hear, but you will also begin to speak the target language with an American accent. This is because the "sounds" represented by the American letters are different from the same-looking letters from the foreign language." The reasoning behind this is logical and I have been religiously following it. I am extremely happy with my progress. And I believe its confidence which matter most while learning a new language and Pimsleur beautifully provides it. I am half way through German 1st level and I will continue till the end i.e German III and Plus. Considering this, it will take me another 70 days or so to finish the entire course (one mp3 file per day) I would like to know if I should keep doing what they have told me to do or do some supplementary things along with it. I have my friends michel thomas, FSI German and subscribe to a few podcasts. What sort of order should I follow? Pimsleur then FSI then MT or all simultaneously? Will it hamper my learning as they claim? I had initially planned to engage with the 'outside German world' after finishing mid-German III.. Seeking opinions. Mostly, I will stick to my original plan. Kindly comment. Btw, about me, I am an Indian and going to Germany for higher studies ie MS. I know to read and write French well but speaking and listening is terrible! :( Auf Wiedersehen 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| johntm93 Senior Member United States Joined 5138 days ago 587 posts - 746 votes  2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 2 of 8 19 July 2010 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Wilkommen!
Ich lernen Deutsch auch. Michel Thomas is pretty good for German, I have FSI but haven't used it (yet). I suggest getting Assimil German without Toil (I'm using it, I like it). If you can't get Assimil, stick with Pimsleur and MT (you can use them simultaneously). I found MT better because it wasn't as boring as Pimsleur IMO, and it's a lot quicker. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5822 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 8 19 July 2010 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I wouldn't do MT and Pimsleur simultaneously, as both aim to make learning manageable by keeping the number of words down to make it easier on your memory. (Neither course want you to write things down because of this -- if you're constantly looking things up, you're not necessarily training your memory.) The set of words is a bit different, so rather than reinforcing each other, you risk overfilling your head.
That's not to say that you have to complete the entire Pimsleur course to III+ before starting MT -- you'd probably find the first few CDs of MT very boring if you did. Instead, consider taking a break from Pimsleur and working through the MT course (or perhaps half of it) before switching back to Pimsleur. If you're going back to a course that you've put on hold for a bit, don't start where you left off, because it will take you a short while to get back into it. Try instead repeating the last thing you did before your break in order to remind yourself where you were. This gets you back into the correct mindset to learn the next bit. Edit: PS. I've never used FSI materials "in anger", but I've looked over them. If you're using them, I would advise doing so after you're a good way into the MT course -- the FSI stuff is very dense and there's too much information in there for most people to process without a lot of prior language knowledge. It worked for the FSI because most of their students had done extensive study of other languages before going there. The explanations you get from Thomas are vague but functional, so will demystify what the FSI throws at you. Edited by Cainntear on 19 July 2010 at 10:51pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| BobbyE Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5058 days ago 226 posts - 331 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 4 of 8 20 July 2010 at 12:06am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I am interested in answers to your question as well. I am half way through Pimsleur I of Spanish, but within a week or so I should be working with many native Spanish speakers at a new job. I am curious about the idea of supplementing Pimsleur with another program. Edited by BobbyE on 20 July 2010 at 12:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| deutsch_lernen Diglot Newbie India Joined 5053 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English, Hindi | Message 5 of 8 21 July 2010 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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thanks johntm93 and cainntear for your suggestions.
Cainntear, I feel what you said makes a lot of sense. I was going through FSI today and found it to be way above my current level. No timely explanations! FSI is definitely a no no for 6 months at least. I am a fan of Pimsleurs. however its awfully slow which in a way is how it works. Now I need a change as in I want to listen to a different voice..I will finish pimsleur German 1 (more eight 20 minute files to go) and then start and finish a few cds of MT. I will make sure I don't get bored early on ;) During this Pimsleur+MT phase, is it a good idea to supplement it with Assimil-German Without Toil? These days I have no work other than learning German and hence can afford to abuse my mental faculties to an extent Später.. Tschüs! @johntm93 I am indeed happy to find this forum. Thanks.hows your progress in learning German? Edited by deutsch_lernen on 21 July 2010 at 7:53pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| johntm93 Senior Member United States Joined 5138 days ago 587 posts - 746 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 6 of 8 21 July 2010 at 8:21pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
How's yours? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| deutsch_lernen Diglot Newbie India Joined 5053 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English, Hindi | Message 7 of 8 21 July 2010 at 9:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I started just 22 days ago and on the 22nd audio of Pimsleur German 1..still a loooong loooong way to go.. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| johntm93 Senior Member United States Joined 5138 days ago 587 posts - 746 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 8 of 8 21 July 2010 at 9:31pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
1 person has voted this message useful |
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