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What Is the best way to use Pimsleur? | ||
Tags: Pimsleur | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| nazehner Newbie United States Joined 4741 days ago 9 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 25 of 32 19 March 2012 at 7:35pm | IP Logged |
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I recently completed all 4 levels of Pimsleur Spanish and the Plus series. I did the
course as follows: I listened for 1 hour each day, thus two lessons a day. I repeated each lesson 4X, thus it took my two days to get through a lesson. After I completed the course, I listened through the entire course one more time, listening to each lesson only one time. This final run-through of the course allowed me to review and refresh what I had learned on earlier lessons. You listen to each lesson 5 times, thus all four levels = 300hrs of study. I have mastered everything that is contained within these courses using this approach and I speak fluently without having to think because I have spent so much time with this content. Really good stuff. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3706 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 26 of 32 22 September 2015 at 4:26am | IP Logged |
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Just use it the way it's intended: one lesson per day, if you were able to get through 80% of the lesson then go on to the next lesson. If not, repeat that lesson.
I found it pretty easy to get through all levels of German, mainly because it's pretty easy to "see the word" in your head, since German spelling-pronunciation is pretty easy once you know it. For French, I had a much harder time (still only half way through), but I found it got easier once I supplemented it with other methods and got to know the spelling-pronunciation structure. In that regard, I imagine that your experience may be similar to my experience with French, in that it's hard to get the words to stick. My advice would be to supplement it with another course that involves something that will give you a general idea of the phonemics of the language. If you get stuck/frustrated, start another program and come back to it. It's a great program. Edited by soclydeza85 on 22 September 2015 at 4:26am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3851 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 27 of 32 24 September 2015 at 2:12am | IP Logged |
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It seems to me that most users of the Pimsleur Method adopt their own variants of working this programme. The major differences, either as expressed here or in related discussion threads, seem to deal with the type and amount of review that is required to consolidate the material. While we all have our own ways of approaching review, it seems to me that Pimsleur (Simon & Schuster) could very easily assist the user by simply adding a final "Review Unit" at the end of each Phase, covering all of the material through several dialogues in the final 30-minute session. Additionally, it would be a nice touch if they were to include a printed/downloadable "Glossary" of all of the vocabulary items that had been presented in a given Phase. I have submitted such suggestions to Simon & Schuster in past and was kindly advised that doing so would be "not in the spirit" of the programme as originally conceived. Why am I not surprised by their response? Edited by Speakeasy on 24 September 2015 at 2:16am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| chaotic_thought Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 3341 days ago 129 posts - 274 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Dutch, French | Message 28 of 32 25 September 2015 at 11:44pm | IP Logged |
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For Pimsleur and Pimsleur-clone lessons I like to do the following:
1. Import the audio into audio editing software and remove all the gaps (I really dislike the gap-filling routine). 2. When listening, the Pimsleur prompts occasionally say something like (How do you think you would say ... blah blah blah). Just ignore those. Whenever the native speaker starts answering, that is when you should start shadowing his speech. You just copy what he says and how he pronounces it. THAT'S IT. Remember Pimsleur and similar courses teach you almost no vocabulary. So don't even bother trying to remember the words, and don't think that the words will be useful to you in everyday situations (the volume is just way too small). The point is get a feel for the language and to add some automaticity. And make it fun. That's why I don't like the gap filling. It's not fun. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5174 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 29 of 32 26 September 2015 at 2:43am | IP Logged |
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I vote for using it as it is intended/designed. Tons of work, time and effort went into designing the program and determining the most effective way to use it. I trust that Dr. Pimsleur knows the best way to use his resources.
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| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 5924 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 30 of 32 27 September 2015 at 3:26am | IP Logged |
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For me, Pimsleur was stupendously boring -- I was only got through it by listening on long walks -- basically using as instructed.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6396 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 31 of 32 27 September 2015 at 11:04am | IP Logged |
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Rosetta Stone also supposedly put a lot of time and research into designing the "method"...
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5174 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 32 of 32 27 September 2015 at 2:29pm | IP Logged |
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Good point about Rosetta Stone. I don't think people are talking about how Pimsleur is "designed" or if it is effective. That would be a different discussion. Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone might not be designed in the most effective way and I agree with you on that. However, the question "the best way to use Pimsleur" is really a different issue. I say beginners should generally use resources as they were designed. I've never used Rosetta Stone, but I'd also recommend beginners use it as it was designed.
The people who created Pimsleur/Assimil/Rosetta Stone/etc are experts in their resources and in language learning. They also spend tons of time and money determining how to best use their resources. I think, in general, their expertise should be trusted. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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