Pimsleur Approach

Irishstabber

Has anybody used this/know anybody who used this. Does it actually work?

Lantis

I've used it, and I can say it's amazing.
The way it teaches is like teaching to a child, it keeps on asking you things you've learned and going back over them in such a well-calculated way that the words actually get ingrained into your head, even if you haven't used them in ages. Brilliant teaching method.

Irishstabber

Yea, I ahve a few of em and I never get around to it. Ill try do that asap

simu

Is this similar to the Assimil approach?

Magic Monkey

Is the Assimil approach any good? Reading about it here, it's good that it advocates reading while/after listening, something which Pimsleur doesn't - after going through a handful of lessons then looking at the booklet provided, I knew the words in my head, but not on the page :rolleyes: Shame that it doesn't do non-European languages though. Cheaper than Pimsleur at any rate!

simu

I've found it quite good. I did a bit of the German one when I was about 14 and I never had problems with German syntax at school after that. I've also done the Italian one and now, I know basic Italian. It's really good for getting you thinking in the language and for getting the "shape" of the language in your head.

Caixa

The Pimsleur method is purely audio - you get CDs or tapes. A full course is three levels of 30 half-hour lessons, but there are a few where you can only get a level one course, and a few shorter ones (I can't remember the exact name they give them) that are only ten lessons. They are very easy to follow, and the vocabulary really sticks. Sticking to it (as in any method of learning!) is always hard though! It's not something that you can listen to when doing something else (that needs any bit of concentration) in my opinion, as you'll miss bits.

Irishstabber

Yea, Ive tried to start the german one. Im under pressure to learn the language and I thought id try pimsleur. Only prob im having is keeping to the lessons :P

Cake Fiend

Just noticed this now. I've tried out the Pimsleur system and it's quite an effective method for what it does. But, it progresses SO SLOWLY that I often had trouble concentrating, even though the lessons are only 30 mins long. You really only do 10 minutes of new material per 30-min lesson: the first 10 minutes are revision of previous lessons, the next 10 are new vocab and the last 10 are revision of the current lesson. I used to create complex sentences in my head purely to amuse myself while the program was on still on its fourth or fifth repetition of a new word :rolleyes:

Also, if you're going to go the legal route, it's very expensive.

Magic Monkey

It's great for pronunciation, but yeah, sitting down to do a 30min lesson is hard, as it seems like the time is just... wasted, in a way. Better to do it during "dead time", such as commuting. Oh, and leaving days between lessons does affect retention somewhat, at least for the last lessons content.

Piste

How do you learn the written form of the language? It seems a bit pointless to not be able to write it, after all, no language is completely phonetical.

Cathy

They do have a little vocabulary booklet, and there's a five-minute section at the end of most of the lessons where this is studied. But it's more to show you how to pronounce the words, than to learn the written language.
To learn the written language, just get a book, and try to keep at the same level you're at with the Pimsleur lessons. It's what I'm doing at the moment with Italian and Russian, and it's working out well.