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Pimsleur for foreign language learning


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Has anyone used Pimsleur?  We had a strong recommendation from an acquaintance which really intrigued me.  My younger is definitely an ear learner when it comes to Mandarin and this looks like it would allow him to go with his strengths.  Anybody have any BTDT advice?

 

Ruth in NZ

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It has also been recommended to us. I have an old Pimsleur French course which I want to get ds to listen to soon, even though he is not especially interested in French, but just to see if the format seems to work for him.

I have the feeling that it is good for cementing what it does well in memory. OTOH, it seems to be very expensive for relatively small amounts of total language covered.  I think it may be best as one aspect to language learning rather than an exclusive approach, even though the Pimsleur approach seems to say do only it.

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We have material for reading and writing, it is just the speaking/listening that is lacking.  We are considering skipping a term of once-a-week lessons because older is too busy and younger really needs to just drill drill drill.  This would more than pay for 2 levels.

 

Thanks for the comments on the program!

 

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Our library has a rather bizarre mix of foriegn language learning resources. Pimsleur is there in a few ear tic bits for a few languages. You may check and see. Obviously it would not be a complete solution, but it would give you an idea. It would definitely not feel good to drop the cash and have it be just so-so.

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I used the introduction set for Russian for myself and can remember almost everything I learned. I have been told I have a great accent!

DS (age 12) is going through Level 1 now - he has surpassed me and sounds great. I think I will add reading & writing for him with a tutor after he has finished Pimsleur. That's basically the way we learn to speak, read, & write English.

I need to start working on the lessons again.

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We used Pimsleur Russian in middle school for my two oldest boys while we were in Kyrgyzstan.  That was by far the most successful thing we've tried (except for in-person classes) for language learning (except that not everything was entirely useful for their age- they can order a wide variety of alcoholic drinks in Russian, even 4 years later :)).  Dh and I are using it now to review Arabic.

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Pimsleur is outstanding. When I studied in China I knew people who had just done Pimsleur with no other language training and they were completely fluent in getting around type of conversation skills (ordering in restaurants, booking a hotel room, etc.). The ability to hold a basic conversation with confidence and fluency allowed them to accelerate their learning extremely quickly in an immersive environment. The combination of repetition and thoughtful response required seems to lead to high retention as well.

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We used Pimsleur Russian in middle school for my two oldest boys while we were in Kyrgyzstan.  That was by far the most successful thing we've tried (except for in-person classes) for language learning (except that not everything was entirely useful for their age- they can order a wide variety of alcoholic drinks in Russian, even 4 years later :)).  Dh and I are using it now to review Arabic.

 

Yeah, all of the instruction on ordering alcoholic drinks is what first comes to mind for me when I think of Pimsleur  :lol:  I suppose for many travelers that is an important skill, just no quite what I am looking to teach my children. I do like the methodology though.

 

(I'm guessing Arabic doesn't have as much ordering of alcohol?)

 

We also like the Michel Thomas method.

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I do agree that Pimsleur is very expensive and it doesn't do everything- that's my same gripe with Rosetta Stone.  But I do think that Pimsleur does speaking and listening well (much better than RS), and for a lot of people, that's the most important part of learning a language.  I think it's worth checking it out of the library first to make sure it works for you.

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Has anyone used Pimsleur? We had a strong recommendation from an acquaintance which really intrigued me. My younger is definitely an ear learner when it comes to Mandarin and this looks like it would allow him to go with his strengths. Anybody have any BTDT advice?

 

Ruth in NZ

I,ve used it myself for several languages. For me, and for my purposes, it works really well. It teaches a limited vocabulary, but you really learn to use that vocabulary, at speed, with native speakers, which is not something any other program gave me. It teaches patterns, so instead of spending time teaching you the words for every article of clothing, it teaches you sentences with one article and then leaves you to learn the other items on your own. It is travel vocabulary - how to talk about your family, order in restaurants, get directions, buy things, tell time. I did the German and then went to visit a family that did not speak English. We managed to coordinate ourselves for meals and sightseeing. I couldn't believe how well it worked! I did the reading section and was able to read signs and use the dictionary. I couldn't write and my grammar was pretty limited.

 

I tried to use it with my children and was much less successful. The reasons varied. One had no grammar and had trouble figuring out to turn a thought like "am going to go" into "irai". Too many helping verbs. Another thinks slowly so the speed of the lessons was a problem. One bogged down with the amount of time spent learning numbers. Things like that. I found for myself that it was very important to be moving while I listened. I couldn't,t skip days. I worked through the lessons faster if I put in an hour a day, doing one lesson and then just listening and repeating the next lesson. The speed at which I moved through the lessons depended on the language. With Japanese, I spent at least four days, sometimes six, on a lesson. German I could do in almost a lesson a day. I used the library so this was a problem.

 

I really really like the program but be aware that the first lessons of the German were aimed at those headed for Octoberfest. It did teach you how to say (and understand) "I am here with my husband" and "my wife is over there". All the languages it have had taught you how to order beer, but they also taught you how to say you do not like beer, you want milk.

 

Nan

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Thanks guys!  It sounds perfect for my younger. 

 

Question about my older.  He has been learning for 4 years, and is pretty good at reading (800 characters) and at grammar. But his listening/speaking is behind. He feels like he can use 100 words very easily and perhaps another 200 with some thought.  He can understand perhaps 500, but very very slowly. 

 

Would you recommend that he start at the beginning? or jump to level 2? 

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We are on Pimsleur Mandarin IV. We started on Pimsleur after years of Chinese school when we simply could no longer keep up with a class dominated by kids with Chinese-speaking parents. Pimsleur has cleared up our lack of understanding of grammatical patterns and helped our fluency. At first, my tongue felt all twisted up from trying to pronounce the sentences. With practice, that feeling went away. I also find that mandarin phrases pop into my mind sometimes now in everyday life.

 

My daughter draws or knits while we do the lessons. I tend to rock and occasionally close my eyes to aid concentration. I learn it faster than my daughter, but I do not know if that is due to her drawing or not. I have had a higher level of recent exposure to Chinese through reading Chinese Breeze novels. She had nine months of exposure as a baby, though, which research suggests may have a positive influence even years later.

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Our library has full versions of Pimsleur.  So even if your library doesn't, you would probably be able to get it through interlibrary loan.

 

At the least, you could get the first course and blast through it quickly (within the interlibrary loan period) if your kids already have a lot of the language down.  Actually, if they're pretty good at reading already, they may blast through more than just the first course.

 

I have found that I do need another source to explain more of the grammatical details.  However, Pimsleur itself cleared up a lot of the grammatical confusions we had when we were trying to do Spanish with Destinos.

 

I found Spanish to be fairly easy with Pimsleur.  Mandarin was more of a challenge and I haven't yet gotten to the 2nd level with that.  This may be because my kids were doing Spanish but they balked at Mandarin.  I was on my own.

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