More Pimsleur Tips

Now that I've gone through two of their Comprehensive language series, as well as a Quick Start in Hindi, here's the advice I would give myself were I starting again (and could talk to myself as two different people, of course ;-) :

• Carry a good pocket dictionary and use it while listening. Seeing helps remove audio amibiguities, and locks in the learning with a secondary sensory modality.
• Ignore that "Tomorrow, please start with Lesson 2" business. I still don't know what they intend by that.
• Use spaced repetition of lessons. With Japanese and the later Chinese lessons I was able to review yesterday's lesson before starting a new day's lesson, giving two days in a row to each. With Chinese I ran through each lesson from the week a third time. I'd still like to do a quick review of all sessions after finishing, giving me a four or five week review.
• During reviews, use a variety of vocal tones to dramatize the repetitions... high voices, low voices, loud, soft... break it up. Imagine speaking in different situations.
• During reviews, elaborate the spoken replies. Make longer sentences, tie them in with your own questions, negate assertions, change the tense of speech... use their questions as a trigger for a range of different replies.

This material is great; I would definitely rely on it again. Pimsleur doesn't do everything -- it ignores formal grammar, vocabulary accumulation, and only touches on cultural communication issues -- but for an ability to hear and respond easily, with a range of pattern sentences and assistance in pronunciation, it's definitely, definitely useful.

(And if you came to this blog because a search engine told you that you might be able to find various Pimsleur materials here (I get "free Pimsleur downloads" and "Pimsleur MP3" as frequent incoming referrer terms), then please spend some time looking at the other articles I've written here, which give you the best actual links. It may take some time, but just keep looking.)

Comments

[stephanie]

that is so wrong, lol. you're right though. Putting "free Pimsleur downloads" and other little related phrases in there really catches people. any who, great blog. have a great life...oh yeah, just out of curiosity, when this life is over, where do you think you'll be? Most people guess about it and hope they know what will happen...but I can tell you that I know for sure. If you think about it, all of the things on Earth - from the smallest flower to the mightiest mountain - proclaim indefinately that it is impossible for them to exhist without a creator. Only a fool believes that a world as beautiful (or vice versa) could happen by chance. There is an impeccable explanation for it all. If I were to tell you that I know the TRUTH, would you believe me? ...probably not, but I dare you to stop ignoring that urge inside of you to find out why you're here...and find the ANSWER! The Earth was created by God (the Creator). He gave us His WORD (THE TRUTH) - the HOLY BIBLE - to show us why we are here and what we are here for. I emplore you to find a copy of the BIBLE and read it for yourself... if you have any trouble figuring out exactly what it means, seek guidance from someone. I would love to answer any questions you have. feel free to e-mail me at masayume_sms@yahoo.com . Life is only so long; can you afford to waste it?

[anon]

Your right about everything Stephanie..except for the Bible part. God's complete and FINAL message was revealled to Muhammad in the HOLY QURAN. The Bible was right for its time, but with the advent of Islam and the HOLY QURAN, the Bible holds no spiritual or religious jurisdiction.

[John Dowdell]

Actually, I created both of you, so hearing book recommendations now is a wee bit amusing.

[Crystal Amendola]

Does anyone know where I can download a pimsleur italian mp3? I have a set but one of the cds got ruined, and I would like to download only that cd. Thanks, Crystal

[Steve]

That John fellow has it right. You two are really just his figments. Oh and while were at it... WORDS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE. if you want really good VOCABLULARY, and as close to the TRUTH about how to use them... and i think its out of print so there might be NO TIME LEFT! well, its a handy book. If only they had one like it for second language study.....(see, my comment kinda had to do with the article it was commenting on)

oh, its by ROBERT GREENMAN...just so you KNOW.

[Robert Greenman]

This is to Steve, who, on March 7, 2006, made reference to my book, "Words That Make a Difference." Steve, if you're within the sound of this blog, would you please get in touch with me? I'm the author. Thanks.
Robert Greenman