Pimsleur Review

Pimsleur

Product description

Overview

Dr. Pimsluer  was an American linguist who developed a self paced teaching method for foreign languages based on a series of 30 minute recorded lessons that people could learn at home or in their car. Other courses on this site have refined and enhanced this method but still use the 20 – 30 minute long lesson strategy. His style was very influential in the development of language courses for the US Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) to get US government employees and US military personnel up to a conversational level in a foreign language.

He discovered that native Spanish speakers use about 2500 distinct words.  Each lesson is aimed at teaching the 2500 Spanish words in the least amount of time. He was the first educator to break away from teaching language in a formal classroom setting which emphasize theory, grammar, and memorization to a fun conversational approach delivered on a recording for home study.

Click Here for a Pimsleur Spanish instant audio download.

Pros

• This is definitely not a “Spanish for dummies” course but a serious study of learning to speak Spanish.

Cons

• Very pricey!
• Uses only the listen and speak learning styles.

Conclusion

Dr. Pimsluer passed away suddenly of a heart attack in 1976. He should be applauded for creating a language learning system based on short, conversational, and fun lessons instead of the boring grammar based learning that can still be found in schools today. The core method of his system is used by many modern day courses but has been greatly enhanced by others who use all styles of learning including visual and interactive methods. There are other courses on this site which are up to date and will give you more value.

Real Customer Comments

Terrific  program for beginners - - with reservations ~Excerpt from a user at amazon.com.

…gave me plenty of positive reinforcement that kept me on track…  ~Excerpt from a user at simonsays.com.

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