I’ve decided to take up Spanish by means of Pimsleur approach. Pimsleur Spanish Course comprise 3 levels – 30 lessons each. I’ve planned to cover 2 lessons every day so that I could end before September. Each lesson is 30 minutes long. I don’t know what the results will be like but I’m not planning to go anywhere so I can give it a try.
How does it work?
The Pimsleur language learning system is a language acquisition method developed by Paul Pimsleur. The system is centered around four main ideas: anticipation, graduated interval recall, core vocabulary, and organic learning.
The Pimsleur method is an audio-based system, in which the listener constructs phrases or repeats from memory out loud along with a recording. The system, as currently implemented by Simon & Schuster, is made up of multiple thirty-minute lessons, which are repeated until 80% comprehension is attained, at which point the user may continue to the next lesson. As the lessons repeat themselves and add new material, the method does not demand complete mastery of the material before moving on, since the material is reviewed at varying intervals throughout the course.
- The student listens to a recording on which a native speaker speaks phrases in both the foreign language and the language used for teaching (usually Engilish).
- At varying intervals, the student is prompted to repeat a phrase after the speaker finishes it
- The student is then introduced to a new phrase and the meaning is explained
- After repeating several times, the student is asked to repeat a previous phrase, along with integrating vocabulary from the new one.
- More new phrases are introduced, while old phrases are prompted at random. The random recall is designed to associate words with meanings.
Day 1
I’ve just covered the first lesson and I can proudly say that Hablo Castellano un poco. There is a lot of repetition but I think that is needed in that language. Although I feel like I’ve repeated the word hablar like 1000 times, I still have problems when to use it as hablo or habla. But now I know that the repetition in Pimsluer courses is necessary. I look forward to repeating the same word 500 times more.
