To get the full benefit of
each lesson, try to create the best learning conditions.
Choose a quiet place where you can practice without
interruption and a time of day when your mind is most
alert and your body least fatigued. You might study in
your car, listening to the program while you commute or
travel.
Each lesson is
approximately 30 minutes long. Dr. Pimsleur's research
shows this to be the optimum period for learning, after
which the mind loses its ability to retain new
information. Try your best to work through one lesson
each and every day. Whether you move on to the next
lesson daily or repeat those you feel unsure about, it is
important that you familiarize yourself with the language
on a daily basis.
Once you've started the
program, simply follow the tutor's instructions. The most
important instruction is to respond aloud when the tutor
tells you to do so. There will be a pause after this
instruction, giving you time to reply. It is essential to
your progress that you speak out in a normal
conversational voice when asked to respond. Your active
participation in thinking and speaking is required for
your success in mastering this course.
Do not have a paper and
pen nearby during the lessons, and do not refer to
dictionaries or other books. The Pimsleur Method works
with the language-learning portion of your mind,
requiring language to be processed in its spoken form.
You will only interrupt the learning process if you try
to write the words you hear.
Complete the
lesson units in strict consecutive order -- don't skip
around! -- doing no more than one lesson unit per day,
although you can repeat the lesson unit for the day. Daily
contact with the language is critical to successful
learning.
-
Listen
carefully to each lesson unit. Always follow the
directions of the instructor.
-
Speak out
loud when directed by the tutor and answer questions
within the pauses provided. Do this prior to hearing
the confirmation which is provided as reinforcement.
-
Do all
required activities according to instructions, without
reference to any outside persons, book, or course.
The simple test
for mastery is whether you are able to respond quickly and
accurately when your tutor asks a question. If you are
responding correctly about eighty percent of the time, then
you're ready to proceed to the next lesson. It is important
to keep moving forward, but also not to set unreasonable
standards of perfection that will keep you from
progressing, which is why we recommend using the eighty
percent figure as a guide.
You'll notice
that each lesson contains both new and familiar material,
so that just when you may be worrying about forgetting
something, you will be reminded of it. Another helpful
feature of the Pimsleur Language Program is its rate of
saturation; you will be responding many times per minute.
This saturation enables you to make substantial progress
within a short amount of time.
In any large
country, and even in many smaller countries, regional
differences in language are common. In the United States,
for example, a person from Maine can sound very different
than someone from Texas. Pronunciations
("accents") vary, and there are also minor
differences in vocabulary. For example, what is called a
"drinking fountain" in New York or Arizona is
known as a "bubbler" in Wisconsin, and a
"soft drink" in one part of America will be
called a "soda" elsewhere. The differences in
English are even more distinct between North Americans and
Britons, or between Britons and Australians. But all are
native speakers of English; all can communicate with spoken
English, read the same newspapers, and watch the same
television programs, essentially without difficulty.
Native speakers
of a language can often tell where someone is from by
listening to him or her speak. In addition to regional
differences, there are social differences. Pimsleur
Language Programs use a standard "educated"
speech, which will generally carry you throughout the
country without difficulty.
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