Learn Languages with Pimsleur

The Pimsleur approach to learning languages is outstanding. Having used the Pimsleur CDs in the past I was curious to see what has improved. This app is so interactive and is a joy to use.

If you click a trial you will just get charged, just know that.

This is the best way to learn a language. You learn in the same way you learned to speak in your native language. ie just listening and repeating without ever getting bogged down in grammar. After a little while you just ‘know’ if something sounds correct

Better than any app, really gets you thinking and learning for long term

I love the Pimsleur App.It makes learning Italian so easy.I owe my great progress entirely to Pimsleur.

Fantastic

The Pimsleur approach to learning languages is outstanding. Having used the Pimsleur CDs in the past I was curious to see what has improved. This app is so interactive and is a joy to use.

I’ve noticed some lessons seem to have an issue with putting the same random sentence in places it shouldn’t be. It’s especially bad on lesson 11 of Japanese 1. About 8 minutes in it keeps giving the same sentence for every answer even though it has nothing to do with this lesson. It’s then followed by the correct answer. It’s extremely off putting and find myself having to repeat the sections due to the random sentence throwing me off what was asked of me. Hopefully it can be fixed. Otherwise it’s a fantastic app and I would have given it 5 stars. Although I will lower the rating if this problem persists throughout the rest of the lessons.

Like any skill, it is important not to practice mistakes in the beginning. It can take years to eliminate habits that you drilled in ignorance early in the learning process. Pimsleur avoids that by training first the ear to hear what is being said and then the correct repetition, right from the first lesson. All conversations start with questions and answers. Then observations then more Q and A. These are the basic structures around which the entire language is built. Pimsleur puts the learner into live conversational situations alternately taking either side. It literally trains the student to fluency within the context of day to day conversation in the target language. This is undoubtedly the fastest way to become relaxed in conversation with native speakers. Thirdly, native speakers speak at normal speed. The biggest obstacle for new learners is to understand the response from the other person. Pimsleur trains the student to recognize what is being said at natural speed. It is organic learning the way children learn. Adults will explain things slowly to a child and ask it to repeat. But life then continues on at the normal pace. Inflection carries much of the information in language. When incorrect and unnatural it sounds jarring to the native speaker. Pimsleur quietly trains the student to mimic the inflections of native speech. This again avoids forming irritating habits which will become frustrating and utterly impossible to eliminate later. Case in point, I used a good vocabulary building system to learn 1300 words of Portuguese in contextual sentences over 3 months. I was disheartened to find that even after that time, I was unconsciously drilling habits of pronunciation acquired from previously having studied Spanish. At 40 lessons into Pimsleur I’m shifting into better habits. BUT it would have been a lot easier and less frustrating to have skipped learning avoidable mistakes in the first place. I learned Chinese and also a unique and beautiful dialect of Irish in total immersion situations. If I were doing it again with a big language like Chinese, I would definitely start with Pimsleur. Even in immersion you will inadvertently make and practice mistakes. So for me Pimsleur has been a godsend. The further I get into it the more I appreciate it. It has been around for a long time and there are lots of flashy apps and courses out there. But there is deep wisdom behind the design. I’m serious about learning and you only get one life. S

Paciencia