Good Afternoon!

I’m sorry all of my posts are coming up unfinished. I am having some technical issues, and have also been very busy!

I wanted to talk about the Pimsleur method for a post. Pimsleur is that one jealous cat that doesn’t want you to move and lays on your chest all day. At the beginning of lesson 1 of unit one, it says no other outside sources. Only Pimsleur. However, it doesn’t teach you how to read! So… that’s an issue for me.

I also talked with a friend who used Pimsleur to start learning Korean. She said there were only two levels, therefore she remained at a very beginner level. I used Pimsleur for a month, however, I was too advanced, so I just used it to write this review.

Pimsleur has been something I wanted to try, and I used it very briefly and infrequently for Spanish about five or so years ago. It’s been around longer than I can remember. I feel that this method has solid backing, and if it’s helped anyone, then please let me know. I am always open to hearing other opinions.

Now, let’s get down to what you came here for, the actual review and process. Pimsleur is a very expensive method. Each level costs about $119.99 and all five levels of Spanish and French costing about $550. This is costly, so I borrowed the first level from my public library to see if it was worth it. I highly recommend people do this if their library offers it. Or borrow it from a friend. The lessons are all the same, just with a little cultural differences.

In the first few lessons of Spanish and French, they always start with an introductory conversation with native speakers. Asking about speaking (language)/English or English/(language). These are very basic conversations that are the first sentences anyone learns in any language. So they really do want you to not use any other resources.

It’s very focused on repetition out loud, so if you’re nervous about anyone hearing what you’re doing, I’d stay away from this method. Luckily, this method combines many of the beginner situations, lessons, and vocabulary. This is very beneficial because it provides the listener with more practice with the vocabulary.

Thank you for reading my short review!

Marina.