



The Pimsleur learning programs were developed in the 1970s when the best available technology was a cassette tape player. Throughout the program, you take part in conversations, so it warms you up to realistic (in most cases) real-life situations.Įvery unit presents phrases in Italian first, and then in your mother tongue for you to translate into that language. You are supposed to do 1 session a day and if you fail to answer at least 80% correctly then you are advised to repeat the lesson. The format is comprehended in that you are told words and sentences, and are then asked to strategically repeat them. It uses spaced repetition method developed by Paul Pimsleur in the 70s. Pimsleur program is the second most popular language-learning product in the world following Rosetta Stone. He put the results of his research in an enlightening book on how we learn languages that I strongly recommend you read if you are an avid language learner. His primary concern was how people learned new languages. He performed a great deal of research in the area of language acquisition, studying how both adults and children learn languages. Pimsleur was a scholar with a background in both linguistics and psychology. Paul Pimsleur, who developed a series of language learning courses in the 1960s.ĭr. The Pimsleur program was the brainchild of the late Dr. Pimsleur focuses on speaking, listening, and a good deal of pronunciation. It uses a sort of call-and-response approach to learning where the user is presented with a phrase in Italian along with its translation that should be repeated after the audio. Pimsleur is primarily an audio-based course for learning foreign languages. Pimsleur also focuses a lot on pronunciation were most other courses tend to overlook it. It’s not a substitute for speaking with a real person but as far as language programs go it comes pretty close. Pimsleur’s method is a well-researched and organized approach to language learning that uses techniques based on actual linguist and psychological research. The levels are designed to be worked through once a day. Pimsleur is an audio language learning program organized by level and made up of 30-minute sessions. Their programs and method are unique and have a strong academic background. Pimsleur Italian is one of the longest standing and most popular audio courses out there for learning a foreign language. The practice activities included in the premium plan don’t add much value.Many casual learners find this kind of repetition boring.
